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TABLE 2 (cont.)
THE NEW IMMIGRATION ACT – KEY POINTS
• Admission of economically active immigrants based on a points system – the more
qualified the alien is and the more his qualifications are requested on the German
labour market the higher is his score.
• Priority given in the selection process to candidates from acceding countries and the
planned seven-year transition period preceding the freedom of movement on the
labour market could thereby be structured on a more gradual basis.
• Recruitment of labour migrants for a limited period of up to five years. On expiration of
residence and working permit the labour migrant will have the possibility to apply for
extension.
• Foreign students who have completed their studies in Germany will be able to obtain
a working permit subject to the approval of the labour-market administration.
• Planned integration of residence and working permit. All aliens who are legally
admitted would be granted a working permission – this does not include asylum
seekers.
• The existing four different titles of residence (Aufenthaltsbefugnis,
Aufenthaltsbewilligung, befristete/unbefristete Aufenthaltserlaubnis and
Aufenthaltsberechtigung) are to be reduced to two: limited and permanent residence
permit. The new regulations on residence foresee that residence is classified
according to the grounds for residence and no longer according to legal titles
(i.e. gainful employment, education, family reunification, humanitarian reasons).
New Institutions
• Transformation of the existing Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees
into the Federal Office for Migration and Asylum. The tasks of the office were to be:
• Coordination of the flow of information on labour migration between the Aliens
Offices, the labour administration and the German representations abroad;
• Administration of the point based migrant selection system;
• Running of a central migrant database;
• Running of a central information database on all countries and areas relevant for
asylum and migration;
• Coordination and co-funding of integration measures;
• Coordination and implementation of the European Refugee Fund in Germany;
• Recognition/rejection of asylum applications;
• Promotion and facilitation of voluntary return of rejected asylum seekers and
irregular migrants.
Further, an independent board of experts for migration and integration, the Migration
Council, has been instated within the Federal Office for Migration and Asylum. The
board produces a yearly migration report based on expert opinion reports on migration
flow developments and the national reception and integration capacities.
Asylum
• Temporary status for all asylum-seekers persecuted for gender-specific reasons and
for persons persecuted by individuals in their home countries. Refugees as defined by
the Geneva Convention (kleines Asyl) would be given complete access to the labour
market. Refugee status would be re-evaluated three years after being granted.
Forced Removal
• No freedom of movement in Germany for persons facing compulsory departure.
These persons would be housed in detention centres. Furthermore, the misleading of
immigration authorities regarding personal identity or citizenship would be considered
a crime.
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GERMANY