Germany Opens the Door for Highly Qualified Workers

The German government has agreed on a package of measures to attract highly qualified foreign workers. The most significant measure concerns applications from E.U. nationals holding a University degree from the new Accession States in Central and Eastern Europe. The labour office will no longer have to check whether the position could be filled with unemployed German workers. Moreover, access to the German labour market for third country nationals holding a University degree will be facilitated.

Graduates from Central and Eastern Europe

As a first step, a new government regulation was enacted in November which grants some privileges to work permit applicants from the E.U. member states in Eastern Europe. As of 1 January 2009, work permits will be granted regardless of the situation on the German labour market. The labour office no longer has to check the market for suitably qualified candidates from Germany or other E.U. member states. Processing times for applications are therefore expected to drop by up to four weeks. The only requirement is that the applicant must hold a University degree.

The principle of free movement of workers within the European Union does not (yet) fully apply to workers from Eastern Europe. When Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Baltic States joined the European Union in 2004, the existing member states were allowed to still require a work permit during a transition period up to 2011. Germany, as a neighbouring country to the two largest accession states made use of this provision. Nationals from the accession states therefore still need a work permit.

Graduates From Outside the European Union

The package decided by the government also provides some relief for non-E.U. citizens holding a University degree. The new laws will take effect as of 1 January 2009 – approval from the upper house of the German parliament ("Bundesrat") pending. In particular, it extends the privileges for IT and telecoms specialists to other University graduates. Moreover, the salary threshold for obtaining a permanent residence permit ("Niederlassungserlaubnis") as a highly qualified person will be lowered from EUR 86,400 to 63,600. Employees with a salary exceeding this threshold will be granted a permanent residence permit from day one.