Germany Warns of Radical Visa Reforms: We Will Turn the Procedures Upside Down

During a visit to the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs on January 17, 2023, the Chancellor and the Minister have both revealed that the country will continue to change visa procedures, in particular for skilled workers, AtoZSerwisPlus.de reports.

In a joint press conference held upon the meeting, Chancellor Scholz highlighted the importance that foreign skilled workers have for Germany and its economy by saying that the country can guarantee its future only if there are enough skilled workers to fill in labour shortages.

“It’s not that difficult [to bring workers] from the European Union, because there is freedom of movement. In terms of the rest of the world, that’s a bigger challenge,” he noted.

Whereas Minister Baerbock, said that as a modern immigration country that it is, Germany needs a more modern and unbureaucratic residence law and visa procedures. The Minister has called the country’s existing immigration system “old-century”.

“That is why it is so important that with our decision as the federal government to bring our residence law up to date in terms of immigration of skilled workers, we also have to bring the visa procedure up to date,” she said, adding that in order to do so, the visa procedures should be turned upside down.

She also highlighted that Germany is competing to remain amongst the world’s most skilled workforce, and in order to remain at the top, a welcoming immigration system is essential. For which reason, she said that the country must have specialist staff on site who can process the procedures quickly.

The Minister also listed some of the professions for which Germany needs foreigners to fill in, including IT specialists, cooks, nurses and people who work in the health sector.

In recent years, German authorities have been continuously working to modernise the immigration system in order to fill in the job shortages the country has been facing for years now, many of them in vital sectors.