Germany’s ruling traffic light coalition is hard at work to make it easier for foreign workers to enter the country’s workforce. After a proposal to give tax breaks to qualified foreign workers—heavily criticized by opposition parties and questioned even by SPD Labor Minister Hubertus Heil—the government has now proposed reducing the bureaucracy surrounding work permits for immigrants.
The proposal would mean that if an employer submits an application for a work permit to immigration authorities, and the application is not rejected within two weeks, the permit will be seen as granted—a Genehmigungsfiktion, or ‘fictive permit.’
The approximately 700 German immigration authority offices currently handle around 10,000 new asylum applications every month.
A united German government presented the plan, arguing that it is absurd that foreigners qualified to work—and who have connected with a prospective employer—are prevented from doing so because of processing times by immigration authorities. Employment, the coalition argues, is also crucial to migrants’ integration into German society.
The business community is in favor of the new initiative. “It makes sense to make it easier for refugees to be employed,” Achim Dercks, deputy general manager of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), told Welt.
Opposition parties on the right and left, however, point out that approval being the default—in light of the immense workload of immigration authorities—basically means writing a blank check for anyone able to land an employment contract.
“The planned presumption of approval with such a short deadline will take the already existing loss of control of immigration policy to a new level,” AfD’s parliamentary spokesman for labor and social affairs René Springer said,
The Left is also critical, but for different reasons: Die Linke’s Susanne Ferschl’s concern is that immigrant labor could be “abused” and calls for “language courses” and increased collective bargaining coverage for foreigners.
Legal questions remain surrounding whether a ‘fictive permit’ can be withdrawn if immigration authorities find valid reasons to reject an immigrant after employers have already invested in training him as an employee.
Refugees in Germany are allowed to work as soon as their asylum application is approved, currently around eight months after entering the country. Many asylum seekers are also allowed to work during the application process.
