Immigration to Germany

Germany is the second most popular migration destination in the world, after the United States.[1] On 1 January 2005, a new immigration law came into effect. The political background to this new law was that Germany, for the first time ever, acknowledged to be an "immigration country". The practical changes to immigration procedures were relatively minor. New immigration categories, such as "highly skilled professional" and "scientist" were introduced to attract valuable professionals to the German labour market. The development within German immigration law shows that immigration of skilled employees and academics has been eased while the labour market remains closed for unskilled workers.

In April 2012, European Blue Card legislation was implemented in Germany, allowing highly skilled non-EU citizens easier access to work and live in Germany, subject to certain requirements.

As of 2014, one out of five persons has at least partial roots outside of Germany.

History of immigration to Germany

A so-called "guest worker" (Gastarbeiterin) from Cuba, working in an East German factory, 1986

After World War II until reunification (1945-1980)

Towards the end of World War II, and in its aftermath, up to 12 million refugees of ethnic Germans, so-called "Heimatvertriebene" (German for "expellees", literally "homeland displaced persons") had to migrate from the former German areas, as for instance Silesia or East Prussia, to the new formed States of post-war Germany and Allied-occupied Austria, because of changing borderlines in Europe.[2][3] A big wave of immigration to Germany started in the 1960s. Due to a shortage of laborers during the Wirtschaftswunder ("economic miracle") in the 1950s and 1960s, the West German government signed bilateral recruitment agreements with Italy in 1955, Greece in 1960, Turkey in 1961, Morocco in 1963, Portugal in 1964, Tunisia in 1965 and Yugoslavia in 1968. These agreements allowed the recruitment of so-called Gastarbeiter to work in the industrial sector in jobs that required few qualifications. Children born to Gastarbeiter received the right to reside in Germany but were not granted citizenship; this was known as the Aufenthaltsberechtigung ("right of residence"). Many of the descendants of those Gastarbeiter still live in Germany and many have acquired German citizenship.

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) recruited workers from outside its borders differently. It criticized the Gastarbeiter policy, calling it capitalist exploitation of poor foreigners, and preferred to see its foreign workers as socialist "friends" who traveled to the GDR from other communist or socialist countries in order to learn skills which could then be applied in their home countries. Most of these came from Vietnam, North Korea, Angola, Mozambique and Cuba. Following German reunification in 1990 many foreign workers in the new federal states of the former GDR had no legal status as immigrant workers under the Western system. Consequently, many faced deportation or premature discontinuation of residence and work permits, as well as open discrimination in the workplace.

1980-1993

During the 1980s, a small but steady stream of East Germans immigrating to the West (Übersiedler) had begun with the gradual opening of the Eastern bloc. It swelled to 389,000 in 1990. After the immigration law change in 1993, it decreased by more than half to 172,000.[4]

German repatriates from Kazakhstan arriving in a camp in Friedland in 1988

During the same time, the number of ethnic Germans (Aussiedler) -Germans who had settled in German territory sometimes for centuries until WWII, i.e. in present-day Eastern Europe and Russia- began to rise in the mid-1980s to about 40,000 each year. In 1987, the number doubled, in 1988 it doubled again and in 1990 nearly 400,000 immigrated. Upon arrival, ethnic Germans became citizens at once according to Article 116 of the Basic Law, and received financial and many social benefits, including language training, as many did not speak German. Social integration was often difficult, even though ethnic Germans were entitled to German citizenship, but to many Germans they did not seem German. In 1991, restrictions went into effect, in that ethnic Germans were assigned to certain areas, losing benefits if they were moving. The German government also encouraged the estimated several million ethnic Germans living in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to remain there. Since January 1993,no more than 220,000 ethnic Germans may immigrate per year.[4]

And in parallel a third stream of immigration starting in the mid 1980s were war refugees, of which West Germany accepted more than any other West European country due to an unqualified right to asylum. From 1986 to 1989, about 380,000 refugees sought asylum, mostly from Iran and Lebanon. Between 1990 and 1992 nearly 900,000 people from former Yugoslavia, Romania, or Turkey sought asylum in a united Germany.[4] In 1992, 438,000 applied, and Germany admitted almost 70 percent of all asylum seekers registered in the European Community.[5] By comparison, in 1992 only about 100,000 people sought asylum in the U.S.[6] The growing numbers of asylum seekers led to a constitutional change severely restricting the previously unqualified right of asylum, that former "refugees [had] held sacred because of their reliance on it to escape the Nazi regime".[5]:159 In December 1992, the Bundestag passed legislation amending the Basic Law, in which article 16 was changed to 16a.[5] Persons entering Germany save from third countries were no longer granted asylum, and applications from nationals of so-called safe third countries of origin were refused.[7] As of 2008, the numbers of asylum seekers had dropped significantly.[8]:16

1993-present

Due to the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars, a rising number of refugees headed to Germany and other European countries.[9] Though only about 5 percent of the asylum applications were approved and appeals sometimes took years to be processed, many asylum seekers were able to stay in Germany and received financial and social aid from the government.[4][10]As of 2013, the approval rate was about 30 percent, and 127,000 people sought asylum.[11] During 2014 a total of about 202,834 people sought asylum in Germany.[12] Even more asylum seekers will be expected for 2015 with more than 800,000 people.[13] Mainly in 2015 there has been massively wrong information especially in some African, Arabic etc., media channels concerning the conditions of coming to and living in Germany. False promises of money, easy living and easy jobs were made.

As of 2014, about 16.3 million people with an immigrant background were living in Germany, accounting for every fifth person[11] Of those 16.3 million, 8.2 million had no German citizenship, more than ever before. Most of them had Turkish, Eastern European or Southern European background. The majority of new foreigners coming to Germany in 2014 were from new EU member states such as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia or from the Middle East and Africa. Due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, many people are hoping to seek asylum in the European Union and Germany.[14] The vast majority of immigrants are residing in the so-called old states of Germany.[15][16]

Refugee, Asylum and illegal Immigration crisis

Police intercepts refugees and potential illegal migrants at Munich Central Station
Refugees stuck in Salzburg (Austria) on their way to Germany in September 2015.

In 2014 more than 276,000 people entered illegally into the European Union, an increase of 138% from 2013.[17] Since the numbers of asylum applications and illegal immigration to Europe and especially Germany rose tremendously from 2013 onwards, the situation for them in Europe and Germany in many cases is not good and refugee camps are completely overcrowded.[18]

On March 20, 2015 the Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany stated that the average duration of the assessment of an asylum application of about 5 1⁄2 months is too long. Because there are often problems with the identification of refugees, finger print scans will be introduced, and individuals will be checked in more detail to identify their true place of origin.[19] As there is a high burden for the several German States, the Federal Minister of the Interior also claims to deport faster illegals and individuals with denied asylum applications.[20]

The original prediction of about 450,000 asylum seekers for 2015 in Germany is corrected to potentially over 800,000 people, which is almost double the number of the previous prediction for this year and four times the amount of the prior year.[13] In a letter written by the Germany Vice-Chancellor of Germany to his fellow party members, the number of 800.000 potential refugees was raised again, now up to over 1,000,000 refugees for Germany.[21] The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs said that alleged refugees and illegals, especially from the Western Balkans area who have quite no chance to stay in Germany have to be sent back to their place of origin as soon as possible.[22] The number of asylum seekers from the Western Balkans area has dramatically increased during the last year. A possible reason can be the increased time for application processes. The refugees from the Western Balkans area especially from Kosovo see that as an opportunity, since they can stay longer and make most of their time, as the application needs longer to be processed.[http://aei.pitt.edu/67263/1/DG EU Asylum Policy 0.pdf] Furthermore, the deportation of illegal residents in Germany has almost doubled in the first 6 month in comparison to the same period in the prior year.[23]

Immigration regulations

EU citizens

European Union free movement of workers principles require that all EU Member State citizens have the right to solicit and obtain work in Germany free from discrimination on the basis of citizenship Treaty on European Union Article 39 providing basic rules for Freedom of movement for workers. (see also Directive 2004/38/EC on the right to move and reside freely). However, citizens of Croatia are exempt from the free movement of workers principle for a transition period of no more than 7 years (ending 2020), after the country's EU Accession in 2013.[24] (see for more details 2013 enlargement of the European Union#Post-accession access to free movement in other EU member states)

Immigration options for non-EU citizens

Immigration to Germany as a non-EU-citizen is still limited to skilled workers (individuals with either a university or polytechnic degree or at least 3 years of training together with job experience), students and their immediate family members. Germany has 3 types of immigration titles: Visas (validity of up to 90 days), (temporary) residence permits, and settlement permits (permanent residence permits). Work permits, if granted, are no longer issued independently but included within the immigration title and are available for foreigners that either fall into one of the several available permit categories (IT specialists, company trained specialist within a group of companies, managing personnel, scientists, highly skilled workers with exceptional income, etc.) or can prove a public interest in the employment. The categories and all requirements are listed in the ordinance on employment.[25]

The former information technology(IT)Greencard program has been updated with a specific category within the ordinance on employment that allows IT specialists with a university or polytechnic degree to migrate to Germany for employment. Self-employment requires either an initial investment of EUR 250,000 and the creation of a minimum 5 jobs[26] or the support of the local chambers of commerce or similar organizations that confirm the business plan' s socioeconomic value for the region.

After obtaining a university degree in Germany, foreign students may stay for one additional year to find a job that matches their qualifications.

Plans were discussed in 2009 to open the labour market for all foreigners holding a university degree, that have a specific job offer and for all graduates of German schools, including those located abroad.

Any person married to a German citizen or being a parent of a German minor may immigrate to Germany.

Immigrants need to be either enrolled in a school or university, have a specific job offer that fits the requirements of one of the work permit categories or intend to reunify with close family (spouse or minors) already residing in Germany (family reunification visa).

Business visa

Business visas are available for 90 days within every 6 months. Although it is possible to act as managing director, teacher, university scientist, sportsperson, actor, model or journalist on the basis of a business visa, businesspersons may only attend contract negotiations and buy or sell goods for an employer abroad. All other economic activity is considered work and must not be performed on the basis of a business visa.

Germany is offering two different types of work or business visa categories: employment visa and self-employment visa.[27]

Student visa

In Germany, there are student applicant visas and student visas. The former can be applied for when the admission to a university is not yet completed, and lasts for three months, which can be extended up to six months. When a student visa is granted, the application for an extended residence permit should follow at the respective university office. This is relevant for non-EU citizens and all students who intend to stay longer than 90 days.[28][29] While applying for a German national visa it is necessary for foreign student prepare in advance with documents that need to be submitted[30]

In general, public German universities don't charge tuition fees. This usually also applies to foreign students.[31] The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) provides support for international students and academic cooperation.

After graduating, citizens of the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA) have free access to the German job market. Graduates from other countries can extend their residence permit for up to 18 months to look for employment. While many employers prefer proper German-language skills, there is also a great variety of English-language and globalised jobs in Germany, especially in multinational companies, many startups and in research fields.[32][33] According to a study of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), around 54 percent of foreign students in Germany decide to stay after graduation.[34]

Asylum seekers and refugees

German asylum law is based on the 1993 amendment of article 16a of the Basic Law as well as on the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.

In accordance with the Geneva Convention on Refugees, Germany grants refugee status to persons that are facing prosecution because of their race, religion, nationality or belonging to a special group. Since 2005, recognized refugees enjoy the same rights as people who were granted asylum.[35]

Distribution of refugees within the federal states has been accomplished by the annually recalculated "Königsteiner Schlüssel".[36]

Naturalization

A person who has immigrated to Germany may choose to become a German citizen. A right to become a German citizen (Anspruchseinbürgerung) arises when a person:[37]:19

In the first three cases, the exemption is of right, in the fourth and fifth cases, an application for permission to retain the nationality of origin must be made prior to naturalisation. Typical examples of the fourth and fifth cases include where a person would be unable to inherit real property in the country of origin. (Particular problems have arisen in this regard with, e.g. Turkish applicants, in the past).

A person who does not have a right to naturalisation may nonetheless acquire German nationality by discretionary naturalisation (Ermessenseinbürgerung). The applicant must fulfill certain minimum requirements.[37]:38

Spouses and same-sex civil partners of German citizens may also be naturalised after only 3 years of residence (and two years of marriage).[37]:42

Under certain conditions children born on German soil after the year 1990 are automatically granted German citizenship and, in most cases, also hold the citizenship of their parents' home country.

Applications for naturalisation made outside Germany are possible under certain circumstances, but are relatively rare.

Immigrant population in Germany by country of birth

Further information: Demographics of Germany

According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany in 2012, 92% of residents (73.9 million) in Germany had German citizenship,[38] with 80% of the population were Germans (64.7 million) having no immigrant background. Of the 20% (16.3 million) people with immigrant background, 3.0 million (3.7%) had Turkish, 1.5 million (1.9%) Polish, 1.2 million (1.5%) Russian and 0.85 million (0.9%) Italian background.[39]

In 2014, most people without German citizenship were Turkish (1.52 million), followed by Polish (0.67 million), Italian (0.57 million), Romanians (0.36 million) and Greek citizens (0.32 million).[40]

As of 2015, the numbers of selected groups of resident foreign nationals in Germany were as follows:[41]

Rank Nationality Population

(2015)[42]

1 Turkey 1,506,113
2 Poland 740,962
3 Italy 596,127
4 Romania 452,718
5 Syria 366,556
6 Greece 339,931
7 Croatia 297,895
8 Serbia 260,212
9 Russia 230,994
10 Bulgaria 226,926
11 Kosovo 208,613
12 Austria 181,756
13 Hungary 178,221
14 Bosnia and Herzegovina 167,975
15 Spain 155,918
16 Netherlands 147,322
17 Iraq 136,399
18 Portugal 133,929
19 Ukraine 133,774
20 Afghanistan 131,454
21 France 126,739
22 China 119,590
23 United States 111,529
24 United Kingdom 105,965
25 Macedonia 95,976
26 Vietnam 87,214
27 India 86,324
28 Iran 72,531
29 Morocco 72,129
30 Albania 69,532
31 Pakistan 61,720
0Unknown 61,221
32 Thailand 58,784
33 Czech Republic 53,908
34 Slovakia 50,889
35 Kazakhstan 46,344
36 Lithuania 43,057
37  Switzerland 39,780
38 Brazil 38,650
39 Nigeria 37,404
40 Lebanon 37,160
41 Japan 35,004
42 Tunisia 30,696
43 South Korea 30,243
44 Latvia 30,157
45 Ghana 29,590
46 Slovenia 27,222
47 Belgium 26,613
48 Sri Lanka 25,759
49 Somalia 23.350
50 Egypt 22.979
51 Montenegro 22,773
52 Georgia 22,030
53 Belarus 21,151
54 Philippines 21,007
55 Denmark 20,828
56 Algeria 20,505
57 Sweden 19,305
58 Cameroon 19,800
59 Armenia 19,222
60 Azerbaijan 18,766
61 Luxembourg 16,848
62 Indonesia 16,738
63 Finland 14,580
64 Ethiopia 14,510
65 Ireland 13,108
66 Moldova 14,815
67 Israel 12,835
68 Australia 12,295
69 Togo 10,145
70 Jordan 10,041
71 Democratic Republic of the Congo 9,299
72 Chile 6,976
73 Taiwan 6,705
74 Norway 6,536
75 Estonia 6,286
76 South Africa 5,308
77 Argentina 4,791
78 Palestine 2,531
79 Cyprus 1,998
80 Iceland 1,503
81 Malta 610
82 Liechtenstein 251

Comparison with other European Union countries

According to Eurostat 47.3 million people lived in the European Union in 2010, who were born outside their resident country which corresponds to 9.4% of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (6.3%) were born outside the EU and 16.0 million (3.2%) were born in another EU member state. The largest absolute numbers of people born outside the EU were in Germany (6.4 million), France (5.1 million), the United Kingdom (4.7 million), Spain (4.1 million), Italy (3.2 million), and the Netherlands (1.4 million).[43]

Country Total population
(thousands) 		Total foreign-born
(thousands) 		% Born in other EU state
(thousands)		 % Born in a non-EU state
(thousands)		 %
EU 27501,09847,3489.415,9803.231,3686.3
Germany81,8029,81212.03,3964.26,4157.8
France64,7167,19611.12,1183.35,0787.8
United Kingdom62,0087,01211.32,2453.64,7687.7
Spain45,9896,42214.02,3285.14,0948.9
Italy60,3404,7988.01,5922.63,2055.3
Netherlands16,5751,83211.14282.61,4048.5
Greece11,3051,25611.13152.89408.3
Sweden9,3401,33714.34775.18599.2
Austria8,3671,27615.25126.17649.1
Belgium (2007)10,6661,38012.96956.56856.4
Portugal10,6377937.51911.86025.7
Denmark5,5345009.01522.83486.3

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Germany Top Migration Land After U.S. in New OECD Ranking". Bloomberg. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  2. ↑ , SpiegelOnline 25.01.2011.
  3. ↑ "Konrad Adenauer Stiftung" , viewed on 31.3.2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Eric Solsten (1995). "Germany: A Country Study; Chapter: Immigration". Washington DC: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Kay Hailbronner (1994). "Asylum law reform in the German Constitution" (PDF). American University International Law Review. pp. 159–179.
  6. ↑ James M. Didden, (1994). "Toward collective responsibility in asylum law: Reviving the eroding right to political asylum in the US and the Federal Republic of Germany" (PDF). American University International Law Review. pp. 79–123.
  7. ↑ Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF): Asylum law
  8. ↑ Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF): Annual Report on Migration and International Protection Statistics 2008
  9. ↑ " Kriegsflüchtlinge aus dem ehemaligen Jugoslawien nach Zielland (Schätzung des UNHCR, Stand März 1995)", viewed on 31.3.2015.
  10. ↑ "Asylbewerberleistungen", published on 4.9.2014.
  11. 1 2 "Pegida - Faktencheck: Asylbewerber". Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "202.834 Asylanträge im Jahr 2014", Bundesministerium des Inneren; press release 14.01.2015 .
  13. 1 2 "Zahl der Flüchtlinge erreicht "Allzeithoch"" retrieved 19.8.2015
  14. ↑ Knapp 8,2 Millionen Ausländer leben in Deutschland, "sueddeutsche.de" published in March 2015 .
  15. ↑ "Ausländische Bevölkerung nach Ländern".
  16. ↑ "Conflicts in the Middle East fueled by religious intolerance", Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Immer mehr Asylanträge in Deutschland", Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Überfüllte Asylbewerberheime: BAMF erwartet mehr Zulauf", Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Zuwanderung: Thomas de Maizière in Meißen zu aktuellen Asylfragen", Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Abgelehnte Asylbewerber: De Maizière setzt auf rasche Abschiebung", Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Neue Prognose für Deutschland 2015: Vizekanzler Gabriel spricht von einer Million Flüchtlingen", Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Steinmeier will schnellere Abschiebung von Balkan-Flüchtlingen" retrieved 18.8.2015
  23. ↑ "Zahl der Abschiebungen aus Deutschland deutlich gestiegen" retrieved 18.8.2015
  24. ↑
  25. ↑ Ordinance on employment (German)
  26. ↑ Residence Act in the version promulgated on 25 February 2008 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 162), last amended by Article 3 of the Act of 6 September 2013 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 3556)
  27. ↑ http://www.germany-migration.com/working-in-germany/
  28. ↑ "Student visas in Germany". Study in Germany - Land of Ideas. German Academic Exchange Service & Ministry of Education and Research. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  29. ↑ Study in Germany Guide by Mawista
  30. ↑ Student Visa for Germany
  31. ↑ Strasser, Franz. "How US students get a university degree for free in Germany". BBC. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  32. ↑ Toytown Germany - English-language and global jobs in Germany
  33. ↑ "Embarking on your career after studying". German Academic Exchange Service DAAD. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  34. ↑ "BAMF’s Graduates Study: Every second foreign student stays in Germany after graduation". Make it in Germany. German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  35. ↑ Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF): Protecting refugees
  36. ↑ "Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz – Büro – Bekanntmachung des Königsteiner Schlüssels für das Jahr 2014". 4 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  37. 1 2 3 Federal Government Commissioner for Migrants, Refugees and Integration. Wege zur Einbürgerung. Wie werde ich Deutsche? – Wie werde ich Deutscher? 2008.
  38. ↑ Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis). Population based on the 2011 Census. Population by sex and citizenship
  39. ↑ Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). Migrationsbericht des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge im Auftrag der Bundesregierung. Migrationsbericht 2012. 2014.
  40. ↑ Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis). Foreign population, 2007 to 2013 by selected citizenships.
  41. ↑ https://www.destatis.de/DE/Publikationen/Thematisch/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/AuslaendBevoelkerung2010200147004.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
  42. ↑ https://www.destatis.de/DE/Publikationen/Thematisch/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/AuslaendBevoelkerung.html?n n=68748
  43. ↑ 6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are born abroad, Eurostat, Katya VASILEVA, 34/2011. Archived August 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

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Governmental

"6.180,013" Ausländer in Deutschland
"Unsere Aufnahmekapazität ist begrenzt, ..."
German Foreign Office
Federal Office for Migration and Refugees

Non-governmental

Legal Guide to Germany
German Citizenship Test
Information for moving to and working in Germany for immigrants
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