A look back at one year of the Skilled Workers Immigration Act

1 March 2021 is the first anniversary of Germany´s Skilled Workers Immigration Act. The initial assessment is positive: Despite the pandemic, 30,000 visas for skilled workers and trainees were granted.

During the first year of the Skilled Workers Immigration Act, several federal states in Germany have set up central foreigners authorities that specialise in questions of skilled labour immigration.

The Federal Employment Agency has set up a Central Service Point for Professional Recognition for interested skilled workers abroad.

The important new instrument of the fast-track procedure for skilled workers is increasingly used.

Background information on the Skilled Workers Immigration Act:
The Skilled Workers Immigration Act was part of the new legislatives on migration passed by the German Bundestag in June 2019. Its focus is on skilled workers with formal vocational training. The new Act enables entry for the purpose of seeking training places and jobs for these skilled workers. The examination of the equivalence of the qualification and the examination of working conditions are still fundamental for access to the labour market. The measures for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications have been made more attractive and practical. The BQ-Portal supports companies and professional chambers in assessing foreign professional qualifications by publishing transparent descriptions of the vocational education and training systems for 97 countries and more than 4,300 professional qualifications.

Make it in Germany, the Federal Government's information portal for attracting skilled workers from abroad, provides comprehensive information for companies and foreign skilled workers.

Source: Press release of the Federal Government