Development of skilled migration and effects of the fast-track procedure for skilled workers , Date: 2023.07.19, format: Research report, area: Authority , Accompanying research on the Skilled Immigration Act

Cover Research Report 45 Source: BAMF

It has been apparent for many years that companies in Germany are increasingly suffering from a shortage of skilled workers. There are vacant training and job positions in many sectors and regions for which employers cannot find suitable applicants. Skilled workers are particularly sought after in the health and care sector, in IT and engineering, as well as in the skilled trades and construction. Immigration from both the EU and third countries is one of several important measures to address this shortage. Against this background, the Skilled Immigration Act (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz – FEG) was passed in 2019, which came into force on 1 March 2020 and is intended to facilitate the immigration of skilled workers from third countries.

The accompanying research project "Development of skilled labour migration and effects of the fast-track procedure for skilled workers" was carried out in 2021 and 2022 and aimed to provide an overview of the development of skilled labour immigration since the FEG came into force and to determine how the new regulations have been applied, what challenges still exist and whether this makes skilled labour immigration to Germany more attractive.

For this purpose, data from the Visa Statistics and the Central Register of Foreigners (Ausländerzentralregister – AZR) were analysed to show the quantitative development of educational and labour migration. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 27 foreigners authorities (Ausländerbehörden) nationwide from June to November 2021. This included centralized agencies (zentrale Ausländerbehörden) responsible for the fast-track procedure, which were established in some of the federal states, as well as other selected municipal foreigners authorities in all federal states. Further qualitative interviews were conducted between December 2021 and February 2022 in nine selected German missions abroad.

Core findings of the research report:

  • After a significant decline in educational and labour migration due to the COVID 19 pandemic, immigration from third countries in this regard has been increasing again, especially since the second half of 2021. A quantitative effect of the law cannot be determined due to the pandemic-related entry restrictions introduced almost simul-taneously in March 2020.
  • The fast-track procedure for skilled workers shortens the immigration process, but will not by itself lead to a substantial increase in the number of immigrants. Centralized agencies responsible for the fast-track procedure are generally viewed positively by the authorities because specialist competences can be bundled there and applications can be processed more quickly as a result.
  • The introduction of the FEG was little noticed overall by potential skilled workers in their countries of origin due to insufficient advertising measures. There is little coordination between the German institutions abroad on the already available counselling services.
  • Many new tasks which came with the FEG were not backed up by new staff in the authorities and thus often led to work overloads.
  • Increased digitalisation within and between authorities is necessary for efficient processing of applications of skilled migrants and an acceleration of procedures. Areas where digital procedures are already in place were described as very efficient which contribute to speeding up the application review process.
  • The complex processes involved in the recognition of foreign qualifications greatly delay the processing of applications, especially for non-academic skilled workers.

The research report was written by: Eugenie Becker, Johannes Graf, Barbara Heß and Matthias Huber

The full research report is only available in German.

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