Door still only half open with German immigration policy<\/p>\n
Guenther Voss, Berlin, Deutsche Presse Agentur<\/p>\n
Harianto Wijaya made headlines across Germany in July 2000.<\/p>\n
Amid great fanfare, the 25-year-old Indonesian computer expert
\nwas granted the first-ever so-called Green Card.<\/p>\n
Employment Minister Walter Riester, who had been a hesitant
\nadvocate of the innovation, announced Germany was finally ready
\nto compete on the world market by attracting such specialists.<\/p>\n
More than a year later, the balance sheet looks rather
\nsobering. Since its introduction about 8,600 specialists have,
\nlike Wijaya, received a Green Card, which bestows work and
\nresidency permission for a five- year period.<\/p>\n
In early 2000 the computer branch had, however, announced a
\nmuch higher short-term need of between 75,000 and 100,000
\nspecialists it said it could not find in Germany.<\/p>\n
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder reacted, making the
\nsurprise announcement at the Cebit computer fair in February 2000
\nthat an exception would be made to existing immigration laws to
\nfacilitate the entry of computer specialist.<\/p>\n
Schroeder set his employment minister to work on the project
\nand the Green Card idea, along with a thorny national debate
\nabout the country's immigration laws in general, emerged.<\/p>\n
The Green Card was supposed to follow the American example and
\nprovide a relatively nonbureaucratic and speedy entry to those
\nwho were useful to the country's economy.<\/p>\n
But with four million unemployed and the country's unions
\nsolidly opposed to Riester's plan and others criticizing it as
\ntoo restrictive, a cry of protest rang out as the employment
\nminister submitted his first draft for a bill changing the
\nregulations.<\/p>\n
Some said the requirements for computer-and communications
\nspecialists were so strict that even Microsoft founder Bill Gates
\nwould have been denied entry.<\/p>\n
Only those who could show they had passed university final
\nexams were to be admitted and that for only three years, with the
\npossibility of extending their stay for an additional two years.<\/p>\n
But political pressure forced a relaxation of these
\nrestrictions, lengthening the permit to a five-year period and
\nallowing family members to accompany the foreign workers to
\nGermany.<\/p>\n
Another provision allowed the recognition of a company's offer
\nof an annual income of 100,000 marks (US$45,60) annually as an
\nalternative application criterium. The number of Green Cards
\navailable was set at 20,000 per year.
\nThe innovation appeared to be popular, with 20,000 people from
\nall over he world inquiring about it immediately via Internet.<\/p>\n
But the expected rush never materialised. Officials even
\nindicated recently their willingness to eliminate the five-year
\nresidency limit.<\/p>\n
Wijaya, who has lived in Germany since 1993, thinks he knows
\nwhy officials are considering loosening the restriction. He says
\nwould-be foreign workers are \"afraid they will not be accepted in
\nGermany and afraid that the door to Germany is only half open,\"
\nhe told the German magazine Stern.<\/p>\n
It is for this reason, he says, that Germany will have
\ndifficulty attracting the 50,000 well-educated and qualified
\nprofessionals a specially-appointed commission recently said are
\nneeded.<\/p>\n
Wijaya also says work conditions are better in other countries
\nthan in Germany, that they offer more money and lower taxes. An
\nAmerican company had tempted Wijaya in this way, offering him
\n$112,500, he said.<\/p>\n
\"That's hard -- even for German companies, \" Wijaya said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/door-still-only-half-open-with-german-immigration-policy-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }