By Uglobal Staff
While Germany is going through a historic change with the exit of the country’s longest serving Chancellor Angela Merkel and the defeat of her party – the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) – to the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) in the elections, global immigration experts believe that German immigration laws are likely to stay the same with the focus on foreign entrepreneurs and qualified skilled workers.
Aykut Elseven, who is the founding partner at Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte in Germany, said he does not foresee a Golden Visa-like visa residency stream for foreign investors anytime soon after the elections, and instead expects the focus to remain on entrepreneurs and talented workers who can give a boost to the German economy.
“At present, it is still too early to assess the impact of the German federal elections on migration law. It is not yet clear how the current coalition negotiations of the elected parties will turn out. However, one thing is certain: There will not be a Golden Visa for Germany anytime soon as long as Germany remains economically strong and independent,” Elseven said.
The future of investment immigration in Germany post election
Even though the SPD is now the largest party in the German parliament, it fell short of a majority stake, and is expected to form coalitions with other major political parties such as the CDU and its Bavarian sister group the CSU; the Greens etc.
Whatever the outcome of the coalition, immigration experts don’t expect any adverse immigration policy decisions. Many attorneys expect no changes to.Germany’s policy of issuing residence permits for the purpose of self-employment to foreign applicants following the election.
“With regard to the self-employed visa and in the area of labor migration, however, no change to the detriment is to be expected,” Elseven said. “Germany will remain open to international entrepreneurs who will strengthen Germany’s economy with their innovative ideas and the invested funds.”
Oksana Golubeva, Global Immigration Adviser at The Law Office of Saeed Jaberi in Germany, hinted that the pandemic was more of a major concern than the outcome of the recently held elections.
“We do not expect any legal changes due to the new government in Germany. The last legal change was done in March 2020, and it was mainly related to the skilled workers coming to Germany. As for now, this sphere is well regulated from the legal point of view,” Golubeva said.
“As for investments, we assume that due to pandemic there will be no further development, once pandemic is over, everything should get back on track,” she added.
Germany’s Skilled Worker Immigration Act came into effect on March 1, 2020, which paved the way for qualified workers from non-EU countries to enter the country via a smoother process and also allowed German employers to hire the best qualified person for jobs in their companies.
Although Germany does not have a specific program for investment immigration like in other European countries such as Portugal, Greece, Malta and Cyprus, foreign entrepreneurs can establish their own company with capital of just 25,000 euros in Germany and get three-year long residence permits. Once the business is a success, applicants become eligible for permanent residency and eventually, after around eight years, get the option to apply for German citizenship.
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