Germany is set to end its decades-old closed door policy and allow immigrants to live and work permanently in the country, based on the needs of the employment market.
Radical proposals put forward yesterday will allow unlimited immigration of highly-skilled workers and limited immigration of less-skilled workers, while at the same time cracking down on abuse of Germany's asylum procedures.
"We are an immigration country and that is irreversible. The decades-old denial of reality has come to an end," said the Interior Minister, Mr Otto Schily, yesterday.
The new legislation, described by Mr Schily as "modern, liberal and needs-oriented", is based on two central pillars. Highly qualified foreigners would be given unlimited access to the German employment market with no quota-limitations. Numbers should not be dictated by fixed quotas but by regional variations in the employment market.
Immigration of less-qualified workers would be regulated by quotas and a points system. The points system favours young, well-educated workers with knowledge of German and other languages. Those with limited German would be obliged to take language courses "to encourage integration".
Immigrants would be entitled to bring their spouse and children under 16, as long as they still live with their family. If not, the cut-off age for children will be 12 years.
That was just one of several concessions Mr Schily made to the opposition Christian Democrats, which he hopes will aid cross-party consensus. He said it was essential for future generations that the legislation pass through both houses of parliament without being weighed down by "special pleading".
"I am confident that sense will prevail," said Mr Schily.
To counter abuse of the asylum system, residency permits for asylum seekers will be reviewed after three years. Until now, they had an unlimited right to remain in Germany.
The discussion about immigration began last summer with a government-sponsored Green Card programme for IT workers. A year on, that programme is widely perceived as a flop, with hundreds of unclaimed visas remaining.
Without immigration, the population of Germany could shrink from 82 million to 60 million in the next 50 years, according to a recent study. But with 3.8 million unemployed, encouraging immigrant workers into Germany remains a charged topic and is likely to be a key issue in next year's federal election.
