German Immigration Double Standards

The motto in Germany right now is “We’re open”. Recently Germany had Ursula von der Leyen, the Minister for Labour and Social Affairs travelling to Spain to encourage more Spaniards to move to Germany and work here while Phillip Rösler, the Minister for Economics and Technology, took a trip to Silicon Valley where he tried to encourage more IT specialists and other professionals to move to Germany.

The government recently did abolish some of the laws and even make some more flexible for students who study here, and would be interested in staying after they’re done with their studies. (Read: Good News for Students and Professionals). The country is also out trying to import trained health professionals (Read: Germany to Import Nurses) and even tried to make it easier for Non-Academics to move to Germany (Read: Germany Opens its Doors to Non-Academic Foreigners).

Unfortunately even with so many reforms, we continue to read stories of foreigners getting Ausbildung positions but not getting a visa (Deportation instead of Ausbildung Visa and Kenyan Denied Visa Despite having an Ausbildung Position). It’s also not unheard of, for someone to complete their Ausbildung only to be told to go back home to apply for a work permit.

So is this a double standard in the German laws, in that the government is out there encouraging people to move to Germany BUT will not encourage those who are already here to stay? Ms. von der Leyen was recently asked this question but refused to answer it. What do you think? Is there a hole in this immigration debate?

A survey done a while back did show that very few students in Germany, wanted to stay and live in Germany after their studies. (Read: Do students want to and can they stay after their studies? )