In March 2020, a new immigration law was introduced in Germany, with the goal of better regulating work immigration and talent mobility.   Here is a summary of the main changes and new regulations in the law, aimed to assist you in your international talent recruitment practice.  For more information: mhenig.com

1. FACHKRÄFTEEINWANDERUNGSGESE
TZ
GUIDELINES FOR
EMPLOYERS
FEBRUARY 2020

2. NEW IMMIGRATION LAWS:
MAIN GOALS
• The new immigration law (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz)
came into effect on March 1st, 2020.
• It is designed to achieve a double goal:
• Attracting talent to Germany
• Handling the labour shortage of professionals in Germany

3. EMPLOYER´S
OBLIGAITIONS
(§4a FACHKRÄFTEEINWANDERUNGSGESETZ)
• Review employee´s work and residence permits, in order to
make sure that all employees hold valid and adequate work
permits.
• Keep copies of residence and work permits of international
employees. Those copies must be kept – either in paper or
electronically – throughout the entire time of employment.
• Inform the authorities (Ausländerbehörde/ Landesamt für
Einwanderung) in case of early termination. The notice must
be given within 4 weeks from the date of termination.

4. EMPLOYEES MUST HAVE A WORK
PERMIT IN ORDER TO START
WORKING
(§4a FACHKRÄFTEEINWANDERUNGSGESETZ)
• The new laws and regulations are supposed to make it
easier to hire international talent.
• Despite this fact, the requirement of having a work permit
in order to start working did not change.
• This means: all employees must have an adequate work
permit in order to start working.
• Employers must make sure this holds for all new hires.

5. OUR ORGANIZATIONAL
TIPS
• Take ownership over work permit processes for your
employees
• Implement receiving and properly filing copies of work and
residence permits as part of the onboarding process (if not
as part of the recruitement process)
• Keep visa information of your international employees in
one place, together with the rest of their information

6. • Keep track of your employee´s work and residence permits
expiration dates, in order to offer visa extension support
(and thereby making sure that everybody works legally)
• Apply in time:
• The Foreigners´ Registration Office is usually very busy.
• In some cases, appointments need to be made months in advance
• We recommend to start working on visa extensions 4-6 months in
advance in order to avoid unpleasant situations
OUR ORGANIZATIONAL
TIPS

7. NEW REGULATIONS:
BLUE CARDS
(§18b FACHKRÄFTEEINWANDERUNGSGESETZ)
• Change in Blue Card eligibility:
• NEW: The candidate's job now MUST fit to their academic
education.
• This requirement is additional to the education and salary
requirements
• Our tip:
• Avoid discussions about the type of permit you as an
employer would be able to support
• Do not mention the words “Blue Card” to your candidates
throughout the recruitment process, as Blue Card eligibility is
complex, and we do not want to make promises that cannot
be kept later

8. NEW REGULATIONS:
CANDIDATES WITHOUT A
DIPLOMA
(§6, §18 FACHKRÄFTEEINWANDERUNGSGESETZ)
• The new law suggests some liberalizations of work
permits for IT-specialists with no recognized education:
• New regulation: IT-specialists with no adequate
academic degree could obtain a work permit, if they
could prove 3 years of experience and a certain salary
threshold (50K p.a for 2020).
• Liberalization of the specialist visa: it should be easier
to obtain without proving previous experience.

9. NEW REGULATIONS / MAIN
CHANGES
(§39, §42 FACHKRÄFTEEINWANDERUNGSGESETZ)
• Nachgelagertes Prüfungsrecht:
• The Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) may
retroactively review applications, in order to make sure that the
work conditions which were presented in the applications are kept.
• They may sanction employers who changed the work conditions
after a work permit was granted (e.g. reduction of salary).
• Auskunftspflicht:
• employers must provide the Federal employment agency with
information regarding all candidates (upon demand).
• The duty of providing information existed until now only in certain
cases.

10. SPECIAL REGULATIONS FOR
BERLIN
• Processing of applications in the G2C path will be performed
in departments B1 and B2 in Keplerstr. 2 (U7
Mierendorffplatz)
• Appointments might be hard to find.
• Our tip: be persistent and as well prepared as possible in
order to support the efficiency of visa processes.
FACHKRÄFTEEINWANDERUNGSGES
ETZ

11. • Work and residence permits will be issued in form of
electronic cards and not as stickers anymore. The cards
take 6-8 weeks to arrive.
• Unlike in the past, it will not be possible anymore to receive
a temporary work permit until the card arrives. Applicants
will be able to start working only once they have the card.
• Due to those regulations, we estimate that work permit
processes might take longer in the future.
SPECIAL REGULATIONS FOR
BERLIN
FACHKRÄFTEEINWANDERUNGSGES
ETZ

12. QUESTIONS?
Please do not hesitate to contact
us 