Once and never again: This is how Ioannis Tsantoulis, owner of a dental laboratory in the west of Nuremberg, describes his experience with recruiting specialists abroad.

For almost a year he had been looking for a dental technician, first in Germany, then outside: in Greece, from where he himself came to Germany in 1988, in Spain and Portugal.

Finally he got an application from Serbia that convinced him.

To this day, however, he can only shake his head at the process that followed: “So much paper, so much bureaucracy.

I was often close to just giving up. "

Britta Beeger

Editor in business.

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Tsantoulis initially wanted to bring the man into the country via the "Western Balkans Regulation", which allows people from certain countries to enter the country without formal qualifications, provided they have a job.

But for many months at the German consulate in Belgrade: nothing happened.

Then Tsantoulis heard about the “accelerated procedure” in the Skilled Workers Immigration Act, which came into force in March of last year.

People from third countries can thus obtain a visa and recognition of the foreign qualification more quickly.

Tsantoulis paid around 500 euros - “I thought it was only available in Greece” - and it actually only took a few weeks after that until everything was settled.

To this day, however, he still does not know whether the effort was worth it.

In any case, he cannot yet fully deploy his new employee in the manufacture of bridges, crowns and dentures, as they still lack some specialist knowledge.

And what if he leaves at some point?

Expand the Blue Card

The example from Nuremberg is just one of many that show that if Germany wants to attract more skilled workers from abroad, there is still a lot to do. Since the Skilled Workers Immigration Act came into force, companies can finally not only recruit academics, but also professionally qualified people from countries outside the EU: cooks, welders, electricians, mechatronics technicians. The promise is that anyone with an employment contract and suitable qualification is allowed to come. What sounds simple, however, often turns out to be a major hurdle in practice. Because the dual vocational training is almost unique in the world. This makes it difficult for foreigners to prove an "equivalent" qualification, as required by law.

Franziska Röder, who has advised companies on the subject for several years at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Nuremberg, has also made this experience. Coming to Germany as an academic is “pretty easy,” she says. All universities and degrees that are considered to be equivalent are recorded in a central database. Professionally qualified specialists, on the other hand, always go through an individual process. “Certificates are often presented that are insufficient,” says Röder. But without a recognized formal qualification, there is little chance of a work visa.

The new federal government has decided to approach this again.

The hurdles in the recognition of educational and professional qualifications should decrease and bureaucracy should be reduced, it says in the coalition agreement - how exactly is not explained.

The SPD, Greens and FDP want to “accelerate and digitalize” visas.

In addition, the traffic light parties have agreed on two projects.

The blue card for academics should be extended to non-academic professions.

In addition, workers should be able to come to Germany more easily to look for work: with a “chance card” based on a point system.

Competition with China, Japan or Canada

How this will look in practice and how the various approaches will turn into a coherent overall concept remains to be seen.

Daniel Terzenbach, who is responsible for the immigration of skilled workers on the board of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and has agreed several agreements with Indonesia or the Indian state of Kerala, especially in the field of care, is already quite impressed by the plans.

Terzenbach has often seen how much Germany competes for skilled workers with other countries.

"Take Indonesia: Not only are we at the door, but also China, Japan or Canada," he says.

The situation is similar in the Philippines, Vietnam and Mexico: "So we have to promote ourselves very strongly, there is no getting around it."