With a so-called right of residence, the coalition parties want to help integrated foreigners who have been living in Germany for several years without a secure status.

"For many local businesses - medium-sized companies, master craftsmen, bakers or restaurateurs - the search for skilled workers is already an existential question," said Deputy SPD parliamentary group leader Dirk Wiese before the first consultation in the Bundestag on the bill to reform the right of residence, scheduled for Wednesday evening. It is completely incomprehensible when well-integrated tolerated people are sent back to their home country to instead laboriously recruit urgently needed workers abroad.

According to the plans of the traffic light coalition, anyone who has lived in Germany for five years on January 1, 2022 and has not committed a crime should be granted a right of residence. He then has one year to fulfill the requirements for a regular right of residence.

"In 2021 there were 136,605 tolerated foreigners who had been in Germany for more than five years - we want to turn these people from aid recipients into taxpayers," said FDP politician Stephan Thomae.

"It is important that the identity is clarified and the livelihood is secured," emphasized Wiese. The changes in immigration law that have not yet been implemented, which the SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on in their coalition agreement, include the plan to "clarify the identity of a foreigner with the possibility of submitting an affidavit". to expand.

criticism from the Union

The Union expressed general concerns about the planned reform of the right of residence. "In future, those up to the age of 27 who are obliged to leave the country should be given a right to stay in Germany after just three years of residence and schooling - this will give young people a right to stay regardless of their actual claim to protection," criticized Andrea Lindholz, deputy leader of the parliamentary group. As a result, the result of the asylum procedure becomes irrelevant in many cases. "That's grotesque and, in case of doubt, will produce imitators, i.e. even more irregular immigration to Germany," said the CSU politician.

According to information from coalition circles, another project aimed at accelerating the asylum procedure is to be discussed in the Bundestag before the end of this year. According to a draft bill that has already been sent to states and associations for comments, the so-called rule review is to be abolished at the same time. So far, this check has automatically checked after a certain period of time whether there are reasons for revoking or withdrawing the recognition of the right to asylum and the granting of refugee status. In the future, this review should only be carried out "as required" - also in order to relieve the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf).

Advice should be improved

The draft, which is available to the German Press Agency, also provides for the introduction of agency-independent advice for asylum seekers, which is financially supported by the federal government. It is said that it is intended to entrust the members of the federal working group for free welfare and, if necessary, "other civil society actors" with asylum procedure advice. "In order to prepare the foreigner as best as possible for the hearing, the asylum procedure advice that is independent of the authorities should, if possible, start before the hearing," the Federal Ministry of the Interior suggests. For the year 2023, 20 million euros have been budgeted for funding. From 2024, an annual financing requirement of 80 million euros is calculated.

It is important to significantly speed up the asylum procedure so that it is quickly clear who can stay in Germany and who cannot, said Thomae. With a view to the independent advice given to asylum seekers, however, he still had a few questions about the process, responsibility and funding.

It remains to be seen whether the planned law will actually lead to an acceleration of the asylum court procedures and asylum procedures, said Lindholz. She rather fears "that the procedures will be drawn out even further by the future state-funded, authority-independent asylum procedure advice".

Bamf on the revocation and withdrawal of the draft law on the right of residence