German Work Force Law is expected to take effect on January 1st, embassies in Pristina, Tirana prepare for influx of visa seekers

So far, several hundred thousand workers from Western Balkan countries have gone to Germany to work through the German government's Balkan Adjust.

It is seen by experts as a major success that is meeting the needs of the German labour market.

According to the German Economy Institute (IW) early this year, there have been close to 100,000 people from Western Balkan countries working in simple jobs in Germany and 60,000 others who have found qualified jobs.

But this special regulation of the German government, which was offered as an opportunity to reduce the number of refugees from Balkan countries in 2015, ends in 2020.

On January 1st, German labor force law is expected to take effect, regulating in detail the arrival of the workforce from countries outside the EU.

For the first time, you may even visit Germany on a six - month visa to look for work by personally covering the expenses for this period.

In addition, youths under the age of 25 who have graduated from school may go to seek a place of qualification for up to six months if their maturity qualifies them for higher school if they get to know German at B2 and make their own living at this time.

Periodic Review of the Visa

The law sounds like a beautiful promise, but how will you get to a visa?

Although Germany is pursuing an open policy in terms of securing the workforce from abroad, the actual way of going as a regular worker to this country is very long.

The visa has become the main obstacle to the timely arrival of the qualified workforce for German enterprises.

Up to a year and more, visa applicants are expected only for taking a time to introduce documents to German embassies in Balkan countries.

The German Chamber of Industry and Trade, (DIHK), has recently criticised the prolonged visa waiting phenomenon.

The German economy has high expectations from the law for the arrival of the workforce, the institution says.

Many firms have problems finding workforce.

Therefore, DIHK requires that the target must be cutting waiting time for an embassy time and obtaining a visa from what is now a year until some weeks”, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, DIHK quoted.

According to the DIHK president, Erich Schweitzer, “these are dependent on it since 2020 to have really accelerated procedures on recruiting the workforce from countries outside the EU”.

These concerns of the German Chamber of Commerce coincide with reports in the media, that in the coming years, a reduction in workforce by EU countries is expected. The law on qualified labor power also envisions accelerated labor - force procedure if required by the employer.

Reaction from the Foreign Ministry

Deutsche Welle has asked the German Foreign Ministry what preparations are being made to cope with the possible influx of visa requirements from January 1st 2020, when it comes into force, the law on qualified labour power.

The press office has reacted with a statement stressing that the “Foreign Ministry, along with other actors involved in the visa process, is preparing intensively before the law's entry into force for qualified labour power. The purpose of various measures is further improvements in terms of efficiency and courtesy to applicants in the visa process through increased capacity, further digitisation and concrete measures for reducing the administrative process in the visa-taking procedure”.

Many applicants for a working visa at German embassies in Tirana and Pristina complain of the long procedures that endanger even the workplace they have managed to find in Germany.

One of the requirements for obtaining a long-term visa is recognition of professional qualifications.

According to the German Foreign Ministry's press office as a rule, interestrs are required to have an official profession recognition and may then seek a visa.

It is now scheduled to establish a central workforce that requires recognition of the qualifications.

This service centre will advise applicants in the countries they are in and accompany them to relevant procedures”, said the German Foreign Ministry.

But if these measures will provide concrete effect for cutting the waiting time for obtaining a visa, this will be shown next year.

German DIHK has already asked the German government to raise personnel at German embassies and create conditions for receiving the qualified workforce from abroad. / DW/