Studying in Germany - entry and residency for educational purposes

The new Immigration Law, which came into force on 1 January 2005, takes into account these developments and facilitates student immigration to Germany. Offering possibilities and long-term perspectives, the new provisons aim at promoting positive effects on the brain gain for Germany.

 

According to section 16 of the Residence Act, a foreigner may be granted a residence permit for the purpose of applying to study and studying at a state or state-recognised university or comparable educational establishment. This includes preparatory measures for a course of study. Initially, the residence permit is issued for two years. It is extended if the end of the university career has not yet been achieved and if it is achievable within a reasonable period. The maximum permissible duration of residence for a foreigner applying for a place to study is nine months.

 

Foreign students may take up employment totalling no more than 90 days or 180 half-days per year, and to take up part-time student employment without approval by the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit).

 

Formerly, after the completion of their studies, students from (mainly developing) foreign countries had to return to their country of origin. With this regulation, Germany aimed at providing assistance to developing countries to get back a part of their human capital. Instead, the new Residence Act opens a long-term perspective for foreign students who have successfully completed their studies. In this case, foreigners’ residence permits may be extended by up to one year for the purposes of seeking a job. The graduate may stay permanently in the country if he or she gets a job that commensurates with his or her qualifications and provided that it is permissible to fill the vacancy with foreigners. This generally presupposes that no German or foreign national with preferential treatment (in particular, EU citizens) can fill the vacancy concerned. In order to extend the residence permit for the purpose of the job search, applicants have to meet the general preconditions according to section 5 of the Residence Act, in particular to secure their livelihood.

 

In exceptional cases, immigrants’ may be granted a residence permit for the purpose of attending school education or of attending language courses. A residence permit can also be issued for the purpose of vocational and industrial training. This generally requires the approval of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) unless determined otherwise by a particular inter-governmental agreement or if this is permitted by legal regulation adopted by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour with the approval of the Bundesrat.

 

The new regulations in the Residence Act clearly facilitate the immigration of foreign students. Nevertheless, one may doubt if influxes of student immigration will keep increasing in Germany. Until now, Germany’s attractiveness as a country of study was due to a high academic standard and the lack of university fees. This has changed. Some German Länder are preparing the introduction of fees since the Federal Consititutional Court declared a federal law on the ban of such fees for invalid in January 2005.

 

The series on German immigration law is to be continued. Read our next articles on immigration prerequisites for family reunification and on integration effords in Germany.

 

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