Germany agrees on foreigners' residence rights
20 November 2006
Expatica News
Nuremberg, Germany (dpa) – Interior ministers of Germany's 16 federal states agreed Friday on a compromise designed to end a simmering row over foreigners' rights to remain in the country.
In a meeting held in the southern city of Nuremberg, the ministers worked out a “two-stage” plan that would legally allow foreigners who have long been tolerated without having residence status, to stay, provided they have jobs.
Uwe Schuenemann, interior minister in Lower Saxony, said some 20,000 of the estimated 180,000 to 200,000 foreigners tolerated in Germany would benefit from the new regulations.
Foreigners without jobs would have until the end of September 2007 to find work, after which they would be granted a two-year residence permit, he said.
The new rules apply to unmarried foreigners who have been in Germany for at least eight years and to families who have been living in the country for six years or more.
Federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble described the meeting as having achieved a “good result,” which went a long way to improving the situation concerning residency rights.
DPA
Subject: German news
