Bureaucracy: Scholz wants to expand the immigration of skilled workers from India

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to significantly expand the immigration of skilled workers from India, especially from the IT sector. “The fact is that we want to simplify issuing visas,” said Scholz during a visit to the southern Indian tech metropolis of Bengaluru on Sunday. “In addition to the legal modernization, we intend to modernize the entire bureaucratic process.” It takes a lot of skilled workers to meet the need for software development, he said.

According to the plans, for example, it should be easier for specialists who are wanted in Germany to come to the country with their families, said Scholz. It should also initially be possible without a specific job offer. Scholz also addressed the fact that sought-after specialists from India speak more often English than German and could therefore prefer other locations. “It is clear that anyone who comes to Germany as an IT specialist can only easily converse with all their colleagues in English because many in Germany can speak English,” said Scholz. German can be learned later.

India is the country with the second largest population in the world, just behind China with around 1.4 billion inhabitants. And while Germany urgently needs certain skilled workers, there is a lack of jobs for the young population in India. According to its own statements, the German embassy in New Delhi issued visas to around 2,500 to 3,000 specialists last year, most of whom were IT specialists. They therefore expect a significant increase in the number of visas issued this year.

During his visit to India, Scholz tries to strengthen Germany’s relations with India. The background is, among other things, the Russian war of aggression, in which India takes a neutral stance – also because of dependencies on Russia. Germany wants to change this.