So far, only a draft of the changes exists. They have not yet been legislatively approved. The innovations are being developed by officials of the conference of interior ministers of the German federal states. They will then submit them to the Bundesrat, which is to make the final decision. To date, a dispute continues over four points: restrictions for persons over 45 years of age, restrictions by profession, a German language exam, and finally, whether new arrivals are entitled to receive social assistance.
In an interview with Deutsche Welle, the press service of the German Interior Ministry said that all legislative acts that existed before January 1, 2005, remain in force at the moment. This means that the new rules will not apply at all to people who have already received an invitation from the German government but have not yet entered the Federal Republic.
"For citizens who are expecting a similar invitation, no final decision has been made yet," the Interior Ministry stressed, but cautiously hinted that preference will likely still be given to persons who have professions in demand on the German labor market. In addition, apparently, the provision on language courses for new arrivals will not be repealed.
Legislatively, all changes must be approved no later than the second half of this year. Possibly, already in March, the German Interior Ministry will publish additional information on this matter. As for the idea of abolishing social assistance, this contradicts German legislation, so it can be assumed that it will be retained.
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