Various rumors and assumptions regarding changes in the rules for admitting Jewish emigrants to Germany have been circulating since the beginning of the year. They were based on the entry into force in the Federal Republic of Germany on January 1, 2005 of the new law "On Immigration". Its provisions do not imply singling out the Jewish population of the former USSR countries into a separate group. Moreover, the admission rules that were in effect from 1990 until last year were not legally approved and were based only on a formal agreement between the Federal Government and the Jewish communities in Germany. Now everything will comply with the letter of the law. The interior ministers gathered in the capital of Baden-Württemberg approved new admission rules.
It is no secret, however, that not purely legal reasons prompted German politicians to raise this rather sensitive topic. It is rather about economic problems. Representatives of the federal states have recently openly spoken about the "enormous financial costs" that local communes incur when accepting and accommodating Jewish immigrants. At the same time, from one newspaper article to another, information that has appeared unclear how wanders around that 60% of all new immigrants from post-Soviet countries are unemployed and receive state support.
Quite unexpectedly, Jewish immigration to Germany has turned into a problem. Moreover, as many federal politicians claim, a serious problem. If until recently political figures shied away from proposals to restrict Jewish immigration like the devil from holy water, in recent months everything is different. The topic is discussed directly, without the traditional allowances for the moral responsibility of German society for the crimes of the National Socialists.
So, what has changed, and what remains the same? From now on, a new structure created only this year, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt fuer Migration und Fluechtlinge), is responsible for accepting persons of Jewish nationality. It is expected that documents submitted by applicants at embassies in the former USSR countries will go there. The first permits to enter Germany will be issued starting July 1, 2006. The Central Jewish Welfare Organization (Zentralwohlfahrts-stelle der Juden) will be obliged to check the possibility of accepting a particular applicant into a particular Jewish community. How this will be done is still unclear. Most likely, the German organization will actively contact Jewish communities in the homeland of the potential immigrant.
Naturally, at least one of the applicant's parents must be Jewish by nationality. Moreover, supporting documents must have been issued before 1991. The right to move remains for spouses, as well as for minor children.
New immigrants are required to "have a basic knowledge of the German language". It is expected that corresponding exams will be conducted at interviews at embassies, modeled on the tests for "late resettlers".
An important innovation is that Jewish immigrants planning to go to Germany must be able to support themselves in their new homeland. Here, the compilation of a so-called "social and integration forecast" comes to the fore, which will take into account the applicant's professional qualifications and their chances of quickly finding a job.
The new rules apply to everyone who submitted applications after December 31, 2004. An exception is preserved for victims of National Socialism. As before, they do not need to fulfill any specific conditions to move to Germany.