What exactly is the Federal Council demanding?
Background: The Bundesrat is a constitutional body in Germany in which all 16 federal states are represented. It can submit its own proposals and motions to the Bundestag and is involved in the legislative process.
The current decision on the right of residence stems from an initiative in Schleswig-Holstein. The state's Minister for Integration, Aminata Touré (Alliance 90/The Greens), proposed granting well-integrated refugees who are in employment or training a permanent right of residence. The Bundesrat supports this proposal by a large majority.
According to the federal states, the federal government should now present a new law as quickly as possible. The planned regulation is not only intended to help those affected. It would also give companies more planning security—because many companies employ or train tolerated persons and often do not know whether they can stay in the long term.
Who could be granted the right to remain?
The Federal Council proposes specific conditions. This could primarily benefit people who currently have a Tolerance permit .
Persons with temporary leave to remain are to be granted permanent right of residenceif they
- have been living in Germany for at least three years,
- have been working or training for at least one year and are subject to social security contributions,
- have a clear identity
- and have not committed any crimes.
The federal government has announced a similar provision in its coalition agreement. However, the Bundesrat's proposal goes further in some respects.
For example, the CDU/CSU and SPD have stipulated a minimum residence period of four years in their coalition agreement. The Bundesrat, on the other hand, proposes shortening this period to three years.
In addition, the Bundesrat is calling for the regulation to remain in force until the end of 2029. The coalition agreement currently only provides for a time limit until the end of 2027. A longer time limit is intended to ensure that newly arriving refugees can also reach the minimum length of stay and benefit from the regulation.
Why is a new regulation needed?
Residence law already contains provisions for tolerated persons who are working or starting training: the so-called training tolerance and employment tolerance. These allow tolerated persons to remain in Germany temporarily during their training or employment.
In practice, however, these options are rarely used: according to the Federal Council, only around 2.3 percent of tolerated persons currently benefit from them.
From the perspective of the federal states, this shows that the existing rules are insufficient. The Bundesrat is therefore calling for new, simpler, and more practical solutions to make it easier for refugees with jobs or training to obtain long-term residence permits.
What happens now?
The decision of the Federal Council will now be forwarded to the federal government. Schleswig-Holstein's Minister for Integration, Aminata Touré, spoke of a "clear call" to the federal government to grant refugees in employment or training the right to remain in Germany as quickly as possible.
However, it is important to note that the Federal Council's decision is not legally binding. This means that the federal government is not obliged to implement the demand or to quickly introduce legislation.
However, such decisions increase political pressure on the federal government to address the issue. In addition, a similar regulation has already been announced in the federal government's coalition agreement.
There is also support within the governing parties for granting working refugees the right to remain. Several SPD politicians, including Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas, have publicly spoken out in favor of such a regulation.
Whether and when the federal government will take up the Bundesrat's demand and change the right of residence remains to be seen. A new right of residence requires a law that must be passed by the Bundestag. Experience shows that this process can take some time.
