This text, a promise of the coalition in power since the end of 2021, aims to facilitate the integration of so-called “tolerated” foreigners, who cannot be expelled but do not have the right to work.

Approved on Wednesday by the Council of Ministers by the government of Olaf Scholz, it concerns around 130,000 foreigners who have been living in Germany for at least five years but who cannot make long-term projects there because they do not have a permanent residence permit.

“These people, who have found their living environment in Germany thanks to a long period of residence, should be given a prospect of residence rights and be offered a chance to meet the conditions necessary for legal residence”, can we read in the text of the Ministry of the Interior.

They will be able to obtain a one-year residence permit, the time for them to prove in particular that they can support themselves financially. At the end of this trial period, they may receive a permanent residence permit.

Family reunification for these people must also be facilitated, according to the government project.

Another passage of the project provides for simplified access for asylum seekers to integration and professional language courses. As for refugees who have completed their medical training but whose professional qualification is not yet recognized in Germany, it will be easier for them to provide medical care to other people seeking protection, for example in hostels for asylum seekers. .

Another part of the bill deals with evictions, which must be facilitated.

Several associations considered this text of law insufficient.

“The objective is good and just: to give a chance to people who have not yet had a secure status”, reacted to the public television channel ARD Joshua Hofert, a member of the steering committee of “Terre des men”.

But “the paradigm shift announced by the coalition is not yet in sight,” he lamented.