Volt on migration and integration

Volt wants to simplify and digitize immigration for workers and skilled professionals. Immigrants are to be allowed to work right away, whatever their residence status. The platform points to the labor shortage, which it says costs the economy more than 90 billion euros a year.

Volt wants to make it easier for people from abroad to work in Germany. They should be allowed to work from the first day. All forms should be available online in one place. The office should decide on a visa within three months.

A digital platform is to match employers with potential workers. Through a single online portal, immigrants are to file all applications, upload documents, and track progress; visa applications are to take no more than three months. Residence permits would no longer be tied to a specific employer. Foreign qualifications would no longer be reviewed case by case but recognized based on the equivalence of the occupation in the country of training. The platform cites the website of Canada's immigration agency IRCC as a model.

Volt wants to abolish the Dublin III Regulation and distribute asylum seekers among EU countries according to fixed criteria. It also calls for a state-run European sea rescue service and for reversing the tightening of the Common European Asylum System.

Volt wants to change the asylum system in Europe. Today, the country where a person first arrives is often responsible. Volt wants to share people more fairly among all countries. Europe should rescue people at sea together. There should be no asylum procedures in camps at the borders.

Distribution would be based on measures such as economic output, population density and the size of a country. A state sea rescue service coordinated across Europe is to be set up, and private rescue organizations are to receive support. Volt wants to undo the tightening measures in the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and stop asylum procedures in camps at the EU's external borders. The program justifies this with human rights, social cohesion and the EU's international reputation.

Volt wants to make asylum procedures in Germany faster and fairer through free counseling and specialized court chambers. Especially vulnerable refugees should be able to enter directly and safely through resettlement, and people persecuted because of their gender should get more protection.

Volt wants to make asylum procedures in Germany faster. All asylum seekers should get free advice. Special sections at courts should handle the cases. People in great danger should be able to come to Germany safely. This is called resettlement.

The program provides for nationwide, qualified and free asylum counseling that accompanies asylum seekers and is meant to shorten procedures. Administrative courts are to get dedicated chambers for asylum cases. People persecuted because of their gender are to receive better protection. In resettlement, the UN refugee agency UNHCR would organize the main procedures, which the program says relieves German agency staff. Clear prospects of staying are meant to ease entry into society and the labor market.

Volt wants to create a new residence permit for people fleeing the effects of climate change and to recognize climate and environmental reasons in the asylum system. According to the program, this gives those affected a future and brings skilled workers to Germany.

Some people have to leave their homes because of climate change. Volt wants to give them a new residence permit. It is called the Climate Card or climate work visa. Young people from affected countries should be able to train in Germany. Volt says Germany also gains skilled workers this way.

The Climate Card and the climate work visa are to follow recommendations by the Expert Council on Integration and Migration. Climate-related and environmental reasons for fleeing are to be recognized in the asylum system. Volt wants to conclude agreements with especially affected countries such as Bangladesh that give young people five years of training and work experience in Germany. Germany is to take a pioneering role in finding Europe-wide solutions.

Volt wants to let asylum seekers work from day one and to reorient immigration offices around a welcoming mission statement. Free German courses are to be available to everyone, regardless of residence status.

Volt wants asylum seekers to be allowed to work right away. Immigration offices should become friendlier and get a new name. German courses should be free for everyone. This also applies to people without a secure right to stay. Children should get language support starting in daycare.

Immigration offices are to develop a new mission statement and be renamed; deportations would in the future be handled by the public order authorities. Mandatory training is meant to make agency staff more aware of intercultural issues and reduce discrimination. Language support is to begin in daycare and continue through the school years with supplementary German courses. Schools are to employ integration specialists who give teachers intercultural training. For working people, Volt plans subsidized German courses and a free national online platform for language learning.

Volt wants to offer people whose asylum application was rejected a so-called opportunity year (Chancenjahr). Those who work or contribute to society during that time should be able to obtain a residence permit.

Some asylum applications are rejected. Volt wants to give these people an opportunity year. During this year they may work. After that they can get a residence permit. People who find no job help with social tasks.

The opportunity year starts with a two-month course in language and career orientation, which then continues alongside the year. Anyone who does not immediately find a job or training place is to contribute in social or nonprofit fields. Personal circumstances are to be taken into account. Volt justifies the approach by saying it promotes integration and mutual acceptance.

Volt wants to use deportations only as a last resort and exempt well-integrated people from them. The program justifies this by saying deportations are a severe intervention in the lives of those affected.

Volt wants fewer deportations. People who work, train or study should be allowed to stay. This only applies to people without a criminal record. Single women and children should not be sent to countries outside the EU. Volt wants to support voluntary return, but without pressure.

People with a job, training place or university place and no criminal record are not to be deported, nor are people with exceptional civic engagement. Single women and minors are not to be returned to non-EU countries. Anyone who has not been deported after three years could receive permanent residence status, provided they did not actively obstruct the deportation and took part in integration measures. Voluntary return is to be supported without putting pressure on those affected.