Now Green Card for Austria too?

Filed in archive Europe on January 26, 2010

© Fr Antunes

Moving to USA is tougher and the same may become a reality in case of Austria too. The Austrian coalition government is tightening its noose around immigrants and has adopted a new action plan for them by including mandatory German tests for foreigners intending to migrate to Austria. Opposition parties have also called for Green Card policy on the lines of United States in order to make it difficult for them to enter the country.

As per the government proposal foreigners intending to move to Austria along with their family will need to prove that they are well versed with German before applying for residency in the country. This rule is however not applicable for asylum seekers, highly qualified personnel or seasonal workers. The reason behind this plan is to enable non European immigrants to integrate into the Austrian labor market in a better manner.

With mobility having increased in the last decade a number of people have started moving for greener pastures and this heavy influx of people has promoted a number of countries to start taking serious measures to curb it so that it doesn't affect the culture of the country. Now this opens a debate whether liberalization is good or bad and its repercussions in the long run.