Green Cards for IT Professionals in Germany and Austria
Posted May 08, 2000

According to a report in the India West newspaper of May 2000, the German Foreign Ministry has announced an initiative to issue "green cards" to foreign high technology workers, targeting professionals from India and certain Eastern European countries. The German government hopes to attract between 7,000 to 10,000, professionals, or as many as 20,000, but most other countries have not been as successful as the U.S. has been in attracting foreign highly skilled talent. In the face of public opposition, the government in Germany apparently intends to enact the plan in the form of regulations that would not need to be approved by the parliament. An official in Germany was quoted as saying the program would begin in the summer of 2000.

The Austrian government is reportedly considering a similar effort to import information technology professionals from non-European countries. Though a study by the research institutes Datamonitor and International Data Corporation have estimated the need for IT specialists in Austria at 55,000, it is doubtful that any visa program enacted in Austria will allow such a number of foreign workers to come in. At any rate, it appears that a formal proposal has not been put forth, so details are not yet available.

We at the Law Office of Sheela Murthy believe that one of the reasons that highly skilled foreign workers are still attracted to the U.S. is because of the feeling that the U.S. is at the forefront of the technological revolution in the world and that racism is less overt in the U.S. as compared to Europe. If the U.S. does not pass legislation to increase the H1B cap and attract these highly talented professionals, before long, they will likely be attracted to other countries that offer lucrative packages to such professionals to entice them to work in these countries. With the shortage of high tech workers in most developed countries of the world, it is high time our legislators in the U.S. recognize this fact, before it is too late, and take measures to continue to attract and retain talented high tech workers who are now being sought world-wide!