How Germany’s Work and Stay Agency Could Reshape Skilled Worker Immigration

For companies operating in or expanding into Germany, the immigration system’s growing complexity continues to create challenges.

That complexity was a central theme in a recent conversation featuring Bettina Offer, Partner, Corporate Immigration Partners, P.C., and Engelhard Mazanke, head of the Berlin State Office for Immigration. Together, they offered insight into where Germany’s skilled worker immigration system stands today — and what reforms, including the proposed Work and Stay Agency, could mean for employers and Germany’s immigration landscape.  

Germany’s Skilled Worker Shortage 

The discussion comes at a critical moment. Germany is projected to face a shortage of roughly 440,000 skilled workers by 2029, with the greatest gaps in care, construction and technical professions.  

Yet, the country ranks only in the middle of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations for talent attractiveness — a reality that Offer attributes to long visa wait times, fragmented local responsibilities and limited transparency.

The scale of the need underscores the urgency: Germany processes about 55,000 new labor migrants each year, while the Federal Employment Agency estimates the country will need closer to 400,000 annually to keep pace with demand.  

Closing that gap will require systemic change, along with thoughtful expert navigation in the meantime. This pressure is also driving momentum behind reforms such as the proposed Work and Stay Agency, where practitioners like Offer are advising employers and helping shape the policy conversation around future modernization.

A System Built for a Different Era 

Offer and Mazanke emphasized that many of Germany’s current immigration challenges stem from a system that was never designed for modern hiring demands. 

Mazanke described Germany’s immigration procedures as “Byzantine,” with the same information reviewed multiple times by different agencies, often producing inconsistent outcomes. For employers sponsoring international talent, this means navigating dozens of local processes, documentation requirements and office‑specific practices across the country. 

In an April 2026 interview with WirtschaftsWoche, Offer underscored the scale of this complexity: 

An employer expanding across Germany must effectively understand 549 different administrative processes — one per local immigration office. For multinational companies managing global mobility at scale, this isn’t just inconvenient. It’s a genuine barrier to workforce planning and operational agility.

These structural inefficiencies help explain why policy change has been slow — and why reforms like the Work and Stay Agency have become increasingly urgent. 

Where the Reform Discussion Stands: The Work and Stay Agency 

Germany’s current governing parties outlined their policy priorities in the coalition agreement, which is the formal roadmap negotiated when the government was formed. 

One of those priorities is the creation of a Work and Stay Agency, a centralized digital platform intended to streamline skilled-worker immigration through a single point of contact. This would mark a significant shift from Germany’s current system, where responsibilities are spread across hundreds of local immigration offices, each with its own processes, timelines and documentation expectations.

Instead of navigating fragmented local procedures, employers would interact with a unified federal platform that offers clearer guidance, more consistent decision‑making and greater transparency around processing times.

Both Offer and Mazanke agreed that the concept is promising, but they emphasized that its success will depend on how it is implemented. 

Offer is a cautious advocate for centralization and believes that the current system cannot scale to meet Germany’s labor market needs. Mazanke points to Berlin’s success with a highly digitized, employer‑centric immigration service as an indicator of what effective modernization can look like. But he also warns that replacing functioning local systems with a federal model could slow progress if the transition is poorly managed. The shift, he warns, could set modernization efforts back by years.

The Value of Expert Guidance in a Complex System  

Both experts agree that transparency must improve. Employers need reliable, publicly available data on visa processing times by country and consulate. Predictability is essential for strategic workforce planning, yet that information is inconsistent, fragmented or unavailable today. 

These gaps create real operational uncertainty for companies and add pressure to HR and mobility teams who are already managing competing priorities. Experienced partners who understand the system can help teams make informed decisions and avoid unnecessary delays. 

Navigating Germany’s decentralized system is especially challenging when requirements vary across hundreds of local authorities.  

Offer emphasized the distinction between administrative support and legal counsel, noting that missteps in immigration classification can lead to fines, delays and, in serious cases, liability for both the employer and the employee.  

Having a trusted partner who understands these nuances can make a meaningful difference in both compliance and employee experience. 

About Envoy Global

At Envoy Global, we bring together smart, friendly legal teams and smart, friendly technology to make immigration easier for companies and the global talent they depend on. Our team of international immigration experts has deep experience spanning industries and geographies. We help businesses of all sizes achieve their global talent acquisition, retention and deployment objectives, delivering solutions tailored to each client’s unique needs.

Reach out today to learn how we can support your company’s immigration needs. 

If you’d like to hear Bettina Offer’s full conversation on the podcast, you can listen here. To read Offer’s discussion in WirtschaftsWoche, click here.