(de-news.net) – The SPD is contending that current regulations leave too many contributions with precarious status and is proposing expanded residence rights for refugees who show their integration through employment, education, vocational training, or family caregiving. For certain permitted migrants, the idea would go beyond the coalition agreement’s more restrictive requirements. Although there are still large disparities in employment rates, incomes, and job security between demographic groups, recent Destatis data indicates that employment among immigrants is increasing, reaching 70% in 2025.

Alongside the EU’s increasingly restrictive approach to migration, the SPD parliamentary group is advocating more extensive opportunities for refugees who have established themselves in German society to obtain long-term residence rights. Its central argument is that employment and other demonstrable contributions should provide a basis for remaining in the country.

A proposed position paper would extend eligibility beyond people in conventional employment to include participants in preparatory employment programs, university students and individuals undertaking vocational training. Students with realistic prospects of completing their studies and integrating into German society would also be covered. The proposal would further take account of people whose ability to work is temporarily limited because they are caring for family members or young children.

The SPD parliamentary group considers the existing legal arrangements inadequate. It points in particular to the demanding requirements that foreign workers must satisfy to obtain residence permits, despite their potential contribution to the labor market. The group also highlights the number of employed Syrians and Ukrainians whose residence permits remain temporary. Requiring such workers to leave Germany could, it argues, aggravate labor shortages in economically important sectors.

SPD lawmaker Hakan Demir has argued that the proposed entitlement should not be restricted to people from these two countries. In his view, anyone who contributes to German society but cannot obtain secure immigration status should have an opportunity to benefit from the new arrangement.

The SPD’s position on long-term residence

The proposal goes beyond the more limited provision contained in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD. That provision provides for temporary residence permits for people who are well integrated, have established their identities, possess sufficient German-language skills and have largely supported themselves through employment subject to social insurance contributions for at least one year.

Eligibility is restricted to people with tolerated status who had lived continuously in Germany for at least four years by December 31, 2024. The provision is also time-limited and is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2027.

Tolerated status applies to people who are legally required to leave Germany but whose deportation cannot temporarily be carried out. This may occur because of family circumstances, missing identity documents or illness. The status does not itself confer a regular residence permit, making the coalition provision a limited route toward more secure residency for qualifying individuals.

Employment among immigrants reaches 70 percent

Recent figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) indicate that employment among immigrants in Germany has risen substantially over the past two decades. In 2025, 70 percent of immigrants between the ages of 15 and 64 were employed, compared with 57 percent in 2005. The rate nevertheless remained below the 81 percent recorded among people without an immigrant background, leaving a gap of 11 percentage points.

Germany had 52.7 million residents in this age group. Of these, 12.8 million, or 24 percent, were immigrants; 3.2 million, or 6 percent, were descendants of two immigrant parents; and 2.5 million, or 5 percent, had one immigrant parent.

Employment increased across all these groups between 2005 and 2025. Among descendants of immigrants, the employment rate rose from 47 percent to 70 percent. For people with one immigrant parent, it increased from 48 percent to 72 percent. Destatis attributed part of the development to demographic changes, noting that more members of these relatively young population groups had reached working age during the period.

Gender, income and employment security gaps persist

Despite the overall improvement, significant differences remain between immigrant men and women. In 2025, 76 percent of immigrant men were employed, compared with 62 percent of immigrant women. The gap relative to people without an immigrant background was considerably wider among women, at 17 percentage points, than among men, at seven percentage points.

Income figures also point to continuing disparities. Immigrants aged 17 to 64 who worked full time earned an average gross monthly salary of 3,494 euros in 2025, 16 percent below the 4,165 euros reported for full-time workers without an immigrant background. The average was 3,676 euros among descendants of immigrants, representing a difference of 12 percent, while people with one immigrant parent earned 3,997 euros, or four percent less.

At the same time, concerns about job security declined across all demographic groups between 2005 and 2025. Among immigrants, the share reporting no concerns about their employment situation increased from 28 percent to 55 percent. The corresponding proportion among people without an immigrant background rose from 38 percent to 71 percent. For descendants of immigrants, the figure increased from 28 percent to 54 percent, while among people with one immigrant parent it climbed from 46 percent to 74 percent.