"We are creating the framework for more controlled immigration of qualified specialists." — Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.

By the middle of 2018, only a quarter of those who arrived during the migrant crisis had found a job and only a fifth were paying into the social welfare system, according to the Institute for Employment Research. Most of those who were employed had low-paying jobs, and many of them were receiving supplementary welfare benefits to make ends meet.

After months of wrangling, Germany's coalition government has reached an agreement on the key points of a new immigration law — one that is aimed at filling labor shortages and stabilizing the public pension system by encouraging the immigration of skilled workers from outside the European Union.