It lays the foundation for recruitment and mediation of carers from the Indian federal state of Kerala for hospitals, clinics and care facilities in Germany by the BA.
Implementation shall take place via the Triple Win programme, for which the BA and the GIZ [German Society for International Aid] are jointly responsible. Residential access, made possible by the agreement, is valid only for mediation within the framework of the Triple Win programme. It may not be used by third parties such as private mediators.
After a year of intensive negotiations, the agreement was signed on Thursday, 2 December by Markus Biercher, the BA's Managing Director of International Affairs, and Harikrishnan Namboothiri, CEO of the state partner agency Norka Roots ("Non Resident Keralites Affairs"); due to the pandemic, this occurred respectively in Nuremberg and in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.
It was a sign of the high political priority of the agreement that the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, also participated in the online ceremony.
By recruiting staff abroad, the BA is contributing towards supplying required nursing staff for the German labour market. At the same time, the BA places emphasis, particularly in the sensitive field of health, on not recruiting carers in countries in which there already is a shortage of manpower. Therefore, all BA activities occur exclusively in close talks with state authorities who themselves have a vested interest in staff placement joint ventures.
In the Indian federal state of Kerala, the number of carers per population is above the country's average and higher than the World Trade Organisation's limit, so that the agreement is limited to Kerala. This is the first deal of its kind between the federal state of Kerala and an EU country.
The first placements are envisaged for 2022, taking into account the pandemic situation and all corresponding protective measures.
After they are chosen, the carers will spend numerous months practising language and work skills in their home country as preparation for their new activities in Germany. First trips and job starts are expected by the beginning of 2023.
Background:
The Skilled Worker Immigration Act, which came into effect on 1 March 2020, allows the BA to conclude mediation agreements with third countries in accordance with Section 16d, subsection 4 of the Aufenthaltsgesetz [German Residence Act] concerning the placement and mediation of skilled workers.
Mediation consultations allow skilled workers from the partner countries inter alia to first initiate the process of achieving recognition of foreign vocational certificates after entry to Germany. Normally, confirmation of the latter must be provided before issuance of the visa. The mediation consultations thus speed up migration of the required skilled workers.