After months of wrangling, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and its Social-Democratic coalition partner have agreed on the hotly-contested bill that will transpose the 2024 reform of the Common European Asylum System (GEAS) into German law.
The draft, approved on 29 January 2026, seeks to curb so-called ‘secondary movements’—asylum seekers who leave the EU country responsible for their claim and travel on to Germany—by introducing new ‘secondary-migration centres’. Migrants who should have stayed in another member state will be obliged to await their transfer in these facilities; during that time their social benefits will be reduced to the legal minimum.
At the same time, the coalition had to placate Social-Democratic legislators worried about excessive restrictions. Two concessions were inserted: asylum applicants will be allowed to take up paid employment after three months instead of six, and children in the procedure will be guaranteed enhanced health-care access. The compromise also creates a legal basis for the controversial “Asylverfahrenshaft”, a short-term detention measure designed to prevent absconding before removal.
![German coalition reaches compromise on implementing EU asylum reform]()
For employers the faster labour-market access could ease recruitment in sectors such as logistics, food service and agriculture that routinely hire asylum applicants under Germany’s ‘3+2’ tolerated-stay scheme. However, companies that rely on external service providers to house new hires must factor in the likelihood that recruits will be assigned to migration centres outside the hiring region. HR departments should therefore budget additional time for relocation logistics and worker orientation.
Companies and individual applicants who need clarity on Germany’s complex mix of visas, work permits and residence titles can get step-by-step guidance from VisaHQ. The online platform, available at https://www.visahq.com/germany/ lists up-to-date requirements, fees and processing times and can arrange courier handling of documentation, making it easier to synchronise visa applications with the new secondary-migration rules.
The bill is expected to clear the Bundestag in February and enter into force alongside GEAS in June 2026. NGOs are already signalling possible constitutional challenges, arguing that detaining families runs counter to the German Basic Law. Businesses dependent on asylum-seeker labour should monitor the parliamentary timetable and begin scenario-planning for regional labour shortages if transfers accelerate.
The draft, approved on 29 January 2026, seeks to curb so-called ‘secondary movements’—asylum seekers who leave the EU country responsible for their claim and travel on to Germany—by introducing new ‘secondary-migration centres’. Migrants who should have stayed in another member state will be obliged to await their transfer in these facilities; during that time their social benefits will be reduced to the legal minimum.
At the same time, the coalition had to placate Social-Democratic legislators worried about excessive restrictions. Two concessions were inserted: asylum applicants will be allowed to take up paid employment after three months instead of six, and children in the procedure will be guaranteed enhanced health-care access. The compromise also creates a legal basis for the controversial “Asylverfahrenshaft”, a short-term detention measure designed to prevent absconding before removal.
For employers the faster labour-market access could ease recruitment in sectors such as logistics, food service and agriculture that routinely hire asylum applicants under Germany’s ‘3+2’ tolerated-stay scheme. However, companies that rely on external service providers to house new hires must factor in the likelihood that recruits will be assigned to migration centres outside the hiring region. HR departments should therefore budget additional time for relocation logistics and worker orientation.
Companies and individual applicants who need clarity on Germany’s complex mix of visas, work permits and residence titles can get step-by-step guidance from VisaHQ. The online platform, available at https://www.visahq.com/germany/ lists up-to-date requirements, fees and processing times and can arrange courier handling of documentation, making it easier to synchronise visa applications with the new secondary-migration rules.
The bill is expected to clear the Bundestag in February and enter into force alongside GEAS in June 2026. NGOs are already signalling possible constitutional challenges, arguing that detaining families runs counter to the German Basic Law. Businesses dependent on asylum-seeker labour should monitor the parliamentary timetable and begin scenario-planning for regional labour shortages if transfers accelerate.
