Press release No. 435 of 12 October 2022

• Over 600,000 residence titles granted for study purposes between 2006 and 2021
• More than one third still in Germany after ten years, most of them for employment purposes or naturalised

WIESBADEN – 612,000 international students from non-EU countries were granted a first-time residence permit for studies in Germany between 2006 and 2021. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that more than one third of those who took up studies in Germany between 2006 and 2011 stayed in Germany for a longer period. Against the background of skilled labour shortage and demographic change, students from non-EU countries are an important resource for the German labour market.

Most former international students have Chinese citizenship

Roughly 184,200 international students were granted a first-time residence title for study purposes in Germany between 2006 and 2011. According to the Central Register of Foreigners, 48% of them still lived in Germany after five years, and 38% after ten years. According to current OECD evaluations, the stay rate of international students in Germany is similar to that in Canada and is one of the highest among OECD countries.

Most international students who were granted a first-time residence title for study purposes between 2006 and 2011 had Chinese citizenship (36,000 people). 29% of them still lived in Germany after ten years. US American students were the second largest group (13,000 people), 14% of whom still lived in Germany after ten years. As regards the 12,000 Russian citizens, just under half were still in Germany after ten years (47%), as were 28% of the 10,000 Turkish students.

Just under one third with residence title for employment purposes after ten years

32% of the international students who still lived in Germany after ten years had a residence title for employment purposes. The proportion was highest among former Chinese students (53%), while it ranged between 30% and 36% among US American, Russian and Turkish citizenships.

After completion of their studies in Germany, many international students not only integrate successfully in the German labour market but opt for naturalisation. After ten years, 28% of the former international students still living in Germany had German citizenship. There are differences between the citizenships here, too. Although the proportion of people naturalised after ten years was below average among Turkish students (24%), it was higher than among international students with Russian (12%), Chinese (10%) and American (3%) citizenship. Above-average proportions of naturalised people were recorded after ten years among Cameroonian (50%), Brazilian (34%) and Indian (32%) students, for instance.

Family matters can be another reason to stay in Germany for a longer period. 21% of the international students who still lived in Germany after ten years had a residence title for family reasons. Among the selected citizenships, a high proportion was recorded especially for Russian students (38%).

More information:

Further comparisons between Germany and other OECD countries such as on stay rates or subjects are contained in the OECD International Migration Outlook 2022.

Methodological notes:

The data are based on an ad-hoc evaluation of the Central Register of Foreigners. The Federal Statistical Office receives annual register excerpts with reference date 31 December for statistical processing. Since 2006, it has been possible to perform assessments over time based on the annual data excerpts. It is however not possible to include intra-annual changes between reference dates in such assessments over time.

People who were registered with a residence title in the previous year and were deleted from the register in the subsequent year are considered as naturalised. To a small extent, this may refer to corrections of incorrect data sets.

International students who after ten years are entitled to freedom of movement include mainly people from countries which in the meantime have acceded to the European Union (Romania and Bulgaria in 2007, Croatia in 2013). Family members of EU citizens are entitled to freedom of movement, too.

This analysis includes all international students who were granted a first-time residence permit for studies between the beginning of 2006 and the end of 2011. The results of the OECD International Migration Outlook are based on individual years when the residence permit was granted (2010 and 2015).