Berlin, July 10: Germany’s green card scheme for IT professionals has been extended up to December 31, 2004. The scheme, which was due to expire at the end of the month, was extended today by the German government. All conditions of the scheme will remain the same as before. Only, this time there is no mention of a quota. When the scheme was first introduced, the government had said that a maximum number of 20,000 green cards will be issued.
The green card extension comes as a huge relief to many Indian IT companies in Germany, which do around $200 million worth of business here. Many of them have apparently been applying for as many green cards as possible before the deadline expired.
Debjit D Chaudhuri, head of Infosys Technologies in Germany and north Europe, expressed his happiness at the fact that the German government was facilitating the movement of skilled people. Satyam Computers vice-president (operations) Tony Wadhawan said, “The extension of the green card scheme will have a definite positive impact not only on business but also on the image of Indian software companies.”

Speculation on the extension of the green card scheme has been rife for the past few months here with several reports in the local media suggesting that it may be extended by six months. Hopes were especially high in India after the Indian Prime Minister and a large business delegation were given assurances that the matter would be looked into. This extension also puts to rest fears of a backlash against Indian software companies in many parts of the world, at least as far as Germany is concerned. Bureau Report