Berlin: Germany will extend for about 18 months a system of "Green Card" Visas for high-tech experts from outside the European Union, as announced by the Economy and Labour Minister Wolfgang Clement on July 9.

The programme, which employed mainly foreign computer specialists from India, was due to end on July 31, but Clement said a new system envisaged for 2004 had been delayed so Green Cards would still be issued until December 31, 2004.

The Green Cards, named after a similar scheme in the US, were launched on August 1, 2000 after a heated political debate on immigration, domestic unemployment and better training for German citizens.

A little over a year later, more than 10,000 cards had been issued, exhausting the first tranche. Many of the successful applicants were computer experts from India and the former Soviet Union.

The rate slowed markedly in following years and by the end of June 2003 a total of just over 14,560 had been allocated.

Agencies