REGULARISATION Germany: new law to ease access to residence permits for people with suspension of deportation In December 2022, the German parliament adopted a law to facilitate access to residence permits for people who have been living in Germany for at least five years with a suspension of deportation (Duldung status). Under the new law, people with such status can get on an 18-month pathway to get a secure residence permit that would allow broader access to the labour market and public services. France: new draft law to regularise workers in shortage jobs The French government finalised a draft law that would create residence and work permits for sectors experiencing workforce shortages, including in health care. These permits would be granted for one year to non-EU nationals who have been living in France for at least three years and can produce eight pay slips showing that they are employed in a labour shortage sector. At the same time, the text foresees measures to step up deportations. The draft law is expected to be debated by the French parliament from February 2023 onwards. Ireland: over 4,700 positive decisions in regularisation programme so far The 2022 Irish regularisation programme has resulted in 4,796 positive decisions to grant a residence permit, that is 97% of the 4,857 applications that have been processed so far. The authorities received 6,548 applications from 8,311 persons, including 1,108 children, meaning that around 1,700 more cases need to be processed. Most applications came from citizens of Brazil, Pakistan and China.