DW Documentary

Caregivers from South America negotiate Germany's jungle of red tape

Germany is reliant on skilled labor from other countries. But German bureaucracy makes it difficult for people like Yanileidy. She came from Colombia to work as a nurse. The original plan -- to put her family life on hold -- ultimately broke her family up. "German bureaucracy really isn’t kind,” says Yanileidy. The Colombian pediatric nurse left her two small children at home in the hope of being able to lead a better life as a nurse in Germany. The plan was that after her first few months, her family would follow her. But bureaucratic hurdles turned those months into years. In the end, her marriage didn’t survive the long wait. "We can't afford such complicated bureaucracy,” says Isabell Halletz, head of the German Employers’ Association of Care Providers. Nursing staff are already dropping out in droves and choosing to go to the US or Canada.