Germany's Schroeder strikes deal on immigration, security

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The deal came following last-ditch talks with conservative leaders Angela Merkel and Edmund Stoiber after months of bitter wrangling.
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Negotiations to draft an immigration law, originally meant to help Germany recruit talented foreign workers to plug a skills shortage, began four years ago, but were either blocked by the conservatives or struck down on technical grounds.

But the real brick wall came when the Christian Union, citing terror fears after the deadly March 11 Madrid train bombings, linked their agreement on the immigration rules to tougher measures against suspected extremists.
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Bureaucracy will be eased; highly-qualified workers, notably in industries such as information technology, science and research, will find it easier to apply for long-term residence; and foreign students will be permitted to seek work here after their studies.
Foreigners would be entitled to language courses paid by the state.
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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/86867/1/.html

Germany's one of the places my husband and I talk about moving to... we lived there for 9 months and do miss it. He's in electrical engineering, so I'm guessing this would apply to us, were we to try to move over there.