1st Phase (1955 – 1973): Recruitment Phase

Negotiations for temporary work migration to be initiated by the recruitment countries. Regulations differ from agreement to agreement, those with Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia being more restrictive.

1955 The West German government concludes recruitment negotiations with Italy.
1960 The West German government concludes recruitment negotiations with Greece and Spain.
1961 The West German government concludes recruitment negotiations with Turkey.
1963 The West German government concludes recruitment negotiations with Morocco.
1964 The West German government concludes recruitment negotiations with Portugal. Two-year residency restriction for Turkish immigrants struck from recruitment agreement.

1965 The West German government concludes recruitment negotiations with Tunisia.
1965–1971 Number of immigrant schoolchildren in West Germany rises from 35,000 to 159,000.
1966/67 Recession: Foreign workforce reduced to 400,000.
1968 The West German government concludes recruitment negotiations with Yugoslavia.
1968–1973 Economic boom: Foreign workforce increases from 991,300 to 2,595,000.
1969 Italians make up largest contingent of immigrants at 23%. Intensified recruitment in Yugoslavia and Turkey.
1971 Change in work-permit regulation: Foreign employees who have worked longer than five years in West Germany may be granted a special work visa.
1972 Turks comprise largest contingent of immigrants.
1973 Highpoint of immigration. "Action Program on Foreign Employment" for reducing the number of immigrants. Turkish workers go on strike in West German factories.
November 23, 1973 Ban on recruitment.

Sources: The webpage of the Bundesbeauftragte für Migration, Flüchtlinge und Integration: http://www.integrationsbeauftragte.de/. Hisashi Yano, "Migrationsgeschichte," in Carmine Chielino, ed., Interkulturelle Literatur in Deutschland: ein Handbuch (Weimar: Metzler 2000).