Dieter Kohlfürst

Kohlfürst & Färber Rechtsanwälte

Miesbach www.raekf.de

kohlfuerst@raekf.de Tel: +49 8025 924 1022

Biography

Dieter Kohlfürst was born in London and obtained his law degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich, one of the leading universities in Europe. He has been practicing as an attorney in Germany for more than 20 years and is specialised in German corporate immigration. Dieter has extensive experience in providing a full range of immigration services for Germany to individual clients and multinational corporations from numerous industries. This includes strategic advice on immigration compliance as well as business immigration to Germany.

What inspired you to pursue a legal career?

The prospect to help and assist people with legal issues or problems they may have.

What do you enjoy most about working in the corporate immigration field?

Several things stand out in working in a boutique law firm, specialising in immigration law:

The mutual work with colleagues and clients from all around the world.

The opportunity to assist with multinational projects and assignments to Germany.

The gratitude and thankfulness of the clients, after an immigration matter has been completed successfully.

To what extent will the coronavirus pandemic have a long-term impact on global mobility programmes and the corporate culture of international assignments?

I anticipate, that the coronavirus pandemic may lead to fewer business trips taking place, if personal attendance in country is not absolutely required.

Making use of technical tools, in particular video conferencing, will continue to increase.

But if there is need for expert qualifications in Germany, international assignments of company specialists within a multinational company will continue to take place.

The demand for foreign skilled workers in Germany is still present, irrespective of the coronavirus, to ensure the economic growth of the German industry in the postpandemic economic recovery.

I therefore expect to see a continued amount of immigration to Germany on a local employment basis.

How do you seek to manage client frustrations when there are practical difficulties and delays at the immigration application stage?

To try and avoid client frustrations as much as possible, the key issue is to set realistic client expectations from the outset of the immigration matter.

This includes: chances of success, estimated processing times and required documentations.

If any practical difficulties or delays indeed arise, it is important to be available for the client and to assist in rectifying any issues immediately.

What makes your work as an immigration lawyer stand out from its competitors?

The “hands on” practice of immigration work, being agile and innovative, as well as my commitment to providing excellent service.

I am personally available to the clients and responsive at short notice to give expert advice on their immigration needs.

How do you anticipate immigration law will develop over 2022-2023?

The coronavirus pandemic will continue to play an important role in immigration law.

Should any possible new mutant developments emerge, countries worldwide will respond by amending their entry and quarantine regulations for third country nationals at short notice.

If the coronavirus pandemic situation remains stable or improves, we may see countries loosen any previously adopted protectionist immigration policies.

As there is a growing worldwide demand for working remotely, we may see countries adopt specific immigration law regulations for these cases. Such regulations could allow third country nationals to remotely work in-country for a company, which does not have an entity there or does not act in fulfilment of a contractual obligation in that country.

What advice would you give to practitioners looking to set up their own firm?

Both the work perspective and the economic perspective have to be considered.

Determine from the outset if there is a market for your provided services.

The most important prerequisite is to provide excellent service to the client. Good communication skills are also required.

Try and be patient, as it takes a time to build a reputation in a specialist area of the law and a reliable network with clients and colleagues.

To avoid getting into financial difficulties, it is important to have an overview over the estimated monthly fix costs.

Peers and clients say: “Dieter is a phenomenal immigration lawyer” “He has a great ability to ensure clients feel at ease”