I can't imagine any Germans I know describing permanent residency as a business relationship.

No, permanent residency is more than a business deal. It is a deal about all aspects of life, business or not.

> Permanent residency is a business deal between two entities: an individual and a state.

I doubt that Germans see it that way.

A country is not a contract, it's a culture.

It's quite audacious to want to be part of a country, but also to be so quarantined from them as to not even want to learn their language.

I mean, even if you insist on viewing it as a business deal, what exactly prevents one side to put language requirements in the business deal?

That’s how deals work, both sides state their position and either they find a middle ground or they don’t.

Exactly! Though it often seems that people conveniently forget the reverse scenario. Them in other countries is fine and relax about requirements, others in their country, not so much.

Permanent residency is a deal (not necessarily business related) between two entities: an individual and a state. It has everything to do with whatever requirements that the two parties have, and if there is no agreement on them there is no deal. In this case the state cares about language proficiency and requires it for a deal, so if you are not proficient in German there is no deal.

> Most countries will grant PR without requiring a language proficiency

Hmm, is that really the case? Or perhaps you're confusing work visas with permanent residency? Most attractive destinations for immigrants usually require a language test for PR. Ignoring the United States and its dysfunctional immigration system, a language test is required or practically required almost anywhere there is a points-based system to obtain PR. The UK requires a language exam to be granted leave to remain. Canadian federal programs for PR require a language test result to even be considered for the Express Entry program. In Europe, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy also require it, and I'm sure there are more I'm not aware of.

Also, B1 is honestly a very basic level of proficiency with the language. It is really hard to be a productive member of society and interact with locals if you cannot speak at a B1 level.

Germany treats permanent residency much more like a "citizenship lite", e.g., if you are a permanent resident[1] any newborn children will automatically be German citizens (even though Germany has no jus soli).

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Footnotes:

[1]: As long as at least one parent is a permanent resident and has in Germany for at least 5 years (the same duration that's usually required to become a permanent resident anyway)

> Most countries will grant PR without requiring a language

This statement is clearly false, off the top of my head only USA and Spain come to mind. There are some countries like Japan where there it isn't a hard requirement, but you'd need a very good reason to justify why

Correct. Seems like various people are confusing the two. The issue of granting PR, is often about an additional tax and labor source for the government of that country.

For example: 1) Low birth rates and high ageing population percentage, this can be offset with immigration. Then PR status can be granted, as a kind of carrot and better tax revenue generation "filter". 2) Labor market manipulation and facilitating international business, where immigration is used to fill holes in various industries.

Why a country would want to grant PR, usually has different purposes from citizenship. There is overlap, but they aren't the same.

Which countries are those? In Europe there seems to be only Portugal and only for select categories of permanent residents.