How can I apply for a German work visa?

• If you are a citizen of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom or the United States
  You can come to Germany without a visa. You can stay 90 days in Germany without a residence permit. You can look for a job, and apply for the work visa in Germany. You can’t work before you get your work visa.
• If you have a German residence permit
  Your current residence permit stays valid until you get your work visa. If your residence permit expires after you sent your work visa application, you don’t need to leave Germany.
• If you have an opportunity card
  You can come to Germany and look for a job. You can work 20 hours per week. To work full time, you must get a Blue Card or a work visa.
• If you have a job seeker visa
  You can come to Germany and look for a job. To start working, you must get a Blue Card or a work visa.
• If you have a Schengen visa
  You can’t apply for a work visa with a Schengen visa. Your application will be rejected. You must apply in your home country.

2. Find a job

You must find a job before you apply for the work visa.Your job offer must meet the work visa requirements.

3. Prepare your work visa application

Before you apply for the work visa, you must…

• Find a place to live
  It’s really hard to find an apartment. Start looking as soon as you can.
  • Your apartment must be big enough. You need 9 m² per adult, and 6 m² per child.⁵²
  • Your apartment must be affordable. Your total cost of living must be less than your income.
  • You must be allowed to register your address. You must get a tenancy confirmation from your landlord. If you can’t get this, you might not get a work visa.¹ – How to find an apartment
• Get health insurance
  You need valid health insurance. Travel insurance is not accepted. Ask a health insurance broker to help you choose the correct health insurance. Their help is free. – How to choose health insurance
• Prepare the required documents

If you are not a citizen of Albania, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, South Korea, the United Kingdom or the United States, you must also…

• Get your education recognised
  Your professional training must be equivalent to 2 years of professional training in Germany. It must be recognised by the Agentur für Arbeit. The recognition process depends on your profession.²¹ It takes weeks to a few months.⁸ If you studied in Germany, your education is already recognised. – How to get your education recognised

If you bring your family to Germany, you can apply for their family reunion visa at the same time. You must prepare these documents too.

While you wait for an Ausländerbehörde appointment, you should also…

• Register your address (Anmeldung)
  When you register your address, you get a tax ID and a registration certificate. The Ausländerbehörde might ask for your registration certificate.⁵¹ – Why the Anmeldung is important
• Open a bank account
  You need it to pay your rent, pay your work visa application fee, and get paid by your employer. You can choose a bank from any EU country.

4. Apply for the work visa

To apply in Berlin, you must send your documents online. Use the Ausländerbehörde contact form to send all the required documents, and wait for them to contact you. A few weeks later, they will give you an appointment.

This is the only option. You can’t go to the Ausländerbehörde without an appointment. You only get an appointment after you send your documents through the contact form.

If your current residence permit expires soon, ask for a Fiktionsbescheinigung. It allows you to travel with an expired residence permit.

5. Wait

The Ausländerbehörde will process your application. If you send your documents online, it takes a few weeks to get a response. Then they will invite you for an appointment.

In most cases, your current National Visa or residence permit usually stays valid while you wait. If it expires, you don’t have to leave Germany. You might get a Fiktionsbescheinigung that allows travel outside of Germany with an expired residence permit.

If your visa or residence permit expires soon

How the Fiktionsbescheinigung works

If you wait more than 3 months, you can sue the Ausländerbehörde for inaction, but it might not help.

6. Go to your work visa appointment

Later, the Ausländerbehörde will email you. They will invite you for an appointment.

When you go to your appointment, bring…

• The required documents
  Bring all your application documents, even if you already sent them online. In your appointment invitation, the Ausländerbehörde might ask for more documents.
• Your appointment confirmation, printed
  You can’t enter the Ausländerbehörde without it. They check at the door. You must print it.
• Passport photo (35 × 45 mm)
  You do not need to cut the photos yourself; they have a tool for this. The photo should be less than 6 months old. – Where to get passport photos.
• Cash, Visa, Mastercard or Girocard
  You must pay the 100€ application fee.You must sometimes pay later, when you pick up your work visa. This fee is tax-deductible, so keep the receipt.
• A translator (optional)
  Many Ausländerbehörde employees only speak German. If you don’t speak German, bring an interpreter or a German-speaking friend.⁵³ It’s not required, but it helps. I recommend Red Tape Translation. Relocation consultants and immigration lawyers can also translate for you.

The appointment takes 15 to 60 minutes. You spend most of that time waiting. During the appointment, they take your fingerprints for your work visa.

If they approve your work visa, they must print the plastic card. You will get a second appointment to collect your work visa in 4 to 8 weeks. You might get a temporary document that confirms that your work visa was approved. It allows you to start working, but it’s not a valid travel document. It does not allow you to leave and re-enter Germany.

7. Get your work visa

Go to your second Ausländerbehörde appointment to pick up your work visa. Bring your passport and your old residence permit.

Check if the information on your work visa is correct. The Ausländerbehörde sometimes makes mistakes.

Your work visa is a plastic card. The expiration date is written on it. It’s usually valid for 3 years. If you have a limited work contract, your work visa is valid for a shorter time. For example, if you have a 2 year work contract, your work visa is valid for 2 years + 3 months.

You also get a Zusatzblatt. It describes the conditions of your work visa. For example, it can say that you can freelance, or that you can only work for your current employer.

You will also get a letter with the activation code for your eID. You need it to activate the eID function of your work visa. This lets you use your work visa to log into online government services.

8. Start working in Germany

Starting a new job in Germany

Your first month in Germany

You can also apply for a work visa in your country, before you move to Germany.This is cheaper and safer, because you can start working as soon as you arrive in Germany.

To apply in your country:

1. Get your vocational training recognised.
2. Get an appointment at the German embassy or consulate in your country.
3. Go to your appointment and give your documents. The required documents are different in each country. Find the list on your embassy or consulate’s website.
4. Receive a National Visa. It lets you to come to Germany and start working.
5. After you arrive in Germany, convert your National Visa into a work visa.

1. Get your education recognised

To apply for the work visa, you must have a university or vocational training. Your education must be recognised in Germany. It must be equivalent to 2 years of training in Germany.

You must get your training recognised before you apply for your work visa. The process depends on your profession. It takes a few weeks to a few months.There might be an interview or a competence test, and you might need to pay for it.

How to get your education recognised

If you are a citizen of Albania, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, South Korea, the United Kingdom or the United States, you don’t need a degree or vocational training. Skip this step.

If you studied in Germany, your education is already recognised.

2. Find a job

You must find a job before you apply for the work visa.¹⁵ Your job offer must meet the work visa requirements.

How to find a job

3. Get an appointment at the German embassy or consulate

Get an appointment at the German embassy or consulate in your country. It can take months to get an appointment.³¹

At some embassies and consulates, you can apply for a work visa online, without an appointment.

Find your German embassy or consulate

4. Prepare for your interview

Before your embassy or consulate appointment, you must…

• Find a place to live in Germany
  Some embassies and consulates ask for it.It’s really hard to find an apartment before you arrive in Germany. Find a temporary place like a hotel room or a furnished apartment to get your National Visa. After you arrive in Germany, find an apartment where you can register your address.
• Get health insurance
  You need valid health insurance. Ask a health insurance broker to help you choose health insurance. Their help is free.
• Prepare the required documents
  The required documents are very different in each country. Find your German embassy or consulate, and use their list of required documents.

If you bring your family to Germany, you can apply for their family reunion visa at the same time. Prepare these documents too.

5. Go to your National Visa appointment

Go to your appointment at the embassy or consulate, and give your documents. If you have all the required documents, it only takes a few minutes.

6. Receive your National Visa

In a few weeks (or a few months), you must go to the embassy or consulate again. They will give you a National Visa. This temporary visa lets you come to Germany and start working.

7. Come to Germany, start working

With your National Visa, you can travel to Germany and start working.

After you arrive in Germany, register your address, get a tax ID and open a bank account. These things will be useful later.

How to move to Berlin

Starting a new job in Germany

8. Convert your National Visa into a work visa

Your National Visa is valid for 3 to 12 months. After your arrive in Germany, you must convert it into a work visa at the Ausländerbehörde.

In Berlin, you must convert your National Visa 8 weeks before it expires, not sooner.

To convert your National Visa into a work visa:

1. Contact the Ausländerbehörde
   Write to the Ausländerbehörde 3 to 4 months before your National Visa expires. They take a really long time to reply. When they reply, they will give you an appointment.
2. Go to your appointment
   During the appointment, they take your fingerprints for your work visa. It takes around 15 minutes.
3. Wait for your work visa
   4 to 8 weeks, you get a letter. It’s your work visa, or an invitation to collect your work visa at the Ausländerbehörde.
4. Activate your eID (optional)

Your work visa is a plastic card. It’s valid for up to 3 years. You can renew it before it expires.

Required documents

These are the required documents in Berlin.If you apply elsewhere, they require different documents. Check the website of the Ausländerbehörde, embassy or consulate where you apply. – Find your embassy or consulate

• Passport
  If you send your documents online, include a colour scan of your passport. If you go to the Ausländerbehörde, bring your passport. You get it back during the appointment; they do not keep it.
• Passport photo (35 × 45 mm)
  The photo should be under 6 months old.You do not need to cut the photos yourself; they have a tool for this. – Where to get passport photos
• Job contract or job offer
  Bring the original, not a copy.
• Residence permit application form (Antrag auf Erteilung eines Aufenthaltstitels)
  Download the form here or on Berlin.de.
• Job description form (Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis)
  Your employer should fill this form and sign it. Download the form here or on Berlin.de.
• Proof of health insurance
  You need valid health insurance. Travel insurance is not accepted. Ask a health insurance broker to help you choose health insurance.
  • Health insurance card
  • or proof of public health insurance
    Get a Mitgliedsbescheinigung nach 175 SGB V from your health insurer or your health insurance broker.
  • or proof of private health insurance
    Bring your insurance contract, a Mitgliedsbescheinigung, and bank statements that show health insurance payments. Get these documents from your health insurer or your health insurance broker.
• Proof of housing
  You need a place to live where you can register your address. If you apply in Berlin, your home address must be in Berlin.
  • Lease
    It must show the size of your apartment. Your apartment must be big enough (9 m² per adult, 6 m² per child). You must make enough money to pay your rent. It can be a temporary lease, a WG or a sublet.
  • and tenancy confirmation (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung)
    Some temporary apartments and sublets don’t give you this document. You might not get a work visa without it.
  • and registration certificate (Anmeldebestätigung)
    You must register your address to get this document. If you don’t have it, your lease and tenancy confirmation are sometimes enough. At least bring proof that you have a Bürgeramt appointment.⁵
• Occupation practice permit (Berufsausübungserlaubnis)
  You must have all the permits and special qualifications needed for the job. For example, doctors, engineers and lawyers need special qualifications. – Find the requirements for your job
• Translations
  If your documents are not in German, bring translations. For certificates and official documents, bring certified translations. They sometimes accept untranslated documents, but don’t take the risk. Get translations from Red Tape Translation or Lingoking.

If you are not a citizen of Albania, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, South Korea, the United Kingdom or the United States, you also need…

• Proof of vocational training
  A certificate or a degree that proves that you received professional training to do this job.
• Certificate of equivalence
  Proof that your professional training is recognised in Germany. If you got professional training in Germany, you don’t need this.⁴⁸

If you send your documents online, use PDF files or photos. Don’t use word documents or other file formats. If you have too many documents, merge them or make them smaller. You can also mail your documents.

If you apply in person, print everything. Use A4 paper. Do not staple the pages together.

Bring your family to Germany

The family reunion visa lets you bring your family to Germany. If they have a family reunion visa, your family members can work, study, freelance or start a business in Germany.

You can apply for it at the same time as your work visa.

Activate your eID

You can use your work visa to log into online government services. For example, you can use it to apply for unemployment benefits. You must activate this feature at the Ausländerbehörde. Activate your eID before you need it.

How to activate your eID

If you change jobs

When you change jobs, tell the Ausländerbehörde. You might need their permission to work for a different employer.

What happens to your work visa

If you lose your job

If you lose your job, your work visa stays valid. Tell the Ausländerbehörde as soon as you can. In Berlin, they give you 6 months to find another job.

While you are unemployed, you can get unemployment benefits.

What happens to your work visa

How to get unemployment benefits

If you travel with a work visa

Your work visa lets you visit other Schengen area countries without a visa.

With a work visa, you can leave Germany for up to 6 months.²² To travel longer, you need permission from the Ausländerbehörde.

Self-employment with a work visa

Your work visa might allow self-employment. Look on your residence permit, and on the Zusatzblatt. If it says Selbständige Tätigkeit gestattet or Erwerbstätigkeit erlaubt, you can be self-employed in addition to your job. You must keep your job, and it must be your main source of income.⁵⁰

Make a tax declaration

Your immigration expenses are tax-deductible, so keep all your receipts and proofs of payment. Include them in your tax declaration. You will pay a little less income tax. If you hire a lawyer or a relocation consultant, their fee is also tax-deductible.

Renew your work visa

Your work visa is valid for up to 3 years. You must renew it around 8 weeks before it expires.

Apply for permanent residence

If you have a work visa, you qualify for permanent residence after 24 to 60 months. Permanent residence is better than a work visa, because it’s not tied to your job.