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Is my student Permit valid for work after graduation?
Hi all, I have one question. I will be graduating from my Master's degree beginning of September. I have a student visa acc. to par. 16b. I have received a job offer from mid-September and will be applying for a conversion to 18b directly after graduation. My question is, in the meantime while I wait for my new permit, will I still be able to start working (140 days max) using my still valid 16b permit despite having graduated? Many thanks!
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Dear @tosta congratulations on your upcoming graduation & your job offer! This is great!
Unfortunately, a student visa is tied to your time as an enrolled student. This means that after your graduation, your student visa, and with it your work permit as a student, will no longer be valid.
In your case, as you mentioned, since you already have a job offer for after graduation, you can apply for a residence permit as a skilled worker once you have received all necessary documents from your new employer. You can provide the foreigners department with a confirmation from your university stating that you have completed your studies and will submit your official degree certificate as soon as you receive it.
When submitting this application, you can also request an extension of your current student visa with the corresponding work permit, which might allow you to work under the same rules (140 full days/280 half days). However, whether this will be granted is at the discretion of your caseworker at the foreigners department, as there is no rule for that. Please note, in case the foreigners department will extend your current permit, your employer need to issue you the according work contract as a student and not as a skilled worker for that period.
I hope everything turn out right for you. Please let me know if you have further questions or something remains unclear.