itprofessorr

§18a Visa – IT Profession, Internship, Recognition and Language Requirement (Turkish applicant)

Hello,

I’m writing from Turkey and I would like to ask for your support regarding the §18a visa requirements for IT professionals.

I am a software developer and I have received a job offer from a company in Germany. I am currently preparing to apply for the §81a pre-approval and would like to understand the requirements clearly before starting the official recognition or visa process.

Here is my background:

I graduated from a vocational high school in Web Programming, followed by a 2-year associate degree in Computer Programming.
I have 2.5 years of documented experience in software development, including:
• A 10-month mandatory internship during vocational high school (registered with SGK – Turkish social insurance)
• The remaining experience comes from two companies, where I worked as a “Software Development Specialist” and as “Software and Application Support Staff,” both under official job codes.

My questions:

Can the 10-month SGK-registered internship be accepted as part of my work experience when applying for the visa?
As an IT professional, do I still need full recognition (Anerkennung) for the §18a visa, or is it optional in my case?
If I receive partial recognition, will I be required to present German language certificates (e.g. A2), even though the job does not require German?
Is it also possible to apply under §19c, and which one would be more suitable in my case?

Thank you very much for your time and support. I would really appreciate any clarification based on my situation.

Best regards.

5 Comments

Reply (5)

My_Community_Managerin

Dear @itprofessorr First of all, congratulations on your job offer! It's great that you want to be prepared for you visa application!

It seems like you already did a lot of research. Let me answer your questions according to your numbers.

1. If your internship counts as a work experience depends on the federal employment agency. During your 81a process, they will check your documents (work experience, certificates, etc.).

2. Since you said, you have 2.5 years of documented work experience and will work in IT, you might not need to apply for §18 AufenhG, rather than apply for 19c. With the new law in 2023, IT specialists can apply for a visa with a job offer and 2 years (within 5 years) of work experience. In case you wish to receive a Blue Card without an acknowledged university degree, there is also an exception for IT specialists. Nevertheless, you need to proof 3 years of work experience. You can read here more about the new skilled immigration act.

3. Usually, IT specialists or skilled worker don't have to show a language certificate anymore. In case you want to be on the safe side, you can ask your future employer to issue you a document, which confirms that english will ne a suitable language to communicate in the company.

4. As you described me your situation, the most easiest way might be to apply for §19c.

I hope this helps you! In case you have further questions, please let me know.
Wish you all the best for you application.

itprofessorr

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I have just one question left in my mind:

During my vocational high school education, I completed a 10-month internship. It was a paid internship and appears in the official social security records.

In your personal opinion, do you think this internship could count as work experience in the visa process?

The reason I’m asking is because, without counting the internship, I only have around 1 year and 7 months of social security-registered work experience.

In that case, I’m not sure if they would accept it based on discretion or flexibility.. and honestly, that makes me a bit anxious.

My_Community_Managerin

Thank you for getting back to me, @itprofessorr

I can understand your worries. Nevertheless, unfortunately, I cannot estimate how the authorities will count your internship as work experience. This might also depends on how your job reference is written. Is there any possibility that you will work for another 5 months somewhere to fullfill the 2 years?

Lastly, I can recommend to reach out to this project. They support and prepare, especially people from Turkey, with the process of migration to Germany.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

itprofessorr

Thank you once again for your helpful answers.

I just wanted to add some clarification regarding my current situation:

If I exclude my 10-month internship, I have approximately 1 year and 8 months of officially registered work experience.
However, since my new employer in Germany would like me to start as soon as possible, it’s unfortunately not realistic for me to take on another registered job for the remaining months.

To support my visa application, I have already requested a document from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, where I completed my internship. I’m currently waiting for their response.

In addition, I have also asked for reference letters from both a former employer and a freelance client that I worked with.

Would providing these documents make my application stronger or help compensate for the shortfall in work duration?

I would greatly appreciate your opinion on this.

Best regards.

My_Community_Managerin

This is great! I assume this would help. Nevertheless, the federal employment agency will decide this at the end.

I hope everything will work out for you! Wish you all the best!
Please let me know if you have further questions!

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