You can apply for a residence permit to start a qualified vocational training programme in Germany if an organisation or institute in Germany accepts you as a trainee. Qualified vocational training is a training programme which is recognised by the state (or a comparable regulated vocational training) which continues for at least two years. You will find a list of all available qualified vocational training programmes at bibb.de.
In principle, you need the following documents:
- A training contract or a concrete offer for a spot in a training programme
- Proof of a secure livelihood
- Proof of sufficient proficiency in German (At least B1)
Before you can take part in dual vocational training programme, in principle, your trainee position must be also approved by the Federal Employment Agency. Whether you receive a residence permit for dual vocational training depends on other candidates who may be interested in the respective position: when there is another applicant from Germany or the EU or a person with a humanitarian residence permit, they will be preferred for the position. Otherwise, you will be permitted to start the programme. The Federal Employment Agency conducts the labour market priority examination (“Vorrangprüfung”) for each case and decides based on the results.
To learn more about vocational training programmes in Germany, read our chapters „Dual Vocational Traing“ and „School-based Vocational Training“.
Residence permits granted for vocational training are usually valid for one to two years and may be extended if you were unable to complete your training programme during that period. Furthermore, you are permitted to work an additional 10 hours per week in another job during your vocational training.
After completing your training, you can apply for a residence permit for job seekers in order to stay in Germany. You can learn more about the residence permit for job seekers in the section "Job hunting".