Visa for Skilled Workers

If you want to work in Germany as a skilled worker and a company offers you a qualified job, you can apply for a visa/residence permit. 

The Skilled Immigration Act gives you the opportunity to work as a skilled worker in Germany if you can provide proof of qualified vocational training (according to Section 18a Residence Act) or a German or equivalent recognised university degree (according to Section 18b Residence Act). You can learn more about the recognition procedure in our “Recognition of Foreign Qualifications” chapter.

Since November 2023, the law has also changed to make it possible to take up employment that is not directly related to your degree. However, the employment you take must also be qualified, meaning two years of vocational training (according to German standards) are required to do this job.

Please note: Exceptions apply for certain regulated professions such as doctors, teachers or lawyers. You cannot do these jobs with any other qualification. You can find a detailed list of regulated professions on the Federal Employment Agency website.

If you are required an entry visa to come to Germany, you must first apply for it at the German embassy/consulate in your home country or a neighbouring country and present the required documents.

Please note that your visa application can take several months to process.

However, if you already have an employment contract, your employer can accelerate the process by submitting an application to the immigration authorities. Further information can be found on the Federal Government’s website.

Please note: Whether you are entering the country with or without a visa, you must report to the Immigration Office at your new place of residence and submit the required documents.

Whether you need a visa depends on your country of origin. On auswaertiges-amt.de, you will find a list of countries whose citizens need an entry visa to come to Germany.

In our chapter "National Visa", you will find a list of documents that all third-country nationals need for a national visa.

To obtain a visa as a skilled worker, you also need the following documents:

• Proof that you have completed a vocational training programme or a university degree and your qualifications are recognised in Germany. You can learn more about the recognition procedure in Germany in our chapter “Recognition of foreign qualifications”.
• An employment contract or an offer for a qualified job from a company or organisation in Germany.
• If you are over 45 years of age, you must also have adequate retirement provisions or prove that you will earn at least €49,830 gross per year (as of 2024).

In principle, the Federal Employment Agency also has to give its approval. The embassy will communicate directly with the Federal Employment Agency, i.e., you do not have to contact them personally.

Please note: If you are already in Germany, for instance, with a Schengen visa (visitor visa) and find a job during your short stay, you may be able to apply for a residence permit for skilled workers at the Immigration Office. To do so, the job must meet the requirements for residency as a skilled worker. So it has to be a qualified job, for which you need either a university degree or a professional qualification. Since November 2023, the change in the law has also made it possible to take up employment that is not directly related to your degree. However, the job you take must also be considered “qualified employment”, that is, a job which requires two years of vocational training according to German standards.

Please note: Exceptions apply for certain regulated professions such as doctors, teachers or lawyers. You cannot do these jobs with any other qualification. You can find a detailed list of regulated professions on the Federal Employment Agency website.

Please note, however, that even if you meet all the requirements, the Immigration Office may insist that you go through the complete visa procedure for skilled workers. That means you would have to return to your country of origin and apply for a visa there at the German diplomatic mission. There is also the risk that your visitor visa may expire before the authorities decide on your application, meaning that you will then be obliged to leave the country. It is best to seek advice from a lawyer beforehand.

After entering the country, report to the Immigration Office. It is recommended to do so earlier, as the authorities often have longer waiting times, and you absolutely need your residence permit before your visa expires. To do so, you must (again) submit the documents mentioned above as well as, in principle, a registration certificate ("Meldebescheinigung”) and a rental agreement. The authorities will check your papers and then decide whether you can obtain a residence permit.

A residence permit for skilled workers is usually issued for four years. If your employment contract is for a shorter duration, your residence permit will be adjusted accordingly.

If you lose your job, the immigration authorities will shorten your residence permit accordingly. You are also obliged to report the job loss to the Immigration Office. In the best-case scenario, you already have a new job lined up, which you can explain directly to the immigration authorities. So you must quickly find a new job and apply for a new residence permit.

In the context of residence law, the term Zweckwechsel” or “change of purpose” means a legal regulation which allows an individual to change the purpose of residence.

This regulation allows people to change their residence status, usually from one type of residence to another. For example, a “Zweckwechsel” could mean that a person who originally travelled to Germany as a student on a student visa has the opportunity to change their residence status in order to work in Germany and obtain a residence permit as an employee.

Furthermore, with the new Skilled Immigration Act, the opportunity for "Spurwechsels" or “changing lanes” has been introduced too– it allows individuals in the asylum procedure to switch into a residence permit for skilled workers (according to Sections 18a, 18b or Section 19c Para. 2 Residence Act). However, this option only affects people who entered Germany before March 29, 2023, to seek protection and have applied for asylum, as well as their spouses and minor children (according to Section 10, Paragraph 3 Sentence 4 Residence Act). In the future, people who meet these criteria will be able to withdraw their asylum application and instead apply for a residence permit as a skilled worker.

Please note: You should first check what chances of success your asylum procedure has. A successful case can have significant advantages for you. For instance, your stay would not be tied to a job - unlike a stay as a skilled worker. You also have to clarify whether you can actually work as a skilled worker, because foreign qualifications are generally not easily recognised in Germany. You can find out how the recognition of qualifications works in our chapter “Recognition of foreign qualifications”.

You must also note that you cannot receive a residence permit as a skilled worker during the asylum procedure; you can only do so after it. So before you make such a far-reaching decision, be sure to seek expert advice.