Work permit

EU & EEA nationals

Citizens of the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA) are subject to the free movement of labour and do not require either a visa or residence permit to enter Germany for the purpose of seeking employment. If planning to remain in Germany for an extended period of more than three months, EU and EEA citizens are merely obliged to register with the local Einwohnermeldeamt [residents’ registration office] in their future place of residence. When registering, EU citizens automatically receive a certificate attesting to their right of residence. The Einwohnermeldeamt will forward this information to the Ausländerbehörde [Foreigners’ Registration Authority].

No additional measures are required for access to the labour market. According to the principles of the free movement of labour, EU and EEA citizens are entitled to work in another Member State under the same conditions as nationals. Nationals of Switzerland are granted a similar right to enter and reside, but require a special form which is declared as a ‘residence permit’. For family members of EU citizens originating from non-member countries, an ‘EU residence permit’ is issued.

However, the right to free movement of labour does not currently fully apply to all EU citizens. Transitional arrangements apply for nationals of the countries which acceded to the EU on 01 May 2004 (with the exception of Malta and Cyprus) and 01 January 2007. Citizens of the EU Member States Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary must continue to apply for a work permit during the transitional period. This can be applied for directly from the local employment agency [Agentur für Arbeit]. Detailed information in this regard can be provided by the German embassy or consulate in the place of residence.



Non-EU/EEU nationals

Foreign nationals who are not citizens of a Member State of the EU, the EEU or Switzerland require a residence permit in order to be able to work during their stay in Germany. Employment in Germany is only possible for non-EU nationals if their residence permit expressly provides for this.
Nationals of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States may apply for the necessary residence permit with access to the labour market after their arrival in Germany, but may not begin work until this has been issued. Nationals of all other states must apply for a work visa from their local German diplomatic mission before coming to Germany. Access to the labour market is governed by the Ordinance on the Admission of Foreigners for the Purpose of Taking up Employment [Beschäftigungsverordnung]. Due to the current high levels of unemployment, access is principally restricted to certain professional groups and high-skilled workers, and requires the prior approval of the employment authorities.
Under the New Immigration Act, in force as of 1 January 2005, the previous system of separate residence and work permits has been replaced by a residence permit which also functions as a work permit. This means that foreign nationals now only need to deal with one authority when applying to enter Germany to undertake employment.

Generally, foreign nationals (third countries, non-EU) who intend to commence work in Germany need to apply for a residence permit granting access to the labour market from the respective Germany embassy or consulate before entering Germany (see, however, the below section on Residence permits for the Purpose of Research). Upon receipt of the application, the embassy/consulate forwards the application to the local Ausländerbehörde [Foreigners’ Registration Authority] in the area in which they intend to work. The Ausländerbehörde then consults the employment office and reaches a decision on whether to issue the permit. The visa can only be issued once the local Ausländerbehörde has given its approval.

Enrolled students from non-EU countries may work for a period of 90 full days (or 180 half days) a year. Internships and work experience also are counted as working days, even if these are unpaid. Each day of internship will therefore be deducted from the 90 days in which you are permitted to work. If you have already worked for 90 days in the respective year, permission to undertake the internship will be required from the Ausländerbehörde and the Agentur für Arbeit. This is not required if the internship is an obligatory part of your studies,

Non-EU nationals who have studied and graduated in Germany have the possibility to extend their visa for up to a year after the completion of their studies in order to seek employment in in their field of expertise. The position sought must be appropriate for the degree or qualification obtained and a priority check [Vorrangsprüfung] may be required to ensure that no equally qualified German or EU citizens could adequately fill the position. It should be noted, however, that this one-year term only applies to foreign nationals who have successfully completed studies in Germany on the basis of a residence permit. Academics who have been temporarily employed in Germany are not entitled to make use of this term.



Residence permit for the purpose of research
The EU Directive 2005/71/EC of 12 October 2005 (“Scientific Visa Directive”) on a specific procedure for admitting third-country nationals for the purposes of scientific research aims to improve and simplify the procedure for admitting third country nationals to Europe for the purpose of conducting research. This Directive was implemented in German law via the Act on the Implementation of Directives of the European Union on the Right of Residence and Asylum [Gesetz zur Umsetzung aufenthalts- und asylrechtlicher Richtlinien der Europäischen Union] on 28 August 2007.
Before the implementation of the Directive, researchers from third countries had to apply for a residence permit if they wished to stay in Germany for more than three months for the purposes of gainful employment. The Ausländerbehörde needed to check in each individual case whether the researcher in question held the appropriate qualifications and whether it was necessary for them to hold the position. Under the Directive, this task has been passed on to the research organisation involved, which is in a better position to judge the qualifications of the researcher.


The procedure is now divided into three steps:
1. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees [Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge] needs to approve research organisations before they can negotiate hosting agreements with researchers;

2. The approved research organisation negotiates a hosting agreement with the researcher and submits this to the Ausländerbehörde. In addition, the research organisation must submit a formal declaration to assume any costs incurred by public authorities for the foreigner's living expenses in the context of an illegal stay in an EU Member State and deportation up to 6 months after the termination of the hosting agreement. The requirement to undertake to meet costs may be waived if the work carried out by the research institution is largely financed from public funding or if the research project is considered to be in the public interest.

3. The Ausländerbehörde issues a residence entitlement (as a residence permit within Germany); alternatively, the embassy/consulate abroad may issue a residence entitlement (as a visa issued abroad).
NOTE: Foreign doctoral students are not issued with residence permits for the purpose of research. They have to apply for a residence permit for the purpose of studying.