The decision on whether access is granted is taken on a discretionary basis by the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) as provided for by the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) and the Employment Ordinance (Beschäftigungsverordnung). Decisions are based on the economic needs of the Federal Republic of Germany. Access is sometimes limited to particular nationalities or occupational groups.

The information in this section is designed to cover a wide range of individual and different cases and is therefore provided as a guideline only. We may require additional information and documents. Some categories of visas under the general employment heading may only be open to certain nationalities; some categories require the applicant to hold an academic degree or a recognised vocational qualification.

Your prospective employer can facilitate visa processing by applying for pre-approval from the Federal Employment Agency.

If your visa category for academic professionals requires you to hold a German, a recognised or a comparable foreign academic degree and if you hold a foreign degree, please check whether both your degree and the awarding academic institution are listed as comparable in the official Anabin database. If either is not listed please have the degree formally assessed through a “Statement of Comparability for Foreign Higher Education Qualifications” issued by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB).

If your visa category for non-academic professionals requires that you hold a vocational qualification please ensure that it has been formally recognised by the competent German authority.

Some regulated professions such as medical doctors, nurses, teachers, architects, auditors, tax advisors and more require a formal license to practise their profession in Germany. Please consult the database on recognition in regulated professions.

Should you be 45 years of age or older and on an annual salary of less than EUR 48.180 (2023 threshold) we may need to sight evidence that you already made adequate retirement provisions.

Book an appointment

Please use our online appointment booking system. Booking via telephone or email is not possible. At the appointment, you will submit all required documents and pay the visa processing fee. You will be interviewed with regard to your planned stay in Germany and your biometric data (passport photograph and fingerprints) will be collected.