Residence permit - skilled workers with professional experience

Description

Are you from a third country (i.e. not an EU Member State, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland), a skilled worker with professional experience, and would you like to take up employment in Germany? If so, you will need a residence permit for skilled workers with professional experience.

Visa procedure If you are a national of a third country (i.e. not the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland), you will generally need a visa to enter Germany for the purpose of employment, which you must apply for at a German diplomatic mission abroad.

A visa is not required for nationals of Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America.

After entering the country, you must first register your residence at the Citizens’ Office.

Application and appointment You must apply for your residence permit before your visa or residence permit expires. If you are able to enter the country without a visa for this purpose, you must apply for a residence permit at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service within 90 days of your arrival.

Please submit the application form and the required documents online or by post. Once you have submitted your online application, you can download a completed document as a PDF for your records. This document confirms your application and the authorisation/extension of your current residence permit. Once your application has been assessed, we will contact you to arrange an appointment for you to attend in person.

Validity period:

The residence permit is valid for four years. If you have an employment contract lasting less than four years, the residence permit will be valid for the duration of the employment contract (plus six months).

Requirements

• You have at least two years of professional experience commensurate with your qualifications, which you have acquired within the last five years and which qualifies you to pursue the desired profession.
• You currently have a gross annual salary of at least 45,630 euros. If your employer is bound by collective agreements and employs you in accordance with the collectively agreed working conditions, this requirement does not apply.
• One of the following qualifications:
  • a foreign professional qualification which is recognised by the state in which it was obtained and which required at least two years of training to obtain
  • a foreign university degree that is officially recognised by the state in which it was obtained, or
  • a vocational qualification obtained abroad, which was acquired through training that fulfils the requirements of the Vocational Training Act for vocational training in terms of content, duration and type of implementation and is suitable for imparting the necessary professional skills for a training occupation in accordance with the Vocational Training Act or the Crafts Code, and which has been issued by a German Chamber of Commerce Abroad.

Proof of qualification must be provided at your request and at your expense. Proof must be submitted to the Central Office for Foreign Education.

If you are working in the information and communication technology sector, proof of qualification is not required.

• Employment contract or concrete job offer
• Approval from the Federal Employment Agency
• Adequate pension scheme (required from the age of 45)
• Without pension provision, the minimum salary for 2026 is 55,770 euros gross per year.
• The salary may be lower if adequate pension provision is already ensured from other public or private sources (assets or pension insurance).

Required documents

• Fully completed application form
• Valid passport or passport replacement
• current biometric passport photo submitted digitally by a certified photo studio or drugstore. Alternatively, you can use one of the photo terminals at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service Centre for a fee.
• Valid visa to enter the country to pursue qualified employment (only required for first-time applications).
• Proof of acquired qualification from the Central Office for Foreign Education
• Proof of the professional experience gained
  • Detailed curriculum vitae
  • If available: Employment references or confirmations from the employer
• Proof of the current monthly costs for the flat:
  • for rented flats, a current confirmation from the landlord or bank statements showing the rent amount
  • for owner-occupied flats, proof of loan instalments and monthly housing benefit.
• Employment contract (only for first application)
• Fully completed declaration of employment(only for initial application, please upload together with the employment contract)
• Fully completed declaration of employment
• Last three salary statements from the period of employment (only for extension of residence permit)
• Adequate pension scheme (required from the age of 45 if the salary is not at least 55,770 euros per year). The salary may be lower if proof of assets or pension insurance from public or private sources in Germany or abroad is submitted.
• Written declaration of consent from the person authorised to take care of the person (parents) if under 18 years of age

Please note

• The documents submitted (such as proof of identity and language certificates) are checked for authenticity. We will report any forgeries to the police.
• Further documents may be required in individual cases.

Legal basis

§ Section 18 AufenthG, Section 19c (2) AufenthG, Section 6 BeschV