How to Apply for a German Work Visa
This page details how, where and when to apply for a German Work Visa at a German consulate or embassy. Explore our guide below and discover exactly what you need to know for a smooth and successful visa application.
Who is this guide for?
🎓 In order to apply for a German Work Visa, you first need a job offer from an employer based in Germany.
🌎 Only citizens from certain countries are permitted to apply for the German Work Visa at an immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) after their arrival in Germany. If you are from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, or the United States, you can enter Germany without a visa for 90 days. During this 90-day period, you can apply for a German Work Visa in Germany. We have explained how to do this in the following guide:
🛑 Citizens from all other countries must apply for the German Work Visa before arriving in Germany. This must be done at a German consulate or embassy outside of Germany. This guide is for you.
We get a lot of questions about the German Work Visa. Therefore, to help you out, we have compiled FAQs about the German Work Visa that you may find helpful.
German Work Visa: Application Process
1️⃣ Secure a job offer from an employer based in Germany
2️⃣ Book a German Work Visa appointment at your local German embassy or consulate
3️⃣ Apply for the German Work Visa at your local German embassy or consulate
We have expanded on these steps below.
1️⃣ Secure a job offer from an employer based in Germany
In order to apply for the German Work Visa, you first need a suitable job offer from an employer based in Germany. Your new employer must issue you an employment contract.
For a reasonable chance of approval, the employment conditions must meet some basic criteria:
You must be employed on comparable terms to domestic employees.
You must be earning a sufficient salary to sustain your life in Germany.
These employment conditions are assessed on a case-by-case basis as part of your visa application.
Once you have received an employment contract from an employer based in Germany, you are ready to apply for your German Work Visa at your local German embassy or consulate.
If you are yet to land a job in Germany, we recommend you first check out our German Job Hunting Guide which is full of tips and tricks for securing employment in Germany.
❗You are eligible for an EU Blue Card (which is essentially a German Work Visa but with a range of additional benefits) if your gross annual salary is over:
€45,300
or
over €41,041.80 and you work in a shortage occupation or have completed your university degree in the last 3 years.
To apply for an EU Blue Card, see our guides:
2️⃣ Book a German Work Visa appointment at your local German embassy or consulate
You must apply for the German Work Visa at your local German embassy or consulate. To do this, you must first schedule a suitable visa appointment at your local embassy or consulate:
Find your local German embassy or consulate using this search tool.
Once on the relevant embassy/consulate website, you should navigate to their visa appointment booking platform. This can be hard to find.
Once on the visa appointment booking platform, simply select the visa type you would like to apply for, and a time and date that suits you.
Alternatively, here is a quick link to the appointment booking platform for a wide range of German embassies and consulates around the world. Note: not all German embassies/consulates are shown in this list.
📅 Top tip! Visa appointment slots often fill up months in advance. To avoid unexpected visa delays, we suggest starting to search for a suitable appointment 3 months before your intended move date to Germany.
Once you have secured a suitable visa appointment, you will receive an email detailing the time, date and location for your appointment. You can now start preparing the relevant paperwork for step 3; applying for your German Work Visa at your local German embassy or consulate.
3️⃣ Apply for the German Work Visa at your local German embassy or consulate
❗ Note: Each German embassy/consulate tends to have slightly different application requirements. However, the documents listed below are the standard, minimum application documents required for the German Work Visa. Prior to your appointment, we recommend that you double-check with your local embassy or consulate to see if they have any additional requirements on top of what is listed below.
To apply for a German Work Visa at your local German consulate or embassy, you will be required to submit:
✅ A passport
Your passport must:
Have at least 2 free pages.
Have been issued within the last 10 years.
You should also provide a photocopy of your passport’s data page.
✅ A passport photo
Guidelines for taking compliant biometric passport photos can be found here. Some embassies/consulates will request multiple photos so we recommend taking at least 3 identical passport photos to your appointment.
✅ Health insurance
You must have suitable health insurance cover to apply for the German Work Visa at a German embassy or consulate. The insurance must cover:
At least the first 3 months of living in Germany.
At least €30,000 in medical expenses.
Repatriation to your home country.
Top tip! To ensure you meet the health insurance requirements for the German Work Visa, our favourite option is Feather’s expat health insurance. This policy not only meets the requirements for the visa and is approved by German embassies and consulates but is also competitively priced and can be quickly signed up for online.
❗ Note: Once you have arrived in Germany and started your job, it is mandatory that you switch to a statutory German health insurance policy. When it comes to statutory German health insurance, our favourite option is TK Health Insurance.
Important: Some embassies and consulates require that you have already signed up for statutory German health insurance when applying for your Work Visa. This can be done here.
✅ Employment contract
Bring the original employment contract from your employer, which should clearly detail:
The job title and work responsibilities
The weekly work hours (e.g. 37 hours per week)
The salary for the position
✅ Invitation letter
This should ideally be prepared in German and signed by your employer. The letter should highlight some of the key terms of your employment contract, including:
A description of your employment and what work you will be doing.
The salary for the position.
The working hours
The length of your contract.
✅ University degree certificate
You must submit your original degree certificate. You must also bring proof that your university degree is recognised in Germany – to prove this, you have 2 options:
Find your qualification on the Anabin online database. Print the relevant screenshots showing that your qualification is recognised in Germany and bring these to your appointment. See our Anabin Guide for instructions on how to use the database.
Obtain a Statement of Comparability from ZAB (Central Office for Foreign Education).
✅ CV
You should provide a CV detailing your full professional experience and education.
✅ Visa application form
You must complete and submit a visa application form. The German embassy or consulate may request that you do this via an online form called VIDEX.
Alternatively, you can download a PDF copy of the visa application form here.
✅ Visa application fee
The fee for the visa varies depending on where you apply. However, in most cases, the visa fee charged by the German embassy or consulate is €75 (payable in local currency).
Additional info
Listed above are the standard application documents that are requested as part of your German Work Visa application. Another document that is requested by some German embassies or consulates includes:
➕ A job description form (Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis)
This must be completed and signed by your employer. The job description form details all the employment conditions and allows the German authorities to assess whether your job offer meets the requirements for approval.
To download a copy of the job description form, click here.
🎉 Congratulations! You have now completed all the steps for applying for a German Work Visa at a German embassy/consulate! Once approved, you are permitted to move to Germany and start working right away!
For an overview of what other steps are required in order to set up as an employee in Germany, see our German Employee Checklist.