Moving to Germany for a job: visas and work permits

How to move to Germany for work: EU Blue Card, Residence permit for skilled workers. Salary thresholds, costs, processing times and routes for your partner and children, from official sources.

Work permits and visas

EU Blue Card

The EU Blue Card is a German residence permit for university graduates and third-country nationals with specific professional experience who have a qualified job offer in Germany. It is aimed at highly qualified workers from non-EU countries and offers easier family reunification and a faster path to a settlement permit.

  • Bringing your family: Your family members face less strict conditions for joining you. Your spouse does not need to know German to get a residence permit and may work without restriction straight away. Source
  • Length of the permit: The EU Blue Card is normally issued for four years. If your employment contract is shorter, it is issued for the length of the contract plus three months. Source
  • Legal entitlement: If you meet the conditions, you have a legal right to be issued an EU Blue Card. Source
  • Job offer of at least six months: You need an employment contract or binding job offer for at least six months. Source
  • Entry visa: If you live outside the EU, you generally need a work visa from a German embassy or consulate to enter, and must then apply for the EU Blue Card at the local immigration office before the visa expires. Source
  • Moving from another EU country's Blue Card: If you have held an EU Blue Card in another EU country for at least 12 months, you can enter Germany without a visa, but must apply for a German EU Blue Card within one month of arriving. Source
  • Changing jobs in the first year: During your first twelve months of employment, the immigration office can put a job change on hold for 30 days and reject it within that time. Source
  • Visa-free entry for some nationalities: If you are a national of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the UK or the USA, you can enter without a visa but must apply for the EU Blue Card within three months. You may only start work once the card has been issued. Source
  • What the EU Blue Card is: The EU Blue Card is a residence permit for university graduates and non-EU nationals with specific professional experience. It is designed to help highly qualified workers settle permanently in Germany. Source
  • Minimum salary: You must earn a certain minimum salary; if you do, you have a legal right to the EU Blue Card. The page does not state the amount. Source
  • Settlement after 21 months with B1 German: If you have adequate German at level B1, you can get a settlement permit after 21 months instead. Source
  • Settlement after 27 months: You can get a settlement permit after 27 months if you have been in highly qualified employment, paid pension contributions during that time and can make yourself understood in basic German. Source

Residence permit for skilled workers

The residence permit for skilled workers lets people with qualified vocational training come to Germany to work as skilled workers. It is aimed at non-EU nationals whose German vocational training, or foreign vocational qualification, is equivalent to qualified German vocational training. An accelerated entry procedure for skilled workers is available.

  • Accelerated procedure for skilled workers: Since 01 March 2020, a special procedure exists that makes entry easier and faster for skilled workers. Source
  • Job search after your employment ends: If your job in Germany ends and you have not found a new one, you can apply for a residence permit of up to six months to look for work. Contact your local foreigners' registration office in good time. Source
  • Settlement after three years: You can get a settlement permit after holding a residence title as a skilled worker for three years. You must also have a job, have paid compulsory pension insurance contributions for 36 months and have sufficient German. Source
  • Faster settlement with a German qualification: If you completed vocational training or a degree in Germany, you can get a settlement permit after two years as a skilled worker. You must also have a job, have paid compulsory pension insurance contributions for 24 months and have sufficient German. Source
  • Settlement for the spouse of a skilled worker: If your spouse has a settlement permit for skilled workers, you can get a settlement permit after three years. You must work at least 20 hours per week. Source

Moving with your family

Family reunification with a skilled worker

This route lets the spouse, registered partner and minor children of a skilled worker or highly-qualified person living in Germany join them there. Family members of skilled workers get easier rules than other family reunification cases, for example no German test before entry and no proof of living space.

  • Secure livelihood: Your family's livelihood must be ensured. Source
  • No proof of living space: If you join a skilled worker or highly-qualified person, you do not need to prove sufficient living space. Source
  • Minimum age for spouses: As a rule, both spouses must be at least 18 years old. Source
  • No German needed before entry: As the spouse of a skilled worker or highly-qualified person, you do not need to prove simple German language skills before entering Germany. Source
  • Moving with an EU Blue Card holder: If you already lived in another EU Member State as a relative of an EU Blue Card holder who then gets an EU Blue Card in Germany, you only need to prove health insurance cover, not subsistence. Source
  • Children over 16 of skilled workers: A child over 16 of a skilled worker or highly-qualified person does not have to meet further requirements to join their parents, even if they arrive later than the parents. Source
  • Children under 16: A minor, unmarried child under 16 can join their parents without meeting any further conditions. Source
  • Who can join: Your spouse, registered partner and minor children can in principle join you in Germany. The person already in Germany must hold a valid residence title. Source
  • Parents and parents-in-law: Parents and parents-in-law of skilled workers can come if the worker's residence title was first issued on or after 1 March 2024. They must cover their own living costs, including health and long-term care insurance. Source
  • Same-sex partnerships: Family reunification also applies to same-sex civil partnerships. Source
  • Right to work: If you come to Germany for family reunification, you are entitled to take up work. Source

Extracted from official government pages with AI (Claude) and checked against the page text every day. Each fact links to its source. This is general information, not legal advice: check the official page before you apply.

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