How to Apply for a Germany Work Visa at the Immigration Office in Berlin
On this page, we cover precisely how to apply for the Germany Work Visa at the immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Berlin. Find out exactly where, when and how to apply for a work visa in Berlin, how to schedule an appointment at the immigration office in Berlin and what documents you will need to submit.
A priority for many non-EU/EEA expats moving to Berlin is securing their Germany Work Visa. The Work Visa is a residence permit that can be applied for once you have been employed by a company in Germany. This Work Visa is sometimes referred to as an Employment Visa or Residence Permit to Start a Job. For simplicity, we will just call this the Germany Work Visa on this page.
The requirements differ depending on the job title, the industry and the nationality of the applicant. Therefore, it is important that you research into your personal situation to ensure that you fulfil the requirements for securing the Work Visa for Germany.
❗ Note: We endeavour to keep our visa information up to date. However, before applying, we recommend always cross-referencing our information with the official application information from the Berlin immigration authorities.
Who is this page for?
👨💼 For clarity, we have split the information related to the Work Visa for Germany into two pages – this page is for applying for the Work Visa at the immigration office in Berlin.
🌍 You can apply in Berlin if you are from Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States or if you are currently living in Berlin on a Job Seekers Visa. If you are from one of these countries, you can enter Germany as a tourist for a 90-day period without requiring a visa and can then apply for your Work Visa at an immigration office in Germany.
🛑 If you are not from one of these countries (and not an EU/EEA citizen), you must apply for a Work Visa at a German consulate or embassy before entering Germany. Please go to our guide on applying for the German Work Visa before moving to Germany for further details.
Who can apply for the Work Visa in Berlin?
As mentioned, if you are a citizen of Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or the United States, you may enter Germany as a tourist for a 90-day period without requiring a visa and then apply for the Work Visa in Berlin once you have secured a work contract in Germany.
The German Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit ) is responsible for making the decision on whether or not you can be issued a Work Visa for Germany. For approval to be given, the following criteria must be met:
✔️ You must have a concrete job offer, i.e. received an employment contract.
✔️ The conditions of employment must be comparable with those of domestic employees and you must be earning a salary that the Federal Employment Agency deems sufficient to live off in Berlin, i.e. full-time hours at a reasonable rate for the profession.
✔️ You generally need a university degree that is recognised in Germany. To prove that your qualification is recognised in Germany, you have two options:
Find your qualification on the Anabin database
Apply for a Statement of Comparability from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB).
So, now for the juicy stuff...
How to Apply for a Germany Work Visa at the Immigration Office in Berlin
1️⃣ Move to Berlin. Enter Germany visa-free for up to 90 days, officially register at an address (Anmeldung) and find suitable employment to apply for the Germany Work Visa.
2️⃣ Apply for the Germany Work Visa at the immigration office in Berlin. The immigration office will seek approval from the German Federal Employment Agency on your behalf.
3️⃣ Once approved, return to the immigration office in Berlin to have your Work Visa issued.
1️⃣ Move to Berlin, officially register at an address (Anmeldung) and find suitable employment to apply for the Germany Work Visa.
Once you land in Germany, you have 90 days to complete two key things before you can apply for the Germany Work Visa at the immigration office in Berlin:
🏠 Complete your Anmeldung in Berlin
To apply for a visa at the immigration office in Berlin, you must first have officially registered at an address in Berlin, a process that is known as Anmeldung. Without an Anmeldung certificate, your visa application will not be accepted.
If you need to quickly register at an address in Berlin, then you may be interested in booking a furnished apartment with Smartments. Smartments provide well-located, studio accommodation and offer Anmeldung so long as you book for at least 14 nights. By opting for Smartments, you can get registered within days of arriving in Berlin.
🧑💼 Find a suitable job
As well as Anmeldung, you also need a job to apply for the Germany Work Visa. To help you with your job hunt, we have put together some free resources:
Startup jobs, hospitality jobs and teaching jobs in Berlin
Once you have completed your Anmeldung and landed a job, you are ready to move on to step 2 and apply for the Work Visa at the immigration office in Berlin.
2️⃣ Apply for the Germany Work Visa at the immigration office in Berlin
What does your employer need to do?
In many countries, companies are put off employing international employees by expensive fees associated with 'sponsoring' an employee. Fortunately in Germany there is zero cost to your employer when employing an overseas worker. Upon offering you a job, the process for your employer is extremely simple. All they are required to do is:
✅ Issue you an employment contract which clearly states the role you will be working in, the number of hours a week you will be working and the salary you will receive.
✅ Complete a job description form (Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis) detailing your job terms.
Once your employer in Berlin has issued these documents, you then need to apply for the Work Visa at the immigration office in Berlin.
How to book a Work Visa appointment at the immigration office in Berlin
Follow the link to book a Work Visa appointment on the immigration office's online booking platform.
Once on the booking platform, click on the ‘Book Appointment’ button to start the process.
Select the visa you wish to apply for. You will then be shown a calendar with available appointments:
Available appointments show up in blue. Select an available appointment from the calendar and enter your personal details in the appointment booking form to complete the booking.
If there are no appointments currently available, you will be shown the following message:
If you are shown this message, you need to wait for the next batch of appointments to be released by the immigration office. Visa appointments are released sporadically throughout the week so we recommend checking the appointment booking platform multiple times a day from around 7 a.m.
Once you have booked your appointment, you will be emailed a booking confirmation confirming the time and date for your appointment. The confirmation will also include details of where you need to go for your appointment.
The booking period for Work Visa appointments in Berlin is generally 1–3 months. Therefore, once you have successfully scheduled your visa appointment, be aware that your appointment date may be up to 3 months away.
📅 For more detailed instructions, see our website guide or YouTube guide on how and when to book a Work Visa appointment at the immigration office in Berlin.
Where to submit your documents at the immigration office in Berlin
🧭 As of 01.03.2020, the Germany Work Visa is processed at the immigration office at Keplerstraße 2, Charlottenburg, 10589 Berlin.
Here is a picture of the immigration office at Keplerstraße 2. When arriving at the immigration, go down the short driveway and then the entrance will be on your left. There will also be a security guard to point you in the right direction:
What documents do you need to submit at the immigration office in Berlin to apply for the Germany Work Visa?
To apply for the Work Visa, you must submit the following documents to the immigration office in Berlin:
✅ Completed "Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis" form (Job description form)
To be completed by your employer. You can download the form here.
✅ Completed “Antrag auf Erteilung eines Aufenthaltstitels” form (Application for issuance of a residence permit form)
You can download the form here.
✅ Employment contract
You must bring the original contract that should clearly state the role you will be working in, the number of hours a week you will be working and the salary you will receive.
✅ Confirmation of German health insurance (Mitgliedsbescheinigung)
When starting work in Berlin, it is mandatory that you take out German public health insurance. Proof that you have German health insurance is also one of the set requirements for applying for a Work Visa in Berlin. For this, our favourite German public health insurer is:
We like TK because it is the most expat-friendly insurance provider in Berlin, offers great customer support, suitable healthcare coverage and useful services (such as medical appointment booking). They can get you registered and provide the necessary documentation for your Work Visa application via email within 48 hours of signing up. To sign up for TK right away, follow this link. For further details, explore our top 6 reasons for choosing TK health insurance in Germany.
We always like to suggest alternatives, so we also recommend checking out the health insurance offerings from two other leading health insurance providers in Berlin:
For more extensive details about why you need mandatory German public health insurance, see our free health insurance guide.
✅ Proof of address registration in Berlin (Anmeldung)
To apply for a Work Visa in Berlin, you must first be officially registered at an address in Berlin, a process that is known as Anmeldung.
If you need to quickly register at an address in Berlin in order to apply for your Work Visa, then you may be interested in booking a furnished apartment with Smartments. Smartments provide well-located, studio accommodation in Berlin and offer Anmeldung so long as you book for at least 14 nights. By opting for Smartments, you can get registered within days of arriving in Berlin.
For general details about how to register your address and receive your address registration certificate (Anmeldebestätigung or Meldebescheinigung), see our Anmeldung page.
When completing your Work Visa paperwork, your address should be consistent across all the forms and also match the official address that is shown on your address registration certificate.
✅ A copy of your university degree plus screenshots from Anabin showing that your institution and degree type is recognised in Germany
To apply for the German Work Visa, you generally need to have a degree that is recognised in Germany and proof of this in the form of Anabin screenshots or a Statement of Comparability from ZAB.
For instructions on how to find your institution and qualification type on Anabin, you can read our blog on searching the Anabin database. If you cannot find the necessary degree information on Anabin, then follow our guide to applying for a Statement of Comparability.
✅ A valid passport
Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months longer than the intended stay, have at least 2 free pages, and not be older than 10 years old.
✅ One current biometric passport photo
Guidelines recommend a 35mm x 45mm frontal shot with neutral facial expression and closed mouth, looking straight into the camera with a light background. You can obtain a biometric photo from the silver photo booths at the main train stations in Berlin. There are three photo booths located at Alexanderplatz train station.
Here is a useful map of all places you can obtain passport photos in Berlin.
✅ Rental agreement + proof of rental payment
The immigration office may also require you to show a rental agreement as well as a bank statement showing payment of your monthly rent.
Once you have submitted the documents, the immigration office will then seek approval from the German Federal Employment Agency on your behalf. A decision should be made on your application by the Federal Employment Agency in 2–3 weeks (although this can take up to four weeks).
Notification of approval for a Germany Work Visa from the immigration office in Berlin
📬 Once your application receives approval from the German Federal Employment Agency, the immigration office will contact you via email or post. Once approval is given, complete step 3 below.
☎️ If you have not received a reply within the standard processing time of 2 to 4 weeks, you can call the German Federal Employment Agency to request an update about your application. They can tell you over the phone if you have been approved or not:
Federal Employment Agency contact number: 0228 / 713-2000 – press 1 for general questions or press 2 and then enter the postcode of your new employer for questions about your application.
Alternatively, you can call 0203 / 9907 417 and request to speak to an English caseworker. They are open Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and on Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
If you are struggling to get a response on the phone, you can also email the Federal Employment Agency at Erfurt.008-OS2@arbeitsagentur.de.
If you have questions specific to the Work Visa, you can also message the relevant department at the Berlin immigration office (B1@lea.berlin.de or B2@lea.berlin.de)
3️⃣ Return to the immigration office in Berlin to have your Germany Work Visa issued
Once you have received notification of approval from the immigration office by way of email or letter, the next step is to return to the Berlin immigration office to have your Work Visa issued.
The immigration office will specify the waiting room you should go to to have your Work Visa issued. In addition, they will tell you which application documents you will need to bring in again. This will likely include:
✅ Passport
✅ One current biometric passport photo
✅ Employment contract
✅ Confirmation of German health insurance
✅ Address registration certificate
The Work Visa is always issued for the length of your employment contract or for 4 years if your contract is permanent. The fee for the full Working Visa is €100. You must pay by cash or German EC card – credit cards or foreign cards are not accepted.
🎉 Congratulations! That is the Work Visa process completed! You can now start working in Berlin.
To help you with other aspects of your life in Berlin, we have put together some further guides that you may find useful:
👍 Documents required to start a job in Berlin
What happens if your Germany Work Visa is denied?
🛑 One common reason for a Work Visa being denied is that your salary is not considered on par with a German employee with the same job. If not high enough, the Federal Employment Agency will specify what the required salary is when they give notification of your Work Visa being denied. If this is the case, you can then resubmit your application with a higher salary at the immigration office in Berlin.
Fiktionsbescheinigung (Bridging Visa)
🌉 If you apply for a Germany Work Visa at the immigration office close to the end of your 90-day visa-free period, you may be issued a Fiktionsbescheinigung. This is essentially a bridging visa, which will be valid for 3–6 months. You can remain in Germany during this time and travel abroad. The bridging visa allows you to stay in Germany while your Work Visa is processing, and ensures you do not overstay your 90-day visa-free period.
You cannot work while you hold a Fiktionsbescheinigung unless you currently hold another residence permit at the time of applying – the terms of that residence permit still remain in effect until a decision has been made on your Work Visa.
If you apply for a Work Visa near the end of your 90-day visa-free period, always ask for a Fiktionsbescheinigung.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Germany Work Visa
✔️ Can I start working while my Work Visa is processing?
No, you must have received your Work Visa prior to commencing work.
✔️ What happens if I want to change jobs?
You need to go through the same application process detailed above.
✔️ What happens if my Work Visa application is declined?
There is no limit to the number of times you can apply. If denied, you can either re-apply with improved (e.g. higher salary or more hours) or with a new job and company.
✔️ What happens if I lose my job?
If you lose your job, you need to inform the immigration office in Berlin. They will instruct you to either apply for a Job Seekers Visa or they will permit you to search for jobs on your current Work Visa until it expires.
Once you find a new job, you must reapply for a Work Visa following the process detailed above.
✔️ What is the process if I want to freelance full-time instead of being employed?
If you wish to freelance rather than work in full-time employment, you will need to apply for the Freelance Visa.
✔️ How long can I be out of Germany while on a Work Visa?
You must not leave Germany for more than 6 months or your Work Visa will be void.