Employment permit

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Important note

In general, in order to take care of any matter with the city administration, you must first make an appointment.

Employment permit

Citizens of foreign countries that are not members of the European Union must have an employment permit before they can engage in gainful employment.

They are only permitted to take up employment if their residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis), permanent residence permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis), admission document (Gestattung), or suspension of deportation (Duldung) specifically mentions this possibility.

For example: “Erwerbstätigkeit ist gestattet.” (“Gainful employment is permitted.”)

The meaning of this condition is that one is in possession of a permit allowing unrestricted employment that is not subject to a time limit. An “employment permit,” in the form of the document that was previously issued by the state employment office, no longer exists.

Applications for permission to engage in gainful employment must be submitted to the Aliens Authority (Ausländerbehörde). You can pick up the required application forms there. In order to speed up the approval procedure, your can also download these forms, have your potential employer fill them out (Stellenbeschreibung zum Antrag auf Erlaubnis einer Beschäftigung), and bring them with you for an in-person meeting. The Aliens Authority will send this form to the Central Placement Office (Zentrale Arbeitsvermittlungsstelle, or ZAV). This office will check on the conditions of employment, among other things, and will issue a response, respectively, to the Aliens Authority.  In turn, the Aliens Authority will inform you as to the determination of the Central Placement Office.

Applying for an EU blue card for skilled work

Highly skilled citizens from abroad who wish to take up employment in Germany which reasonably corresponds to their qualifications can obtain an EU blue card.

Exception: Citizens of EU states have access to the labour market due to their right of free movement. As part of freedom of establishment or free movement of workers, you can work in Germany as a self-employed person or company employee. This also applies to other citizens of countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) as well as to Swiss citizens.

Forms/Applications

Form for permission to engage in gainful employment, to be filled out by employer