🇩🇪Germany immigration routes

Every route we track for Germany, with the official source behind each one.

13

routes tracked

1

need no employer sponsor

3

map to permanent residence

Routes

• Anerkennungspartnerschaft (recognition partnership, §16d(3) AufenthG)

  The recognition partnership — Anerkennungspartnerschaft — is the German route that inverts the usual order: instead of getting your foreign qualification recognised first and then coming to work, you come to work in skilled employment WHILE the recognition procedure runs, with your employer legally committed to help…

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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• EU Blue Card (Germany)

  Germany's EU Blue Card, its legal basis in Section 18g of the Residence Act (implementing Directive (EU) 2021/1883), is a residence permit for university graduates and third-country nationals with specific professional experience, promoting the permanent immigration of highly-qualified workers.

  • Employer sponsor required
  • Leads to permanent residence

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• Family reunification with a third-country national in Germany (§§27-38a AufenthG)

  Germany's family-reunification route, based on Sections 2(3) and 27 to 38a of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz), lets spouses, registered partners and minor children accompany or join a third-country national who already holds a valid German residence title, subject to adequate accommodation and a secure livelih…

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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• ICT Card — Intra-Corporate Transfer (§19 AufenthG)

  Germany's ICT Card (Intra-Corporate Transfer), created under Sections 19, 19a and 19b of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) implementing EU Directive 2014/66, lets a manager, specialist or trainee employed by an undertaking headquartered outside the EU work temporarily at that undertaking's unit or units within t…

  • Employer sponsor required

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• Job-seeking residence permit (§20 AufenthG)

  Section 20 of the German Residence Act creates the job-seeking permit — the bridge that stops a qualification earned or recognised in Germany from expiring unused.

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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• Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte)

  Germany's Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte), created by Section 20a of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz), lets non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals come to Germany to look for qualified employment or pursue a qualification-recognition measure.

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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• Residence permit for study purposes (§16b AufenthG)

  Germany's student residence title, governed by Sections 16b, 16c, 18b, 18c, 18d and 20 of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz), lets a third-country national come to Germany for a full-time course of study at a higher education institution.

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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• Residence permit for vocational training (Berufsausbildung, §16a AufenthG)

  Germany's residence permit for vocational training (Berufsausbildung), granted under Sections 16, 16a, 17 and 20 of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz), lets a foreign national come to Germany to complete either school-based vocational training (at a technical college or vocational school, generally unpaid) or in-…

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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• Self-employment and freelancing (Selbständigkeit / Freiberufler, §21 AufenthG)

  Germany allows a foreign national to immigrate to work on a self-employed or freelance basis under Sections 9, 9a, 17a, 18, 20 and 21 of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz).

  • No employer sponsor needed
  • Leads to permanent residence
  • About 9 months

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• Short-term quota-based employment for workers without a recognised qualification (§15d BeschV)

  Alongside the country-specific Western Balkans arrangement, Germany's Employment Ordinance (Beschäftigungsverordnung – BeschV) provides a separate short-term, quota-based employment route under Section 15d BeschV (read together with Section 26 BeschV) for foreign workers without a formally recognised vocational or a…

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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• Skilled Worker Residence Permit (Fachkraft) — Vocational Training (§18a) / University Degree (§18b), with IT-Specialist Practical-Experience Substitution under §19c(2) AufenthG / §6 BeschV

  Germany's Skilled Worker Residence Permit lets non-EU/EEA/Swiss (‘third-country’) nationals work in Germany without the EU Blue Card's salary threshold, along two statutory tracks under the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz, AufenthG): Section 18a for skilled workers with a recognised vocational training qualificatio…

  • Employer sponsor required
  • Leads to permanent residence

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• Subsequent immigration to join German family members (§§27-36 AufenthG)

  This is Germany's family reunification route for relatives of a GERMAN national — legally distinct from, and materially more generous than, reunification with a third-country resident.

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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• Western Balkans arrangement (Westbalkanregelung, §26(2) BeschV)

  Germany's Western Balkans arrangement (Westbalkanregelung), set out in Section 26 subsection (2) of the Employment Ordinance (Beschäftigungsverordnung – BeschV) together with Section 6 BeschV and Section 19c subsections (1) and (2) of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz), lets nationals of Albania, Bosnia and Herze…

  • Sponsorship not yet read

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Fursa is an independent information service, not a law firm or a registered immigration adviser. We link every figure to the official source so you can check it yourself.