The Germany Job Seeker Visa: How to Apply at Your Local German Embassy/Consulate
This page details exactly how to apply for the Germany Job Seeker Visa at your local German Embassy or Consulate. We will not only help you determine whether you are eligible for the Germany Job Seeker Visa but will also take a detailed look at the application requirements, including the documents that you are required to submit at your visa appointment at the German Embassy/Consulate.
🎓 The Germany Job Seeker Visa is aimed at highly qualified candidates that have a university-level degree that is recognised in Germany. The visa allows you to live in Germany for a period of up to 6 months to search for a job.
If you land a work contract in Germany while on a Job Seeker Visa, you are then eligible to apply for an Work Visa or EU Blue Card at an immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in 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 German embassy or consulate where you will be applying for the visa.
Who is this page for?
🌍 This page is for those who are required to apply for a Germany Job Seeker Visa before entering Germany.
You are only eligible to apply for a Job Seeker Visa after entering Germany if you are from the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel or the United Kingdom. For further details about how to apply in Germany, see our guide for applying for the Job Seeker Visa in Berlin.
Citizens of all other countries must apply for a Germany Job Seeker Visa prior to entering Germany. You can apply up to 90 days prior to your intended arrival in Germany.
❗ Note: You cannot work on a Germany Job Seeker Visa. Once you have landed a work contract, you must then apply for a Work Visa or EU Blue Card in Germany in order to start working.
How to apply for the Germany Job Seeker Visa at your local German Embassy or Consulate
1️⃣ Check if your degree is listed on Anabin and, if not, apply for it to be assessed by the Central Office for Foreign Education Affairs (ZAB).
2️⃣ Apply for the Germany Job Seeker Visa at your local German embassy/consulate.
3️⃣ Move to Germany. The Germany Job Seeker Visa allows you to live in Germany for up to 6 months. After your arrival, you should officially register at an address (Anmeldung) and search for a job.
4️⃣ Apply for a Work Visa or Blue Card at the immigration office in Berlin once you have secured an employment contract.
1️⃣ Having your university qualifications recognised in Germany
You must have a university-level qualification that is recognised in Germany to apply for the Germany Job Seeker Visa. 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).
We have laid out the two options below.
Finding your qualification on the Anabin database
The Anabin database lists foreign degrees and higher education qualifications in relation to German diplomas and degrees. To help you find if your institution, degree type or specific degree is recognised on Anabin, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide on how to search the Anabin database.
When applying for the Job Seeker Visa at a German embassy or consulate (step 2 below), you should submit your original degree certificate together with screenshots from the Anabin database which show that your university institution is recognised in Germany and that your degree type is equivalent to a German one.
❗ Note: If your university institution is not listed on Anabin or is classified as ‘H+/-’, or if your degree type (i.e. Bachelor’s of Engineering) is not listed, you need to have your degree assessed via the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) prior to your Job Seeker Visa appointment at the German embassy or consulate. For instructions on how to do this, see our guide on how to apply for a Statement of Comparability for Germany.
Applying for a Statement of Comparability
The Statement of Comparability is a document issued by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) that describes your foreign higher education qualification. It is a comparative assessment which specifies the German qualification that your foreign qualification is comparable to. For further details, see our guide on how to apply for a Statement of Comparability.
Statement of Comparability application:
The cost for this evaluation is €200 and can take up to three months.
The documentation requirements for your Statement of Comparability application depend on which country you are from. Please find the requirements for your country here. Note that certain documents need to be translated and certified so make sure you read the documentation requirements for your country carefully. Incomplete applications will not be accepted by ZAB.
Once you have gathered all the relevant documentation, complete ZAB’s online application form.
When you hit 'send' at the bottom of the online application form, a hard copy will be generated, which you are required to sign and send by post to the address given on the application form along with all your documentation.
Following the receipt of your application, ZAB will send you an email regarding payment for the assessment. Processing of your application will only begin once the payment has been received.
Once the assessment is completed by ZAB, a long and a short version of the Statement of Comparability is issued. The short version should be included in your Job Seeker Visa application at the German embassy or consulate.
2️⃣ Apply for the Germany Job Seeker Visa at your local German embassy/consulate.
As each German embassy/consulate requests slightly different documents for the Job Seeker Visa, it is not possible to provide a definitive list of what you are required to bring with you. You can find your local German Embassy/Consulate using this link. Before attending your appointment, you should also look up the specific requirements on the embassy/consulate website you will be applying at.
However, in general, you will be required to submit the following at your embassy/consulate appointment:
✅ 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. You must also provide two photocopies of your passport data page.
✅ Two current biometric passport photos
Guidelines recommend a 35 mm x 45 mm frontal shot with neutral facial expression, closed mouth, looking straight into the camera, with a light background.
✅ Two completed visa application forms (Antrag auf Erteilung eines nationalen Visums)
You can download a blank copy of the form here.
✅ Travel/expat insurance that is valid for 6 months from the date you will arrive in Germany
Travel/expat insurance must be valid for 6 months from the date you will arrive in Germany. The policy must cover you for the full period of your Germany Job Seeker Visa and provide a minimum of €30,000 medical coverage with repatriation included. You must bring a copy of the policy confirmation and your policy documents with you to the appointment.
For your travel/expat insurance, our favourite choice is Feather’s expat health insurance policy. We like Feather’s policy because:
It meets all the requirements for the Job Seeker Visa.
It is widely accepted by German embassies and consulates worldwide.
It is affordable and can be paid for and cancelled month-to-month.
You can quickly sign up for a Feather expat health insurance policy here.
✅ University degree certificate
You must submit an original degree certificate and a photocopy. As stated in official documentation, this must be a:
"qualification from a German Hochschule, an accredited foreign university or university college qualification, or a foreign university or university college qualification comparable to a German Hochschule qualification."
To find out if your qualification is recognised in Germany, follow the instructions in step 1 above for searching the Anabin database or applying to ZAB for a Statement of Comparability.
✅ Screenshots from the Anabin database or a Statement of Comparability from ZAB (see step 1 above).
This serves as proof that your university degree or qualification is recognised in Germany.
✅ Proof of funds
You must provide proof that you have sufficient funds to support your stay. German embassies and consulates generally require that you provide a bank statement of an escrow/blocked account (Sperrkonto) with a balance of at least €720 for each month of the visa. For a six-month Job Seeker Visa, this is €4,320 (although this amount will vary depending on where you apply).
To open a Sperrkonto, we like Fintiba as it can be opened from overseas and is a quick online process with relatively low fees compared to the other banks that offer this type of account. The fee is €89 to open the account and €4.90 per month thereon. While Deutsche Bank/Sparkasse also offer blocked accounts, the process can take significantly longer.
For more details, check out our guide on opening a German blocked account.
If the embassy/consulate does not require the funds to be in a blocked account, we recommend you provide bank statements for the previous three months that clearly show your name, balance and date on them.
✅ Motivational letter
You must provide a letter of motivation detailing the planned course of action to secure a job in Germany (sector, region, intended place of residence/accommodation, etc.).
✅ Additional evidence of preparations to secure a job
If available, you should provide any additional evidence of your preparations to secure a job, e.g. proof of a recent job search in Germany (i.e email correspondence, job offers, agency enquiries, job interviews, etc.).
✅ CV in German format
Your CV and degree certificate should ideally be translated into German although some embassies will accept these documents in English. If you are needing an affordable and efficient translation service, then we recommend using lingoking for this purpose.
Bring original versions of all of the documents listed plus two copies.
What documents should be translated into German for the Job Seeker Visa application?
📃 Ideally, your degree certificate, motivational letter and CV should be in German when you apply for the Germany Job Seeker Visa at a German embassy or consulate.
For these translations, we recommend using lingoking who offer fast and affordable translations into German for your visa application documents.
How to book a Germany Job Seeker Visa appointment at your local German embassy or consulate
📅 You can find your local German embassy/consulate on this link.
Once on the website of your local German embassy or consulate, you should navigate to the section for national visas – this section is usually called 'National Visas', 'Long-term Visas' or 'Visas for more than 90-day stays'.
Once you have navigated to the national visas section, there will be a link to the embassy or consulate appointment booking platform. On this platform, you can book a national visa appointment where you’ll be able to submit your Germany Job Seeker Visa application.
Processing your Germany Job Seeker Visa at the German Embassy/Consulate
📄 After submitting your documents (listed above) at your appointment at the German embassy/consulate, your application will be sent away for assessment by the relevant authorities in Germany. You will be notified by the embassy or consulate once the visa is processed. Visa processing will generally take 2 to 4 weeks from the date you submitted your application.
As approval is not guaranteed, do not book flights until your Job Seekers Visa has been approved.
The Germany Job Seeker Visa fee usually costs €75 (payable in local currency). Always check with your respective embassy or consulate about their preferred payment method.
Approval for a Germany Job Seeker Visa
If and when the embassy/consulate receives approval that they can issue you a Germany Job Seeker Visa, you will notified and will need to collect the visa from the German embassy or consulate.
🎉 Congratulations! At this stage, you have successfully applied for the Germany Job Seeker Visa and can move to Germany for a 6-month period to find employment.
See steps 3 and 4 below for information about what steps you need to take on arrival in Germany.
3️⃣ Move to Germany. After your arrival, you should officially register at an address (Anmeldung) and search for a job.
Once you land in Germany, you have 6 months to complete two key things in order to stay in Germany longer term. While the information below is geared towards people moving to Berlin, both steps are relevant no matter where you are job seeking in Germany:
🏠 Complete your Anmeldung
To apply for any further visa at an immigration office in Germany, you must first have officially registered at an address in Germany, a process that is known as Anmeldung. Without an Anmeldung certificate, you won’t be able to transition from your Job Seeker Visa to a Work Visa or EU Blue Card (see step 4 below).
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
In order to transition from a Job Seeker Visa to a Work Visa or EU Blue Card, it is of course crucial that you find a suitable job in Germany. To help you with your job hunt, we’ve 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 4 and apply for a Work Visa or EU Blue Card at an immigration office in Germany.
4️⃣ Get a job in Germany and apply for a Work Visa or EU Blue Card
Once you are living in Germany on a Job Seeker Visa, the obvious goal is to obtain a job that will allow you to apply for a suitable German work permit.
👔 When you do land a job, you are then required to lodge your German Work Visa or Blue Card application at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
We have created guides that will help you secure the following work visas in Berlin:
How to apply for a Work Visa at the immigration office in Berlin
How to apply for an EU Blue Card at the immigration office in Berlin
If you are living elsewhere in Germany, then these guides will likely be helpful when applying for a Work Visa or EU Blue Card as the application requirements tend to be the same. But we also recommend checking with your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) to see if they have any additional requirements.