Germany · Work authorisation

Residence permit for skilled workers with academic training (§ 18b AufenthG)

Issued by The immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) for the place where you live in Germany. It is checked against conditions rather than scored, so the question is whether you meet each one, not how many points you gather.

Basis
Checklist
Steps
4
Possible outcomes
2
Last checked
2026-08-09

Conditions

What this permit
asks of you.

Which desk decides

The authority, exactly

§ 71 AufenthG splits it: the German mission responsible for your place of residence is competent for the visa you travel on, and the Ausländerbehörde is competent for the permit itself once you are in Germany. If you intend to start work in Germany you have to apply for the visa with the competent mission before entering.

Qualification

What it wants from your degree

Proof of a German or recognised foreign university degree, or a foreign university degree comparable to a German one.

Not a licence

Academic comparability

Statement of Comparability for foreign higher education qualifications, issued by ZAB (Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen).

This compares your degree to a local one. It is an academic statement and it does not authorise you to practise any profession.

Statement of Comparability: €208. 3 months from complete documents and full payment

The procedure

4 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

  1. Secure a concrete job offer for a qualified job that your qualification equips you to do. § 18b(1) AufenthG grants the permit for the exercise of any qualified employment.
  2. Establish that your degree is recognised or comparable: look it up in anabin, and apply to the ZAB for a Statement of Comparability where anabin does not settle it.

Get your qualification assessed

  1. Expect the immigration authority to obtain the consent of the Federal Employment Agency under § 39 AufenthG, unless the law or a regulation waives it for your case.Where a professional practice permit (Berufsausübungserlaubnis) is required for the job, § 18(2) AufenthG requires it to have been granted or assured. Whether your job needs one is the question the recognition part of this page answers.

Register and start working

  1. Apply at the German diplomatic mission if you are abroad, then at the immigration authority for where you live in Germany.For a first permit issued after your 45th birthday, § 18(2) no. 6 AufenthG requires either a salary of at least 55 per cent of the annual contribution assessment ceiling of the general pension insurance, or adequate old-age provision. The Federal Foreign Office states that ceiling as €101,400 for 2026; confirm both the ceiling and the resulting figure with the authority before you rely on them.

Cost and time

What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.

Fees

National visa, category D
€75
Issue of the residence permit
€100
Extension
€96 for up to three months, €93 for longer

Timeframes

Permit decision
Not published as a single national figure — ask the mission or immigration authority handling your case
Statement of Comparability inside the Fast-Track Procedure for Skilled Workers
2 months at the ZAB

Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.

Both halves together

Guides that use this permit.

Each one takes a profession into Germany and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

7 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-08-09, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Is this the right permit for you?

That depends on where you qualified.

The planner compares every route Germany opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.

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