Germany eases visa rules for foreign students, skilled workers

ISLAMABAD: In order to ease the country’s record-high worker shortage, Germany has eased its working visa rules for foreign students as part of its new skilled worker law which came into force from March 1, 2024.

From nursing to hospitality to IT, the German government hopes that the law will encourage skilled workers from all kinds of industries to come to the federal republic and ease the country’s record-high worker shortage.

However, qualified jobseekers who are yet to begin their career, namely international students, can also benefit from the new law. 

The new rules will make it easier to combine work and studying in Germany at every stage of higher education, including before you’ve even been accepted to study.

With the Visum zur Studienbewerbung (literally, visa for study applications), non-EU citizens will be permitted to come to Germany for up to nine months while they prepare a university application.

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Perhaps most crucially, prospective students from so-called third countries can now work up to 20 hours per week during these nine months to fund their stay. Previously, prospective students were permitted to come for the nine-month stay but were not allowed to work.

As with university applicants, third-country nationals who would like to do an apprenticeship in Germany can now work in the country while continuing their search.

Applicants are now able to stay in Germany for nine months while they look for an apprenticeship, so long as they have B1-level German skills and are below the age of 35. 

During this nine-month application period, they are allowed to work part-time hours in any job and can continue working for 20 hours per week alongside their training once they have secured an apprenticeship spot.

Under the new German Skilled Worker Visa rules, anyone with a degree from a university or a vocational qualification recognised by the country in which it was obtained can come to Germany if they can demonstrate two years of experience in the field in which they would like to work. The qualification and experience do not have to be related or in the same industry, only applicants’ work experience has to align with the job in Germany that they hope to get.