Welcome
Employment and jobseeker visa
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On this website you find information on visa for working in Germany. This includes the visa categories employment, vocational training, job seeking, research, self-employment, freelancing, voluntary service, au-pair and recognition measures for foreign qualifications.
Make it in Germany
If your are interested in working and living in Germany, you find extensive information on the Make it in Germany web page.
The page includes information on the legal bases of employment visa, routes to have your Pakistani qualification recognised and a large database of job listings.
Please consult this web page carefully before launching your application - good preparation will save you time afterwards.
The visa application process
A new way to apply for employment visa
The German Missions in Pakistan are changing the way to apply for employment visa and introduces the Consular Services Portal. As is already the practice for study visa at the German Embassy Islamabad, applications for employment visa will be moved to the Consular Services Portal over the next months.
The changes at a glance:
- Registrations for appointments will be registered at the Federal Foreign Office's Consular Services Portal.
- Instead of lists of required documents on our website, the portal will guide you in an interactive questionnaire to the documents we you have to submit.
- You will then have to pre-submit these documents as digital scans on the portal.
- Your uploads will be scrutinised for missing documents or other gaps in your presentation.
- Only after pre-admission will your application be placed on the waiting list for an appointment.
The system will guide you as to which documents to present and in which order to bring them to the Embassy. Please keep to this order carefully, as this will speed up the final application at the Embassy and enable more applicants to present their applications.
Over the next months, more and more categories of employment visa will be available in the Consular Services Portal. Waiting lists and direct bookings will be closed.
Visa for vocational Training in Islamabad: register for an appointment online
At this stage, the Consular Services Portal is open for visa for vocational training at the German Embassy Islamabad only.
Below you will find guidance on how to apply in the different categories, and at the different German missions in Pakistan.
The waiting list for vocational training visa is no longer active. Anyone registered on the list must re-register on the Consular Services Portal.
Other employment visa categories: Application process
Step 1: Determine your visa category
Please consult the visa navigator to determine which visa category you should apply for. The visa navigator can be found HERE.
Step 2: Prepare your visa application
Please choose the correct visa category from the menu on this website's bottom and prepare your visa application accordingly.
Step 3: Register for/book an appointment
Follow the links below to register for an appointment
Register on the dedicated priority list.
This priority waiting list reduces your waiting time to three weeks.
To be eligible to register on this list you must have received pre-approval from your Foreigners' Authority in Germany under s. 81a Residence Act.
Pre-approval from the Federal Employment Agency under s. 36 Employment Ordinance does not qualify you for the priority list. Please register instead on the regular list below.
This list currently applies to visa applications for:
- EU Blue Card,
- Employment for Skilled Workers,
- Vocational Training,
- Opportunity Card (Jobseeking),
- Research,
- Self-Employment and Freelancing,
- Voluntary Service,
- Au-Pair,
- Recognition Measure for your Foreign Qualification and
- all other employees with an employment contract.
All employment visa will be moved to the Consular Services Portal over the next months. Please check regularly if your visa category is still on this list or has been moved.
To gurantee a fair appointment allocation to all applicants, please be aware that if you register for/book an appointment in the wrong visa category and/or at the wrong mission, you will be turned away and your application will not be accepted on your appointment day. In that case, you will have to register for/book a new appointment in the correct visa category.
Please make sure to bring all required documents with you and be on time on your application day. Further information about how to access the Embassy can be found HERE.
Work Visa Categories and Checklists
You have a recognized university degree and already found a job in Germany?
You have a recognized university degree and already found a job in Germany?
Employment for Skilled Workers Holding a University Degree (NO EU Blue Card)
You have a recognized vocational qualification and already found a job in Germany?
Employment for Skilled Workers with Vocational Qualification
You have found a vocational training programme in Germany?
You have a recognized university degree or vocational qualification and would like to find a job in Germany?
You have a hosting agreement or work contract with a research institute in Germany?
You would like to start a business or work as a freelancer in Germany?
You would like to do a voluntary service in Germany?
You would like to do an au-pair in Germany?
You would like to work as a Speciality Cook in Germany?
You have an assessment note by a competent authority in Germany and would like your professional qualification to be recognized?