Germany’s shortage of workers is not a rumour. Hospitals do not have enough nurses, trucks stand idle because no drivers can be found, and if you need electrical work done at home the wait for a tradesman runs into weeks. That is why Europe’s largest economy has opened up its immigration laws and made new routes for skilled people from abroad.
The problem is that this news reaches us only half told. The sentence “Germany needs people” echoes everywhere; the sentence that goes with it gets lost somewhere: Germany needs people who can speak German. The door really is open, but only one key fits it — the German language. People think the papers are difficult and the language is a matter for later. The reality is the opposite. The papers are straightforward, the real obstacle is the language, and the person who starts classes today gets ahead in this race of everyone who is sitting in an agent’s office.
So let us look calmly at each door one by one — which one is for whom, and where people stumble.
Chancenkarte — one year to look for a job
Germany’s new points-based card is built on something that is rarely found in the rest of Europe: even if you do not have a job offer, you can still stay in Germany for one year and look for work. Points are given for your education or skill, your experience, your age, your language (German or English), and any earlier connection with Germany.
But let us clear up here the thing that is most misunderstood. This card is not for everyone. The basic condition is that you have a recognised degree or at least two years of vocational training, and along with it a certificate of basic German (A1) or English B2. For the person who has none of these, this card does not open, whatever the agent may say.
The second condition is money: proof of one year’s expenses, that is a blocked account or showing that you can manage on part-time work. The card allows twenty hours of work a week. And if you find a job, the card converts into a work permit or a Blue Card. For educated and skilled young people this is currently one of the best legal routes in Europe — provided you meet that condition. We have set out the full points calculation in a separate article.
Ausbildung — the route that pays you to learn
If you have to remember only one thing from this whole article, remember this. Germany’s Ausbildung system is two to three years of practical training which you do under a contract with a company, and during which you are paid a monthly wage. At the end you get an official, recognised qualification that is valid throughout Germany.
Read that one sentence again: you are given money to learn, not charged for it. With us every route to Europe begins by demanding hundreds of thousands of rupees — this is the one big route where the income starts from the first month. Nursing, electrician, mechanic, hotel, bakery, logistics — hundreds of fields are open. For the visa you usually need German B1 and a training contract from a company.
And this is why we call it the most realistic route: for a young person who has neither a high degree nor hundreds of thousands in fees, there is no plan in Germany more solid than this. Those who complete an Ausbildung get a job almost for certain, and the road to permanent residence opens up. For the boy or girl who has just done matric or intermediate and is wondering what to do now — learning German and doing an Ausbildung is the most sensible decision of this generation. We have a separate detailed article on it.
Work visa and the EU Blue Card
This is for people who already have a job offer. The rule is simple: your degree or vocational qualification must be recognised (Anerkennung) in Germany, and there must be a job offer from a German employer. You can check the standing of your degree yourself in the anabin database, and this can be done today, free of charge — no agent is needed.
For those who have a degree and a good salary offer, there is the EU Blue Card. The government sets the minimum annual salary threshold, and in shortage fields such as IT this threshold is kept comparatively low. The greatest merit of this route is speed — permanent residence comes soonest through it.
There is a third possibility as well that fewer people know about: under the new law, in certain fields there is a route even without a degree, on the basis of proven experience and a suitable salary alone. If you have worked for years in one trade and have a proper record of it, this option is worth looking at.
Study visa
Tuition fees at Germany’s public universities are close to zero. People often do not believe it when they hear this, but that is how it is — the cost is only accommodation and food. For the visa you have to show about one year’s expenses deposited in a blocked account, roughly eleven to twelve thousand euros, and this amount changes every year, so be sure to look at the embassy’s current list.
Students are allowed to work, and after finishing the studies the stay can be extended to look for a job. There are many master’s programmes in English, and this is exactly the place where people make one quiet mistake: they think that because the programme is in English there is no need for German. For the studies perhaps not, but in the job market your opportunities are halved without German. If the degree is from a German university and you do not know the language, then even reaching the interview room becomes difficult.
Family reunion
People living legally in Germany can bring their spouse and minor children. This route is straightforward but fine-grained on paper — attestation of the marriage certificate, the spelling of names, proof of housing and income. And here too the language comes up: the spouse who is coming is usually asked for proof of basic German (A1). If a member of your household is in Germany and you are to come, start the class today; do not wait for the visa file to open.
About asylum — without sugar-coating
This part is the most bitter, and for that very reason the most necessary. Asylum applications from citizens of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are refused in Germany in a very large majority of cases, because these countries are generally not counted as “countries of danger” in the German system.
And what happens after a refusal? Duldung — that is, temporary toleration. The name makes it sound like a concession; in practice it is years of uncertainty: restrictions on work, life in a camp, and the constant threat of deportation over your head. And understand this too, that Germany has no Arraigo system like Spain’s — that is, no door is open here through which you can live for years without papers and then become legal afterwards.
The person who has genuinely been wronged, whose life is genuinely in danger, has every right to apply. This is a recognised principle of international law. But taking the asylum route for an economic purpose is a ruinous strategy in Germany, and the agent never tells this truth. With the same money and the same time that this route consumes, one can learn German to B1 and get an Ausbildung visa — and the result is a wage instead of a camp, and a qualification instead of fear.
Language — this is where it is decided
In the description of every route you will have seen that everything comes round to the same place. So, plainly: the real test for Germany is not the visa form, it is B1. For a serious student, getting from A1 to B1 is usually ten to fifteen months of work. That seems long, but it is far less than the years wasted running after an agent.
Keep these two things in mind while preparing:
- Goethe-Institut courses and exams — they have centres in the big cities of Pakistan and India.
- Preparing from A1 to B1 with free and cheap online resources is entirely possible, but for the visa the certificate must be from a recognised institution — Goethe, telc or ÖSD.
So which route is for you?
If you have both a degree and a job offer — go straight for the work visa or the Blue Card, that is the fastest. If you have a degree or a two-year vocational qualification but no offer — look at the Chancenkarte, and while waiting for the card take your language up to B1. If you have just done intermediate, or you know some trade and your pocket is empty — Ausbildung, without hesitation. If you intend to study and have some capital — the study visa, but with German alongside. And if a member of your household is already there — family reunion, starting from A1.
In all these routes the official fee does not go beyond a few hundred euros. When somebody asks you for hundreds of thousands, he is not taking money for the visa, he is taking money for your not knowing.
Official websites — verify from here
The three sources given below are official and free. Before making any big decision, check your information against them, because the thresholds and the amounts change every year.
- Germany’s official immigration portal (not in Urdu, but complete in English): make-it-in-germany.com
- Recognition and standing of degrees: anabin.kmk.org
- Visa details and checklist: the website of the German embassy in your country
This article is to explain Germany’s system to you, not legal advice. Salary thresholds, the blocked-account amount and the points conditions change almost every year, and every person’s circumstances are different. Before applying, be sure to verify the figures from the official website given above or from the German embassy in your city.
