# Paid internship in Germany



## Lozz (Jul 27, 2015)

I have been hired for a paid internship for three months in Germany. I'm an American citizen with a bachelors unrelated to the internship I'm applying for, as I've decided to pursue a different field. I'm a bit confused about the application process and I don't think my employers are entirely sure either as I think they haven't hired many interns from outside the EU.

Can anyone clarify for me? I think they need to apply for a ZAV? Do I need health insurance? Proof of address in Germany? Etc...

Thank you for the help!


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Three months makes it very tempting to do the whole thing under the table. As a US citizen you can spend 90 days (out of 180) in the Schengen area without any type of visa or residence permit, but of course as a tourist you are not allowed to work. If you were to arrive, begin your internship immediately, carry travel health insurance, and leave again after three months, the authorities would likely never notice. If the employer didn't care, and was willing to pay an "honorarium" without any deductions or a tax number, it would be quiet easy.

To do it legally is trickier. I would see what is required to connect the internship to student status somehow rather than treat it as a job - are you a recent graduate? (Among other things, certain types of research grants and stipends are tax-free, and foreign students can typically work a certain number of hours per week.) A work permit, residence permit, health insurance and tax ID are a huge bureaucratic hassle if you're only working for three months, assuming you could even get that all through. 

In general, when you apply for any sort of residence permit (with or without a work permit) you need to provide proof that you've registered your address with the municipality, and show adequate health insurance, which for a short-term visit can be US-based travel coverage.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I'm not sure how they do things in Germany, but in France an "internship" has to be documented by a three way agreement - between the "employer," the intern and the school that is requiring the internship. I know when we were considering taking on an intern in the plant where I worked in Germany, a big consideration was designating the person or persons who would be responsible for the training part of the internship. (Internships are a required part of many school programs in Germany and other parts of Europe.)

I think there is a special category of visa for something like this. But it would be up to your employer to ask about this.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Have a look at this thread: http://www.expatforum.com/expats/ge...ts-living-germany/805754-job-seeker-visa.html

It seems that what's being called an "internship" is just a temporary job for three or six months, which might be tricky for non-EU citizens to obtain the right permits for. The problem with the three-month variety is that it could easily take you that long to ram all the paperwork through.

Personally, I would either go for 90 days and do it all under the table, or start working with the German consulate now to figure out how to define this as some sort of "student internship" that would formally allow short-term employment.


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## Lozz (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

I'm not a recent graduate so I don't think covering it under some sort of student visa umbrella it's going to work unfortunately.

I got the internship not even three weeks ago and I'm due to start in three weeks. I was already traveling when I applied and now Ive been in Holland (so the EU) for two weeks so the three months under the table idea isn't very viable. They seem pretty lax on my start date so hopefully I can get the bureaucratic side sorted soon.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Strictly speaking, then, it's not an internship, it's a three-month job. 

You could try what I suggested in the other thread: show up at the Ausländerbehörde and hope you that can organize it quickly, which might work if you're already in Europe and can have someone send over any needed documentation. Or you apply for a visa through the consulate, which would require that you return to the US and will take a lot longer than three weeks.


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