# Am I crazy?



## Taceyj (Aug 15, 2015)

Hi everyone, 

I just stumbled across this forum and have read alot about the job seekers visa so now I have some questions. First of all, do I have to get a job seekers visa?? I'm a Canadian but lived in Germany in my teens so I'm fluent in the language. I've got vocational training and experience in a specialized field and have been in contact with potential employers already. My plan was to arrive in Germany and apply for an Aufenthaltserlaubnis right away without wasting time on the job seekers visa. Am I going to be able to do that? Or am I going to waste my time applying for the Aufenthaltserlaubnis for them to tell me that I have to apply for the job seekers visa first? Is there anything I can do from Canada before I go? My ticket is for the end of October. 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Tacey


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## beppi (Jun 10, 2013)

If you want to stay in Germany, you need some kind of visa. The job seeker visa is one possibility, but there are others (e.g. tourist visa for shorter stays). If you have another kind of visa, you don't need a job seeker visa.
Also, if you do not plan to stay in Germany during your job search (e.g. apply for jobs from abroad), you don't need a job seeker visa either.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

As a Canadian, you do not need the job seeker's visa if you can find a job within three months. No visa is required for a tourist visit of up to 90 days, and during this time you can apply for work and residence permits from within the country (this is a huge privilege, shared by citizens of of a small number of first-world nations - i.e. places the German government thinks you will one day want to return to). You simply arrive in Germany, get an address and do your Anmeldung, then once you have a job offer go to the Ausländerbehorde and hope that they let you stay and work (there's the whole business about EU citizens having priority, remember). If they say yes, you get an Aufenhaltserlaubnis; if they say no, you have to leave when your 90 days are up. 

What you should *not* do is go straight to the Ausländerbehörde immediately after arrival and ask for an Aufenhaltserlaubnis - you need some reason to stay in Germany, be it employment or studying or marriage. Alternatively you can find a job before leaving Canada and process all the application for a work permit through a German consulate so that you don't fly over without knowing first if you can stay. 

The job-seeker's visa is only useful to you because it would give you six months rather than 90 days, but during that time you cannot work, you'd need savings to support yourself, and there's no guarantee that you'd be granted a work permit for whatever job you did find. 

One further cautionary note - if you are in contact with German employers, particularly smaller firms, they may sound very enthusiastic about offering you a job, but only because they are completely unaware of the requirements for hiring non-EU citizens, and may not be much help in that regard. (They can also be quite good at ramming through the paperwork.)


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Two other points:

Look into the Youth Mobility Visa scheme. Canadians (but not Americans) under a certain age, 26 or 31 I think, can easily obtain an unrestricted work permit for one year. At the end of this time you are supposed to return, but it gives you a year to work and make contacts and figure out how to stay longer.

If you find a job, your chances of being granted a work permit depend on a variety of factors: 

- the employer needs to demonstrate that they can't find an EU citizen who can do the job
- jobs in technical fields with shortages of qualified employees are obviously good
- the higher the income, the better the odds
- the higher your qualification, the better the odds (graduate degrees are best)
- need for native English speakers is useful


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## Taceyj (Aug 15, 2015)

Thanks for the replies! Nononymous, your reply was great help! Unfortunately I'm too old for the youth mobility visa but I am in a field of work that is always short on workers. I'm not anticipating much trouble finding work and now that I know I don't need a job seekers visa, it'll be even easier. Now my biggest hurdle will be finding an apartment.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Taceyj said:


> Thanks for the replies! Nononymous, your reply was great help! Unfortunately I'm too old for the youth mobility visa but I am in a field of work that is always short on workers. I'm not anticipating much trouble finding work and now that I know I don't need a job seekers visa, it'll be even easier. Now my biggest hurdle will be finding an apartment.


Your biggest hurdle may still be the work permit. Finding a job doesn't automatically grant you permission to work.

Have a look here. It's the US Embassy site, but the same rules apply to Canadians.


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