Information Regarding Possibility and Process of Changing Ausbildung Visa to Work Visa or Residency Permit

Question

Hi everyone. I was doing an Ausbildung in Stuttgart as Hotelfachmann. Unfortunately I got a termination letter from my employer. Currently I am living with a friend in Hamburg and I have registered myself in the city. Now I am only looking for Jobs as most of the Ausbildung places are offered mostly in February or August and I do not want to waste my time and have some change of plans. I have checked Anabin website and my degree is recognised in Germany. I had a word with Hamburg Welcome Center and they told me it is possible to change visa. I have given some interviews recently and they told me Ausländerbehörde take 4-5 months to change the visa and in some cases they don't even change it. I am stuck in a loop. To get a Job contract I need Aufenthaltstitel and to get Aufenthaltstitel I need Job contract. I just want to be sure that I am on the right track. I just want to know whether a change of Ausbildung visa to Work visa is even possible in the first place. If yes, are there any complications I might face during the entire process.

Comments

Hi same situation I would like to ask what happened now on your process what is the status now? Thank you.

Can we apply for working permit instead working visa ?

Is it possible to apply from Ausbuildung (visa) to working permit?

Answer 1

Hi @Sachin__Rawat

Yes, it is possible to change from an Ausbildung visa to a work visa. The work visa has to be for qualified work, i.e. a job where an Ausbildung or university degree is required. There are exceptions for citizens of the following countries, who are allowed a work visa for any kind of jobs: Andorra, Austrailia, Israel, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, UK, USA.

Different Ausländerbehörde will have different processing times but 4-5 months for a work visa seems quite long for me. If you find a job, try to make the application for a work permit with all the required documents. The Ausländerbehörde ask the Bundesagentur für Arbeit to check the job conditions but this has to be done within two weeks. After that, you and/or your employer should contact the Ausländerbehörde for updates on the application.

Another option, although quite complicated, is to begin working with your current permit. It allows you to work ten hours a week in a job unrelated to the Ausbildung. You can also work more hours than that if permitted to do so by the Ausländerbehörde. You could then apply for the work permit, which means your Ausbildung permit continues to be valid until they make a decision on your application and you can work in this period.  

Best,

Éanna

Comments

Hellooooooo
Thank you for the valuable information can you please tell me which law i want to read the whole law for more information thank you

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You're welcome!

There isn't really a specific law which states you are entitled to change from Ausbildung permit to work permit. You can **** at the legal text of the permit you have right now which is according to paragraph 16a of the Aufenthaltsgesetz:

https://***.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg_2004/__16a.html

The relevant section is part 1. It is quite complicated but basically if you **** at the second sentence of part 1 it describes how it is not possible to change from 16a to 19c, which is type of permit not relevant to you. It does not say anything else about moving to other permits.

The other place you can **** at is a seperate legal text called the Aufenthaltsverordnung. In paragraph 39 it states that anyone in possession of a certain reisdence permit can be issued with another type, unless it is specifically ruled out by the Aufenthaltsgesetz:

https://***.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthv/__39.html

Here is a table that was made to provide some clarity to the question of what changes are and are not possible. You'll see on page three that if a person does not complete their Ausbildung, they can move to a permit for qualified work (paragraph 18a or 18b):

https://***.einwanderer.net/fileadmin/downloads/tabellen_und_uebersichten/Tabelle_Spurwechsel_2020.pdf

Just also to note that since I previously wrote the law has been changed on the amount of hours someone can work on an Ausbildung permit. It was 10 hours a week and is now 20.