Employment of certain third-country nationals

Privileged groups of people

In accordance with Section 26 (1) of the Ordinance on the Employment of Foreigners [BeschV], citizens of Andorra, Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the USA can be employed in Germany regardless of their qualification and the location of their employer. This means that no proof of qualification is required in order to obtain a residence title for taking up employment, which must be approved by the Federal Employment Agency. In addition, nationals of the aforementioned countries can be posted to Germany for employment. This applies to employment in non-regulated professions, auxiliary and semi-skilled activities.

In the case of employment in regulated professions, the professional recognition and a respective licence to practise are mandatory. Further information on professional recognition can be found in the “Acknowledgement and recognition of qualifications” section.

Approval of the employment

If you would like to employ persons from the above-mentioned countries in your company on the basis of Section (1) or (2) of the Ordinance on the Employment of Foreigners [BeschV], the Federal Employment Agency (BA) must approve the employment. In addition to the regulations mentioned, other labour market access options may also be possible, such as the EU Blue Card in accordance with Section 18g (1) clause 1 of the Residence Act [AufenthG], which is not subject to approval by the BA. In this context, an assessment is carried out to determine whether the working conditions are equivalent to those of German employees. The approval of the employment is required for the application for the entry visa abroad and the residence title at the competent foreigners authority.