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Business Immigration
Residence permit for Business Immigration
Anyone who wants to work as a foreigner in Germany is confronted with a large number of legal questions and options. Of central importance is in particular which residence permit is required. This depends, among other things, on whether the planned activity is self-employed or not, what qualifications the foreigner has and what nationality he or she has. In the following you will get an initial overview of which residence permits are suitable for business immigration and which requirements you have to meet in order to be granted the residence permit.
The most important facts in a nutshell:
- Anyone who wants to work as a foreigner in Germany needs a special residence permit
- For dependent work, the residence permit, the ICT card or the Blue Card come into consideration - You need a residence permit for self-employment
- With the introduction of the Skilled Immigration Act in 2019, there were some benefits for foreigners with professional or university degrees
What types of residence permits are there in the area of business immigration?
Which residence permit you need depends on various factors: Basically, a residence permit can be issued under various conditions for both self-employment and employment. In addition, there are other residence permits that can be considered in the context of business immigration. The ICT card is a special residence permit for internal transfers and the Blue Card is a residence permit for the immigration of highly qualified specialists.
No residence permit for EU foreigners
EU foreigners do not need a residence permit to work in Germany. Freedom of establishment and freedom of movement for workers apply in all member states of the European Union, so that both self-employed and non-self-employed work can be undertaken by EU foreigners in Germany.
Residence permit for skilled workers (§§ 18 ff. Residence Act)
The residence permit is the most frequently issued residence title. However, not every residence permit entitles you to take up employment. §§ 18 ff. of the Residence Act regulate the conditions under which foreign skilled workers can obtain a residence permit for the purpose of taking up gainful employment in Germany:
Specialist with an equivalent professional or university degree
The applicant must have a German university or vocational qualification or a foreign qualification that is equivalent to a German one. Many foreign qualifications are already officially recognized by Germany. You can check how your degree will be evaluated on the website of the Central Office for Foreign Education https://www.kmk.org/zab/zentralstelle-fuer-auslaendisches-bildungswesen.html. If your vocational or university degree has not yet been evaluated, you can apply for an examination by the Central Office for Foreign Education, which is subject to a fee. Since the Skilled Immigration Act of 2019, it is sufficient for a residence permit for skilled workers that they are able to work through their qualification; this means that skilled workers can now also work in related professions, as long as their training qualifies them to do so.
Concrete job offer
There must be a concrete job offer. This can be proven by a letter from the employer or by a draft employment contract.
Approval from the Employment Agency
If necessary, the employment agency must give its approval. The Employment Agency checks in particular whether the applicant will work under comparable working conditions to other employees in Germany. Particular attention is paid to compliance with statutory occupational safety regulations and the payment of an appropriate wage.
employment permit
In addition, an employment permit must be available. This is relevant for regulated professions, such as doctors, engineers, nurses or educators. If the work permit has not yet been issued, there must be at least a confirmation that it will be granted.
minimum salary
Furthermore, employees who are older than 45 years must have a minimum salary. This amounts to 55% of the annual contribution assessment limit in the general pension insurance. For the year 2022, the employee had to have a minimum gross monthly salary of €3,877.50 (€46,530.00 annually). This rule aims to ensure that older workers have an adequate livelihood when they retire. However, in exceptional cases, a residence permit can still be granted if this salary limit is not reached, for example if the applicant can prove that he already has sufficient pension provision.
Duration of issue and settlement permit
The residence permit for skilled workers is generally issued for four years. However, if you only have a fixed-term employment contract, the residence permit will only be issued until the end of the employment relationship. After these four years, employees can apply for a so-called settlement permit: this has more advantages than a residence permit. For this you must prove, among other things, that you have sufficient knowledge of the German language and have made compulsory or voluntary contributions to the statutory pension insurance for at least four years.
ITC Card and Mobile ITC Card
The ITC card (“Intra-Corporate-Transfer-Card”) is a temporary residence permit that was created for the internal transfer of employees. This should make it easier for companies based outside the European Union to deploy employees flexibly. The employees of such a company must meet the following requirements:
Manager, specialist or trainee
The employee must be a manager, specialist or trainee. Managers are persons who are employed in a key position and are primarily responsible for managing the company's branch office in Germany and who receive general instructions from the company's owners. Specialists are individuals who have essential specialist knowledge of the host entity's fields of activity, procedures or administration, as well as a high level of qualifications and appropriate professional experience. An ICT card as a trainee can be obtained by anyone who has a university degree, completes a trainee program that serves professional development or further training and is remunerated.
Seniority of at least 6 months
Furthermore, the employee must have been with the company for at least six months.
duration of the transfer
The transfer period must be at least 90 days. The ICT card is issued for the duration of the transfer, but for a maximum of three years. The ICT Card is issued to trainees for a maximum of one year.
Employment contract/letter of secondment
For the ICT card to be issued, the employee must present their employment contract and a secondment letter from their employer, in which the latter informs the authorities of the details of the secondment.
proof of qualification
Furthermore, the employee must prove that he is qualified for the job he is supposed to do in the German branch.
Mobility with the ICT Card / Mobile ICT Card
Foreigners who come from non-EU countries but already have an ICT card in another EU member state do not need a residence permit in Germany if they are transferred to a German company branch for a maximum of 90 days. The only requirement for this is that the branch office in another EU country informs the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees about the short-term transfer. For a longer stay than 90 days, the so-called Mobile-ICT card can be applied for.
Blue card
The Blue Card is a special residence permit for highly qualified academics. In addition to concrete employment and a completed university degree, the issuance of a Blue Card requires a certain minimum salary (€43,992.00 gross annual salary (as of: 2022)). The Blue Card is issued for a period of up to four years and has a number of advantages: It is much easier to obtain an unlimited settlement permit after the Blue Card. In addition, spouses of Blue Card holders do not have to prove any knowledge of German in the context of family reunification. Family members also have the right to work.
Accelerated skilled worker procedure
With the Skilled Immigration Act of 2019, an accelerated procedure was implemented in the Residence Act. Employers are involved in the application process for foreign skilled workers. On the one hand, the accelerated procedure has the advantage that the employer has a contact person because the procedure is regularly bundled at central offices for the immigration of skilled workers. The procedure is also accelerated by shorter deadlines. For this, the employer must submit the necessary documents to the authority; this includes, among other things, the contact details and a copy of the employee's passport as well as a power of attorney. In this procedure, the employer acts as a contact person for the immigration authorities and for the foreign specialist. The procedural fee for the accelerated procedure is €411.00.
Residence permit for self-employment
If you are a non-EU foreigner and want to work as a self-employed person in Germany, you generally need a residence permit to work as a self-employed person (Section 21 of the Residence Act). The following requirements must be met for this:
Economic interest or regional need and positive economic impact
There must be an economic interest or a regional need for the planned activity and positive effects on the economy must be expected. Evidence of this can often be provided by the fact that investments are made and jobs are created or secured as a result of the activity. The particular innovativeness of the company can also justify an economic interest. A regional need can be affirmed above all if the company sells products or offers services for which there is a local need. To prove that these requirements are met, the applicant submits a so-called business plan, which contains the most important plans for the company.
Secured financing
In addition, the applicant must prove that the financing of the implementation is secured through equity or a loan commitment.
Appropriate retirement provision
Applicants who are older than 45 years are only granted a residence permit if they can prove that they have an adequate pension plan. For this purpose, you can submit both future claims to an old-age provision against an insurer and your own or business assets. However, it is always a prediction in your individual case, so there are no hard limits you have to reach.
Perks for foreigners with a German university degree
Foreigners who have a German university degree can also be granted a residence permit without the above-mentioned requirements. For this purpose, the intended self-employment must be related to the university degree.
Perks for freelancers
Freelancers can also be granted a residence permit without the above-mentioned requirements. For this purpose, the applicant must prove that he has been granted permission to practice freelance work or that permission has at least been promised. Freelancers include architects, doctors, auditors, lawyers, engineers, journalists, translators, etc.
duration of the residence permit
The residence permit is generally granted for up to three years. After three years, you can apply for a settlement permit. This is an unlimited and spatially unrestricted residence permit. To do this, you must prove that you have successfully carried out your originally planned activity and that you can earn your living and that of your relatives.
Short & sweet
Foreigners need special residence permits to work in Germany. Skilled workers who have completed vocational training or a university degree can apply for a residence permit in accordance with Sections 18 et seq. of the Residence Act if they have a specific job offer.
There is also the option for particularly qualified academics to apply for a Blue Card. This residence permit comes with some benefits, but requires a specific job with a minimum annual salary. The ICT card is an EU-wide residence permit for the internal transfer of foreign skilled workers who are to work in a German branch of a foreign company.
Specialists, executives and trainees can apply for such an ICT card. If a foreigner has an ICT card for an EU member state other than Germany, he may also be transferred to Germany at short notice after notification to the BAMF. For a longer-term transfer of more than 90 days, a so-called mobile ICT card must be applied for.
In order to be self-employed, however, a residence permit according to Section 21 of the Residence Act must generally be applied for.
This essentially presupposes that there is an economic interest or regional need in the activity and that positive effects on the economy are to be expected. Special discounts apply to freelancers and foreigners with a German university degree. When it comes to business immigration, a wide range of legal questions arise due to the complexity of the facts and the interlinking of different areas of law.
If you are planning to work in Germany or if you need foreign employees in Germany as an employer, it is therefore advisable to contact an expert lawyer. He can go into the specifics of your individual case and advise you on the necessary steps to obtain the appropriate residence permit.