Apply for the fast-track skilled worker procedure

• If you have any questions about the fast-track procedure for skilled workers, please contact your local immigration authority and ask for an advisory meeting. The immigration authority will advise you on the steps involved in the procedure and the involvement of other agencies.
• The Foreigners’ Registration Office responsible is the one in the town where the business premises are located at which you intend to employ your skilled worker, provided that no central Foreigners’ Registration Office has been established in your federal state
• To apply for the fast-track skilled worker procedure, you will need a letter of authorisation from your future skilled worker. You can find a sample letter of authorisation under ‘Further information’
• Depending on the foreigners authority and your request, it may be possible to apply online. Find out whether your foreigners authority offers electronic applications for residence permits.

If applications can only be made in person, please arrange an appointment with the Foreigners’ Registration Office.

• To carry out the procedure, you must enter into a relevant agreement with the Foreigners’ Registration Office, which sets out, amongst other things, your obligations as an employer, those of the skilled worker and those of the authorities involved (Foreigners’ Registration Office, Federal Employment Agency, recognition bodies, German diplomatic missions abroad). In addition, you will receive a description of the procedures, including details of the parties involved, the supporting documents to be provided and the deadlines. Upon signing the agreement, you must pay a fee of 411 euros.
• Where necessary, the Foreigners’ Registration Office will initiate the procedure for the recognition or equivalence assessment of foreign qualifications and forward the application and the required documents to the relevant authority. The relevant authorities should decide on the recognition of the qualifications within two months of receiving the complete application documents. If any documents are still missing, the Foreigners’ Registration Office will contact you.
• Where necessary, following a successful outcome of the recognition procedure, the Immigration Authority will initiate the approval procedure with the Federal Employment Agency. If the Federal Employment Agency does not respond within one week, approval is deemed to have been granted.
• Provided that all the requirements are met, including the determination that the professional qualification is equivalent or comparable, and subject to the approval of the Federal Employment Agency, the Immigration Authority will approve the issue of the visa and hand it over to you for onward transmission to the skilled worker abroad.
• The foreign skilled worker must present the prior approval to the diplomatic mission and will then be given an expedited appointment to apply for the visa. This appointment must take place within three weeks. Once the visa application has been submitted in full at the scheduled appointment, a decision on the application is usually made within three weeks.
• The procedure may also be applied to family reunification for spouses and children, provided that the relevant applications are submitted within a specific timeframe (i.e. within 6 months of the skilled worker’s arrival)

Contact the foreigners authority.

• The foreign worker must hold a recognised and valid passport or passport substitute. In the case of family reunification, family members must also present valid passports.
• Foreign workers enter the country for a specific purpose (for the purposes of vocational training, the recognition of foreign professional qualifications, or to take up skilled employment as a specialist)

Applications for this procedure may also be made for other eligible employment purposes (e.g. for the purposes of research or to take up employment as an IT specialist)

• There is an employment contract or a specific job offer (the ‘Declaration of Employment’ serves as proof of the specific job offer; see ‘Further information’)
• The foreign worker has not yet submitted a visa application in their country of origin. This also applies to spouses and children who wish to move to Germany either together with the worker or at a later date under the family reunification scheme.
• Foreign workers can cover their living expenses and health insurance cover from their income without having to rely on state benefits.
• The foreign worker has issued you with a power of attorney to carry out the fast-track procedure for skilled workers. If any family members of the foreign worker also wish to use this procedure, they must also issue a power of attorney.

In principle, you may also use sub-powers of attorney to instruct third parties (such as a law firm) to handle the proceedings. In this case too, the person concerned and their family members must grant you power of attorney.

You have entered into an agreement with the relevant immigration authority to carry out the fast-track skilled worker procedure.

• Proof that the employer has authorised the qualified person and, where applicable, proof of sub-delegation of authority
• The specialist’s passport or passport substitute
• A copy of the certificate confirming the skilled worker’s residence status whilst currently residing in another EU Member State
• Proof of adequate pension provision
• Where applicable, a decision from the relevant accreditation body confirming the equivalence of the vocational training completed abroad (if available)
• Where applicable, an assessment by the Central Office for Foreign Education on the comparability of the foreign higher education qualification (if available)
• Where applicable: a decision from the relevant authority regarding the recognition of the foreign higher education qualification for the purposes of employment in a regulated profession (if available)
• Where required: licence to practise or confirmation that a licence to practise will be granted

Where necessary, the relevant immigration authority will initiate the procedure to determine the equivalence of the professional qualification obtained abroad or to assess the foreign higher education qualification. The following supporting documents must be submitted for the procedure to be carried out:

• A copy of the qualification certificate in the original language and a German translation
• Tabular CV (in German) from the start of the relevant education and training: including a complete list of the education and training courses completed, as well as all employment held
• Where available: evidence of relevant professional experience in the original language and a copy of the German translation (e.g. employment certificates, employment records, letters of reference)
• Where available: copies of other qualifications in the original language and in German translation (e.g. certificates and diplomas relating to further training, training programmes, courses and language proficiency)
• A statement in German, signed by the qualified professional, confirming that no application for a declaration of equivalence has yet been submitted in the Federal Republic of Germany
• If the name on your passport differs from the name on your qualification certificate: a copy of the proof of name change in the original language and a German translation.

Where necessary, following a positive outcome of the procedure to determine the equivalence of a professional qualification obtained abroad, the relevant immigration authority will seek the approval of the Federal Employment Agency. To involve the Federal Employment Agency, a fully completed form entitled ‘Declaration of Employment, including supplementary sheet’ must be submitted, signed by the employer. (See ‘Further information’)

Should family members wish to join the applicant within six months, the relevant supporting documents must be provided:

• Colour photocopies of the passports of all family members
• Powers of attorney for family members joining the applicant (see ‘Further information’)

In the case of spouses or civil partners joining the family, the following supporting documents must also be provided:

• International marriage certificate as an officially certified copy or the original, or an officially certified copy of the marriage certificate legalised by the German diplomatic mission abroad or bearing an apostille issued by the competent authority, in the original language and with a German translation, each as a simple copy
• Where required: Certificate confirming German language proficiency at A1 level

In the case of children joining the family, the following supporting documents must also be provided:

• International birth certificate(s) as certified copies or

Original(s) or officially certified copy(ies) of the birth certificate(s) – either legalised by the German diplomatic mission abroad or bearing an apostille issued by the competent authority – in the original language and with a German translation, each as a simple copy

Section 81a of the Residence Act

• Section 81a of the Residence Act

You cannot lodge an appeal if prior consent is not granted. The reason is that prior consent is not an administrative act; it is merely an internal administrative decision.

You may lodge an appeal against the decision of the relevant recognition authority in the professional recognition procedure. This also applies to the decision of the relevant authority regarding the granting of a professional licence. If your visa application is refused, you may also lodge an appeal with the diplomatic mission.

You must lodge these appeals directly with the relevant authority, outside the fast-track procedure for skilled workers.

• You can obtain forms specific to the Foreigners’ Registration Office from your local Foreigners’ Registration Office; these may also be available online.
• Online procedure occasionally possible
• Written form required: yes
• Personal appearance required: yes

• Applying for the fast-track skilled worker procedure in Saxony-Anhalt

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