British citizens may apply to the local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) for their residence permits after arrival in Germany and without having obtained a visa prior to travelling to Germany. Please note that you need to register your new residence (Anmeldung) with the authorities (Meldebehörde) within 2 weeks of having moved in and apply to the local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) for your residence permit within the first 90 days of your stay in Germany. This privilege is also extended to citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Korea (Republic) and the United States of America.

Please note that you may only take up employment once you have been issued a residence permit explicitly authorising such employment.

You may also choose to apply for a visa prior to travel, effectively permitting employment from the first day of visa validity.

All other nationalities require a visa prior to travel to Germany.

Please note:
Some visa categories for employment of academic professionals require that you hold a German, a recognised or a comparable foreign academic degree. If you hold a foreign degree, please check whether both your degree and the awarding academic institution are listed as comparable in the official Anabin database. If either is not listed please have the degree formally assessed through a “Statement of Comparability for Foreign Higher Education Qualifications” issued by Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB).

Some visa categories for employment of non-academic professionals require that you hold a vocational qualification that has been formally recognised by the competent German authority.

Some regulated professions such as medical doctors, nurses, teachers, architects, auditors, tax advisors and more require a formal license to practise their profession in Germany. Please consult the database on recognition in regulated professions.

Please note that some employment visas can only be applied for through Visa Application Centres (VAC) operated by our external service provider TLScontact:

• All C visa applications
• All Blue Card applications
• All internship visa applications
• All employment visa applications where the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) has issued a letter confirming pre-approval (Vorabzustimmung) for employment of a named individual with a named company

must be submitted to a Visa Application Centre operated by our external service provider, TLScontact.

Visa applications for family members accompanying the named individual will also be accepted by TLScontact.

All other visa applications must be submitted to the German Missions directly. Appointments may be made through our booking system.