🇩🇪 Post-study work visa in Germany

What is the post-study work permit in Germany?

Germany does not issue a stand-alone graduate visa the way the UK or Australia do. The equivalent is a residence permit for job seeking under Section 20 of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz). Section 20(1) no. 1 says a foreigner who has successfully completed a degree in Germany on a Section 16b study permit is granted a residence permit to look for work, and Section 20(2) fixes the duration at up to 18 months and rules out any extension beyond it. The permit is issued by your local Ausländerbehörde, not by an embassy, and you apply from inside Germany before your student permit expires.

Two conditions apply. You must be able to support yourself (Lebensunterhaltssicherung), which you prove with savings, a blocked account balance, a job contract or a part-time job; and the job you are looking for must be one a foreigner may take under the skilled-worker sections of the Act, in practice qualified employment, which since the Skilled Immigration Act no longer has to match your degree. During the 18 months you may take up any form of work, as BAMF states, including full-time jobs unrelated to your degree, so the search period is also an earning period.

The 18 months are a ceiling, not a target. Graduates who find a qualified job early, sometimes with the company where they wrote their master's thesis or did their mandatory internship, switch directly to a skilled-worker permit or a Blue Card. The permit exists to remove the pressure of having a contract signed on graduation day.

Germany post-study work options after graduation: the routes compared

Every graduate starts on the Section 20 permit unless a job offer is already in hand. From there the route depends on salary, occupation and how much German you speak.

How to get the 18-month job-seeker permit after graduating in Germany

Apply at the Ausländerbehörde of the city where you are registered, before your Section 16b student permit expires. Appointment waits in Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt run weeks, so book as soon as your final grade is in.

1. 1

   Collect proof of graduation

   The degree certificate or, if it is not yet printed, a written confirmation from the examination office that you have passed all modules and the thesis. Universities issue this "Bescheinigung" within days of the final grade.

2. 2

   Book the Ausländerbehörde appointment

   Use your city's online portal. Many cities accept the application by upload and issue a Fiktionsbescheinigung (bridging certificate) if the student permit would expire before the decision; it keeps your status and work rights alive.

3. 3

   Show you can support yourself

   Bank statements, a remaining blocked-account balance, a part-time contract or a parental declaration. The authorities use the same €992-a-month benchmark as the student permit as a rule of thumb.

4. 4

   Keep health insurance running

   Student statutory insurance ends with de-registration; switch to voluntary statutory membership or a job-based policy. A gap in cover is a common reason for delay.

5. 5

   Pay the fee and collect the card

   The fee is set nationally by Section 45 of the Residence Ordinance (€100 for issuing a residence permit, €98 where the change of purpose counts as an amendment of your student permit) and collected by your Ausländerbehörde, which tells you which amount applies. The electronic residence title arrives by post or collection a few weeks later.

6. 6

   Search, work, and switch as soon as you sign

   Take any job to fund the search, but target roles matching your degree. When you sign a qualified contract, apply immediately for the Section 18b permit or the Blue Card; the time on the job-seeker permit does not count towards the two-year settlement clock, so switching early matters.

How does the EU Blue Card work for Indian graduates in 2026?

The Blue Card (Section 18g) is the residence title most Indian MS graduates end up on because engineering and IT salaries clear its thresholds. The general threshold is 50 per cent of the annual pension-insurance contribution ceiling, which Make it in Germany states as €50,700 for 2026. Two groups get the lower threshold of 45.3 per cent, €45,934.20 in 2026, with Federal Employment Agency approval: people whose degree is less than three years old, which covers every fresh graduate, and people in shortage occupations, a list that includes academic STEM professionals, IT and ICT managers, engineers and architects, doctors, pharmacists and teachers. IT specialists with three years of experience but no degree can also qualify at the lower threshold.

The card is issued for the contract length plus six months, up to four years, requires a contract of at least six months, and lets you change employer with a notification (and a possible 30-day check) in the first year and freely after that. Family members join with full work rights. Most important for Indian students who came alone: the settlement permit follows after 27 months of Blue Card employment with pension contributions and A1 German, or after 21 months with B1 German, which is faster than the two years available under the skilled-worker route only if you can show B1.

If your first job pays below €45,934.20, which happens in the arts, social sciences and at some smaller Mittelstand firms, you take the Section 18b skilled-worker permit instead. It has no fixed salary floor for fresh graduates of German universities; the job only has to be qualified employment, and the settlement permit still arrives after two years of work and 24 months of pension contributions, provided you have sufficient German.

Post-study work in Germany: rules Indian graduates should know

• The 18 months start when the job-seeker permit is issued, not when you graduate; applying promptly avoids losing weeks of it to processing.
• Any job is allowed during the search, but only qualified employment counts towards the two-year settlement permit; time as a delivery rider or in retail does not.
• The permit cannot be renewed past 18 months. If you have not found qualified work by then, the remaining options are a further degree (a new Section 16b permit), the Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte), which a graduate with a recognised qualification can usually apply for without the points test (it runs up to a year and allows work of up to 20 hours a week), or leaving Germany.
• Pension contributions matter twice: they are a condition of the settlement permit, and if you leave Germany for good after fewer than five years of contributions you can apply for a refund of your own share 24 months after departure under the India–Germany social security agreement rules; check the Deutsche Rentenversicherung page for the current procedure.
• German language is the lever. B1 shortens the Blue Card route to permanent residence to 21 months and is the standard "sufficient German" for the two-year graduate route; without it you may wait longer or be held to a higher standard.
• Family: spouses of Blue Card and skilled-worker permit holders may join and work without restriction; a spouse can also join a job-seeker permit holder if the marriage existed when the permit was issued and the stay is expected to exceed a year, but unlike Blue Card families the spouse must show A1 German, so many couples plan the move for when you hold the work permit.
• Blocked account leftovers: money still in the Sperrkonto counts as proof of subsistence for the job-seeker permit, so do not rush to withdraw it in the final semester.

Start the job search in your third semester, not after the thesis

Frequently asked questions

Official sources used on this page

• Residence Act (AufenthG) Section 20 — Job search after stays in Germany (18 months) — Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de · checked 26 September 2026
• Residence Act (AufenthG) Section 18c — Settlement permit for skilled workers (2 years for German graduates; 27/21 months Blue Card) — Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de · checked 26 September 2026
• Residence Act (AufenthG) Section 18g — EU Blue Card (50% / 45.3% of the pension contribution ceiling) — Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de · checked 26 September 2026
• Residence Ordinance (AufenthV) Section 45 — Fees for residence permits and the Blue Card — Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de · checked 26 September 2026
• Residence Act (AufenthG) Section 20a — Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte) — Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de · checked 26 September 2026
• Residence Act (AufenthG) Section 16b — Studies (work rights while studying) — Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de · checked 26 September 2026
• BAMF — Studying in Germany: 18-month job search, open-ended title after two years — Federal Office for Migration and Refugees · checked 26 September 2026
• BAMF — The EU Blue Card: validity, settlement after 27/21 months — Federal Office for Migration and Refugees · checked 26 September 2026
• Make it in Germany — EU Blue Card: 2026 salary thresholds €50,700 and €45,934.20, shortage occupations — Federal Government portal for skilled workers · checked 26 September 2026
• DAAD — Side jobs: work rules for international students — German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) · checked 26 September 2026
• Wise — EUR to INR mid-market rate — Wise · checked 26 September 2026