General information

If you wish to apply for a residence permit, you must prove that you are sufficiently covered by health insurance.

Applicants for certain visas and residence permits may have to demonstrate that they can understand and speak German.

In order to apply for a residence permit, it may be necessary to have your foreign professional qualifications recognized. Get information about the procedure and options to get advice here.

Positive results from the Anabin database can be used as proof of equivalence for a residence permit. You can find instructions on the Make it in Germany website.

Detailed information on the use of foreign public documents in Germany can be found on the website of the Federal Foreign Office.

You must submit a biometric photo for your electronic residence permit. The Bundesdruckerei provides information on the requirements for the photos (in German).

If the residence permit has expired or will no longer be valid in the near future, immigration authorities can issue a fictional certificate ('Fiktionsbescheinigung').

New legal regulations as of 01.03.2024 allow people with certain residence permits new or extended employment opportunities - without having to change the supplementary document ('Zusatzblatt'). Find out more in this information sheet.

For holders of an "old" residence permit for job seeking, new employment requirements will apply from 01.06.2024. Further information on the admissibility of employment can be found here.

You want to travel abroad, but you don't know how long you can leave the country without your residence permit expiring? Here you will find an overview.

You have a new passport or your old passport has become invalid? Then there are now some things to consider!