Job-seeker visa or Chancenkarte? What applies now

The 2024 change many websites still miss

Until mid-2024, Germany had a job-seeker permit under § 20 AufenthG that let recognised skilled workers enter from abroad and search for up to six months. That route no longer exists: with the final stage of the Skilled Immigration Act, § 20 (1) and (2) were repealed on 1 June 2024 and replaced by the Chancenkarte (§§ 20a, 20b AufenthG).

Plenty of blog posts, agency pages and even official-looking checklists still describe the old six-month visa. If an adviser offers to apply for a "§ 20 job-seeker visa" for you from abroad, they are working from outdated law — a useful test of how current their knowledge is.

The Chancenkarte — the route from abroad

The Chancenkarte comes in two variants, and the difference decides how much paperwork you face. If your degree or vocational qualification is already fully recognised as equivalent in Germany, you qualify as a skilled worker and receive the Chancenkarte without any points check (§ 20a (3) no. 1 AufenthG).

If recognition has not happened yet, you need at least six points. The table in the annex to the Residence Act awards them like this — sixteen are possible, and there is more than one route to six:

• Partial recognition. 4 points, if the competent body has certified that adaptation measures or further qualification would close the gap
• German language. 3 points for B2, 2 for B1, 1 for A2 (only the highest level counts)
• English at C1. 1 point, awarded on top of any German points
• Work experience. 3 points for five years in the last seven, 2 points for two years in the last five
• Shortage occupation. 1 point, if your qualification belongs to one of the shortage groups under § 18g
• Age. 2 points up to 35, 1 point from 36 to 40
• Time already spent in Germany. 1 point for at least six months of lawful, uninterrupted stay in the last five years
• Spouse or registered partner. 1 point, if they separately meet the requirements and apply alongside you

What the Chancenkarte asks in return

Alongside the points you need German at A1 or English at B2, and either a vocational qualification of at least two years or a university degree recognised in the country where you obtained it. You must show means of support of about 1,091 euros net per month (2026 figure), typically via a blocked account. The visa fee is 75 euros, applied for at the German mission in your home country.

While searching you may work up to twenty hours per week on average in any job, and additionally take trial jobs of up to two weeks each with prospective employers. That is what makes the search financially survivable for most people.

After the year: the Folge-Chancenkarte

The search Chancenkarte itself runs for up to one year. If during that time you obtain either a qualified employment contract or a binding job offer for qualified work in Germany, and the Federal Employment Agency approves, it can be extended as a Folge-Chancenkarte for up to two further years (§ 20a (5) AufenthG). On that follow-up card the twenty-hour cap no longer applies, so you work your job normally while the longer-term residence title is sorted out.

One condition is easy to miss and mostly good news: the Folge-Chancenkarte is only granted if you do not already qualify for another residence title under section 4 of the Act. If your contract puts you over the EU Blue Card threshold, or you meet § 18a or § 18b, that is the title you get instead — a stronger one.

If the year ends with neither a contract nor a binding offer, the Chancenkarte is not simply renewable — which is why the search should start with a realistic plan, not just a flight.

What § 20 covers today — and who it is actually for

Today's § 20 AufenthG is titled "job search following stays in Germany". It applies to people who have just completed a German university degree, a qualified vocational training, a research stay or the recognition procedure here — they receive up to eighteen months to find a job matching their qualification (graduates of assistant-level health and care training: twelve months, extendable once by six).

So the two permits no longer compete. From abroad, the Chancenkarte is the route; § 20 is what you switch to after finishing your qualification inside Germany. If your qualification is already recognised, checking that first is worth it — it removes the entire points hurdle. That check costs you nothing — everything we do around work is free for you, because the employer pays our fee.