Hello jwangler-ga
1. No work permit is required if you are a national of a country
within the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA), ie Austria,
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Great Britain, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Sweden and Spain. In such a case, you can freely apply for
any advertised job, and there is no limit on how long you can stay.
However, you can also use the IT hotline established at ZAV (see
below) to obtain help in getting a placement.
Nationals of other countries require a work permit. Normally, non-EU,
non-EEA foreigners can only work in Germany for up to three years, but
the “Green Card” scheme for IT specialists described below permits
stays of up to five years.
In addition, a residence permit is required by all. This may be
obtained after arrival in Germany by nationals of the EU, European
Economic Area, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New
Zealand and the United States of America. Nationals of other
countries have to obtain a visa before coming to Germany.
“Working in Germany” on the web site of the German Federal Foreign
Office
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/en/willkommen/arbeitsaufnahme/arbeitsaufnahme_html
2. In order to deal with a shortage of IT specialists, the German
government started a Green Card scheme in August 2000 to make it
easier for up to 20,000 information technology specialists from abroad
(i.e. from outside the EU and the EEA to take jobs in Germany. When
10,000 work permits have been issued, the scheme will be reviewed to
see if more people are needed. Under this scheme, foreign IT
specialists will be able to work in Germany for up to five years. The
scheme was originally scheduled to run for three years, up to August
2003.
People coming in on the Green Card scheme need to have a bachelor’s or
master’s degree in IT that is recognised in Germany. People without a
degree will only be accepted if they have several years experience and
if a prospective employer is willing to offer them an annual salary of
at least 51,000 euro before deductions.
IT specialists wanting to work in Germany are asked to apply to the
Zentralstelle für Arbeitsvermittlung (ZAV) in Bonn. Contact:
Bonn-ZAV.IT-Experts@arbeitsamt.de This email address can be used by
both EU and non-EU nationals. The ZAV will help with placement, and
will also check and approve qualifications if required.
Information on the Green Card for IT professionals:
http://www.german-embassy.org.uk/green_card.html (web site of the
Germany Embassy in the UK)
http://www.bma.bund.de/download/broschueren/a987engl.pdf (brochure for
intending applicants and employers)
3. At Arbeisamst Online, you will find an online database for IT jobs.
Here, applicants can enter a profile and search for job offers, and
employers can advertise positions and search for suitable candidates.
The database receives more than 600.000 hits by employers looking for
candidates each month. You can access the database from:
http://www.arbeitsamt.de/zav/services/greencard/ehowfindejob.html The
database itself is under “Job Placement Market”, while the other links
will give you information relevant to the topic.
However, according to information on this web site you are also
recommended to look for job advertisements placed in newspapers or on
company web sites. In addition: “Experience shows that most of the
German companies require a diploma in an IT related subject or several
years of job experience. Additionally, a good command of the German
language is indispensable for German employers to take your
application into consideration.”
The custom in Germany, when applying for a job, is to send a short
covering letter and a full CV (resume).
The web site of the German Embassy in the UK has a list of German
job-search sites, plus other sites (help with CVs, letters of
application in German) at
http://www.german-embassy.org.uk/finding_work_in_germany.html
Please note that the other information on this page is aimed at UK
nationals.
4. You might wish to consider the German language courses offered by
the Goethe Institut.
http://www.goethe.de/dll/enindex.htm
The Goethe Institute has centres in 125 cities in 76 countries:
http://www.goethe.de/dll/kur/wwt/enindex.htm
as well as distance learning courses:
http://www.goethe.de/dll/kur/flk/flb/enindex.htm
and 16 centres in Germany itself: http://www.goethe.de/i/eniindex.htm |
