Hiring Chancenkarte Holders in Germany: Employer Guide 2026

Germany's Chancenkarte (§20a AufenthG) is a points-based job-search residence title that lets qualified non-EU professionals enter Germany for up to one year to look for work — without a job offer. Most public coverage stops at the candidate side. This guide is for HR teams and employers considering or actively hiring a Chancenkarte holder. The candidate applies for the Chancenkarte on their own. When an employer hires a holder, relokate handles the switch to the employment permit (EU Blue Card or skilled-worker permit) like any other hire, together with the employer-side compliance coordination; relokate has completed over 1,500 relocations to date.

How to identify Chancenkarte holders in your pipeline

Chancenkarte holders are non-EU professionals already in Germany under §20a AufenthG (the Skilled Immigration Act's job-search permit). Confirm their status from the residence title (Aufenthaltstitel): it will name Chancenkarte as the permit type and reference §20a AufenthG. As with any hire, check the permit and keep a copy for the duration of the employment (§4a(5) AufenthG).

Two practical signals for HR teams: they can come from any sourcing channel — LinkedIn, employee referral, direct application — because they're already in Germany. No visa appointment, no consular wait before you can meet them.

Anyone showing up with a Chancenkarte has had their foreign qualification confirmed as state-recognised in the country where it was obtained (§20a(4) AufenthG). That is not the same as recognition in Germany: a Blue Card or §18b permit needs a degree that is recognised or comparable to a German one, and a §18a permit needs a vocational qualification recognised as equivalent. Check this early.

How to employ a Chancenkarte holder

The Chancenkarte is a job-search residence title (Aufenthaltstitel), not a work permit. Until conversion, two constraints govern what you can offer.

Working hours: Average maximum 20 hours per week (§20a AufenthG). Not full-time, not 30 hours. Short-term fluctuation is allowed as long as the average holds. No Bundesagentur für Arbeit approval is needed, and no notification to the immigration office is required. The statutory minimum wage applies.

Trial work (Probebeschäftigung): Up to two weeks per employer (§20a AufenthG). The trial must be qualified work, lead towards vocational training (Ausbildung), or be suitable for a recognition measure under §16d. A Hilfstätigkeit (auxiliary work) doesn't qualify. It is employment: pay at least the statutory minimum wage, and the usual social insurance rules apply. No BA approval required. A candidate may complete a trial with one employer, and if no hire results, may complete a further trial with a different employer.

Structure the two weeks as a real evaluation: the candidate delivers the work product you'd expect in week one of a full role. By day fifteen you either offer the position or you don't — cleaner than a six-month probation, and you haven't committed to sponsoring permit conversion yet.

Job-search vs. after conversion — overview

The conversion: Chancenkarte to Blue Card or Skilled Worker permit

Once you decide to hire, the employee applies directly for the employment permit that fits their qualifications — most commonly the EU Blue Card (§18g) or a Skilled Worker permit (§18a or §18b). There is no special “Chancenkarte conversion” form; the standard permit application applies. Because the Chancenkarte is a residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis, §20a(1) AufenthG), the employee can obtain the new permit in Germany, at the local Ausländerbehörde, without leaving for a visa (§39 sentence 1 no. 1 AufenthV). The Chancenkarte ends when the new permit issues. (§20a AufenthG specifies that a Folge-Chancenkarte is only issued if the person does not meet the requirements for another work permit such as the Blue Card or §18a/§18b — so the standard path is to move directly to the relevant permit.)

The most common destination is the EU Blue Card under §18g. 2026 salary thresholds: €50,700 standard, €45,934.20 for shortage occupations and recent graduates (degree ≤ 3 years ago). These figures are published annually by December 31st of the preceding year (§18g(7)). Prove the job offer with the Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis (EzB) — download the current form directly from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit.

When is Bundesagentur für Arbeit approval required — and when not?

The answer depends primarily on whether your hire holds a recognised academic degree — not the salary level alone.

With academic degree (§18g Abs. 1):

• At ≥€50,700 (standard threshold): Blue Card issues without BA approval. No labour-market test, no working-conditions check.
• At €45,934.20 (reduced threshold) — shortage occupations or recent graduates within three years of their degree: BA approval required. It reviews working conditions only; no priority check (Vorrangprüfung).

Without a formal academic degree (§18g Abs. 2):

IT specialists with at least three years of relevant professional experience within the last seven years can qualify via §18g Abs. 2 with at least the reduced threshold of €45,934.20 — but BA approval is always required, regardless of whether the salary exceeds €50,700. Offering €55,000 does not buy away the BA step.

What if the hire qualifies for a Skilled Worker permit instead? The Blue Card is the most common destination, but if the role's salary falls below the Blue Card threshold or the hire holds a vocational qualification, the right route is the Skilled Worker permit — §18a for recognised vocational qualifications or §18b for academic degrees. The employer provides the employment contract and supporting documents to the Ausländerbehörde. The Bundesagentur für Arbeit usually has to approve and checks that working conditions are comparable to those of German employees; there is no priority check (Vorrangprüfung) for skilled workers (§39(2) AufenthG). The vocational qualification must be recognised as equivalent (§18a), or the degree recognised or comparable (§18b). First-time applicants aged 45 or over need a salary of at least €55,770 (2026) or proof of adequate pension provision. Your immigration service provider can confirm which route fits.

After conversion: In the first twelve months of employment on the Blue Card, the holder must report any change of employer to the responsible Ausländerbehörde (§82(1) AufenthG); the new role must still meet the Blue Card conditions, and the office can suspend the change for 30 days and refuse it within that period (§18g(4)). No new permit and no BA approval is needed, but it is relevant when you recruit someone whose Blue Card employment started less than twelve months ago.

Five questions HR teams ask about conversion

How long does conversion take?

It depends on the Ausländerbehörde: there is no statutory processing deadline for the new permit. Where the Bundesagentur für Arbeit must approve, its approval is deemed granted unless, within two weeks of receiving the authority's request, it reports that the information provided is insufficient or that the employer has not provided the required information in time (§36(2) BeschV). Submitting complete documentation reduces back-and-forth with the authority. Your relocation partner knows the local processing times; factor them into your hiring plan.

What can the person do in the meantime?

Anyone who applies for the follow-on permit before their Chancenkarte expires benefits from the Fiktionswirkung: §81 Abs. 4 AufenthG deems the stay lawful throughout processing as soon as the application is submitted — the person does not need to leave Germany. The Ausländerbehörde issues a Fiktionsbescheinigung to document this status — useful for crossing borders or administrative purposes such as opening a bank account — but the legal protection arises from the timely application itself, not from receiving the certificate. The Chancenkarte continues with its own limits, so the 20-hour cap still applies until the decision. Once the Ausländerbehörde initiates issuance of the new permit, the new permit's work authorisation applies immediately — full-time work is permitted before the physical card is issued (§81 Abs. 5a AufenthG). The practical recommendation: apply early to keep the gap as short as possible.

What if the Chancenkarte expires during processing?

If the application for the follow-on permit was filed before the Chancenkarte expired, the stay is deemed lawful throughout the entire processing period (§81 Abs. 4 AufenthG). The person does not need to leave Germany. The Fiktionsbescheinigung documents this status. The key condition: the application must have been submitted before expiry.

What else does the person need to actually start?

Permit conversion is one step — not the last before day one. For your onboarding process:

• Address registration (Anmeldung): Required within two weeks of moving into a home (§17 BMG), so a Chancenkarte holder should already be registered — check it, because the tax ID depends on it.
• Tax identification number (Steueridentifikationsnummer): Auto-assigned once the person is registered at the Einwohnermeldeamt. Required by payroll; check that it has arrived before the first payroll run.
• Social insurance documentation (Sozialversicherungsausweis): Issued after registration with a statutory health insurer; needed for the HR file.
• Bank account: Required for payroll. Some banks require the new residence permit before opening an account — plan a bridging arrangement if needed.

What are the advantages of hiring via Chancenkarte?

The main one is simple: the candidate is already in Germany — no embassy appointment, no consular wait. The Probebeschäftigung lets you de-risk the hire before committing to a full-time contract. And the new permit is applied for at the local Ausländerbehörde, not at a German mission abroad — but check early whether the qualification meets the requirements of the target permit, because the Chancenkarte check is not a German recognition.

Day-one employer compliance (§45c + §82)

§45c notice (Faire Integration): §45c AufenthG applies to employment contracts concluded with persons habitually resident abroad. For Chancenkarte holders contracted in Germany, the scope trigger is typically not met. relokate still recommends the notice as standard practice for every hire: residency status at contracting is not always straightforward to verify, and providing it costs nothing. Inform the employee in text form (e.g. email or a contract addendum) by their first day of work about the free counselling offered under §45b (Faire Integration), with the current contact details of the counselling centre nearest the workplace. No Bußgeld currently attaches to a §45c breach — it is not in §98 AufenthG's penalty catalogue.

Family reunification: Generally no family reunification during the Chancenkarte: it is issued for one year at most, and §30(1) AufenthG requires an expected stay of more than one year. It opens at permit conversion. Once conversion to a Blue Card (§18g), a §18a or §18b Skilled Worker permit is complete, the standard §§29–30 family reunification route opens for spouses, and children are eligible under §32 AufenthG. Accompanying spouses receive unrestricted labour-market access upon family reunification (§27 Abs. 5 AufenthG), regardless of the sponsor's permit type.

June 2026, updated October 2026. Written by Hanna Kovacs, relokate. Reviewed against §§4a, 18g, 20a, 30, 45c, 81, 82 AufenthG, §39 AufenthV and §36 BeschV (October 2026). This is general information, not legal advice for an individual case. Only the official legal text and the decision of the competent authority are binding; for a legal assessment we can connect you with independent partner attorneys.

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