Opportunity card

The opportunity card (Chancenkarte) is a residence permit for looking for work in Germany or for measures to recognise a foreign professional qualification. The search card does not generally permit ongoing full-time work or create an entitlement to benefits.

In short

• On the search card you may work an average of no more than 20 hours a week. The separate permission for trial work of no more than two weeks covers qualified work, a trial aimed at training, or a trial suitable for a recognition measure under section 16d. The Foreign Office’s visa handbook describes one trial period per employer; check with the competent authority how this applies to your case. Ongoing full-time employment outside the permitted trial needs a different title, or the follow-on card if its conditions are met.
• The card can be issued if you are a Fachkraft (skilled worker) or score at least 6 points, and you must be able to support yourself. The Foreign Office currently publishes 1,091 euros a month for Chancenkarte applicants and says the amount can change. Ask the relevant mission or foreigners authority for the current figure and accepted evidence; the amount for a student visa is different.
• If you are already in Germany, you can receive the card only with a title under Division 3 or Division 4 of Chapter 2. A1 German meets the language prerequisite and earns no language point. A higher German-language row replaces the lower ones, and the three-point experience row replaces the two-point row.
• The search card is issued for up to one year. An extension beyond the permitted follow-on Chancenkarte is excluded. A new search card requires a gap at least as long as the previous search stay.
• Section 9 does not apply to the search card. The follow-on card can extend the stay by up to two years if, during the search stay, you have a contract or a binding offer for qualified employment in Germany and the Federal Employment Agency agrees, and only if you do not qualify for another permit under Division 4 of Chapter 2.

What you need to know

Section 20a (2) limits what the card allows. You may work an average of no more than 20 hours a week in total, and you may do trial work of no more than two weeks. The trial must be qualified, must aim at training, or must be suitable for a recognition measure under section 16d.

The Foreign Office’s visa handbook describes one trial period of up to two weeks per employer; ask the competent authority how it applies this in your case. The follow-on card, described below, is not limited by subsection 2.

The card can be issued if you are a Fachkraft, the Act’s term for a skilled worker, or if you reach enough points under section 20b. Livelihood must be secured. The Foreign Office currently publishes 1,091 euros a month for Chancenkarte applicants, and says that amount can change. If you are already in Germany, you can receive the card only if you hold a title under Division 3 or Division 4 of Chapter 2.

The points route also requires a foreign professional qualification of at least two years recognised where it was obtained, or a foreign degree recognised there, or a qualifying German chamber qualification from abroad, plus German at A1 or English at B2. A partial-recognition decision under section 20b (1) number 1 removes the qualification requirements in section 20a (4), third sentence, number 1; the language requirement remains.

Section 20b and its annex set out the points. You need at least 6. The annex awards:

• 4 points for partial recognition.
• 3 for German at B2 or above, 2 for B1, or 1 for A2; English at C1 earns 1 point.
• 3 for five years of related experience after qualifying in the last seven years, or 2 for two years in the last five years.
• 1 for a shortage occupation under the section cited in the annex.
• 2 if you are up to 35 at the time of application, or 1 if you are over 35 and up to 40.
• 1 for a qualifying lawful stay of at least six months in the last five years.
• 1 for an eligible spouse or registered partner applying to the same authority to enter Germany together.

A1 German meets the language prerequisite but earns no language point. A higher German-language row replaces the lower ones, and the three-point experience row replaces the two-point row.

For the prior-stay point, section 20b(1) number 11 allows interruptions if, viewed as a whole, the spatial centre of the stay remained in Germany. The Foreign Office’s visa handbook explains that a purely tourist or visitor stay does not meet this criterion; a short trip abroad can still be a harmless interruption when the centre remains in Germany. Ask the competent authority which evidence it needs.

The search card is issued for up to one year. It can be extended by up to two years as a Folge-Chancenkarte if, during the search stay, you obtain an employment contract or a binding job offer for qualified employment in Germany and the Federal Employment Agency agrees. That extension is only if you do not qualify for another residence permit under Division 4 of Chapter 2. A further extension as a Chancenkarte is excluded.

A new search card requires a gap at least as long as the previous search stay, spent abroad or in a permitted stay. Section 9, the settlement permit, does not apply to the search card.

While an application for a follow-on card is pending, section 20a (5), fourth sentence, applies section 81 (4) with the limitation that only the future employment named in that application is permitted.

Section 3 (5) of the Housing Benefit Act says that, as a rule, a foreigner who holds an opportunity card under section 20a is not entitled to Wohngeld.

Section 7 (1) of Book II of the Social Code excludes from jobseeker basic support a person whose right of residence arises solely from a residence permit under section 20a, and that person’s family members. That Book II exclusion does not apply once the person has had their ordinary residence in Germany for at least five years, unless a loss of free-movement rights under section 2 (1) of the Free Movement Act has been established. The five-year period starts with registration at the competent registration authority (Anmeldung); periods of unlawful residence with an obligation to leave do not count.

Ask the Jobcenter to assess this exception and the other benefit conditions. Benefit eligibility does not itself grant or extend a residence right.

Section 20a (7) allows the government to cap how many cards are issued to people who are not yet in Germany. Check with the competent mission or foreigners authority whether a cap is in force for your application.

What to do

1. Choose the route. If you already meet the Act’s definition of a Fachkraft, section 20a (3) number 1 does not require you to use the points table. Otherwise, check that you can provide evidence for at least 6 points from the annex.
2. Show that you can support yourself. The Foreign Office currently publishes 1,091 euros a month. Ask the relevant mission or foreigners authority for the current amount and accepted evidence; the student-visa figure is different.
3. While the search card is valid, stay inside the 20-hour average for ordinary employment. The separate two-week trial permission is limited to the purposes described above. Ongoing full-time employment outside the permitted trial needs a different title, or the follow-on card if its conditions are met.
4. Apply for the follow-on card before the search card ends if you have the contract or binding offer and the Agency’s agreement, and you do not qualify for another permit under Division 4 of Chapter 2. Under section 20a (5), fourth sentence, while that application is pending under section 81 (4), only the future employment named in the application is permitted.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the search card generally permits ongoing full-time work. Subsection 2 caps ordinary employment at an average of 20 hours a week; qualifying trial work is a separate permission.
• Awarding a point for A1 German, or adding the German-language rows or the two experience rows together. German points start at A2. The higher language or experience row replaces the lower one.
• Assuming a second search card follows immediately. Section 20a (5) requires a gap as long as the earlier search stay.