Job search and the employment agency

Agentur für Arbeit

On this page

If your job or training outside a company is ending, you usually need to register early as seeking work. Your local Agentur für Arbeit can help with job placement and advice. This is a separate step from registering as unemployed for benefits.

In short

If your job or training outside a company is ending, register as arbeitsuchend with the Agentur für Arbeit at least three months before it ends. If you learn the end date with fewer than three months left, register within three days of learning it.
The duty does not apply to an in-company vocational training relationship. Looking for work does not by itself give you a right to live in Germany, and an Agency registration does not cure a residence title that forbids work.
Register with the Agentur für Arbeit. Section 38 does not name the Jobcenter. The Jobcenter is the Grundsicherungsgeld office.
Registering as seeking work does not replace the separate unemployment registration required for benefit under section 137.
If the study/training or work for which an affected residence title was issued ends early, separately notify the Ausländerbehörde within two weeks of learning of that early end. Agency registration does not satisfy this immigration duty.
For employment titles covered by section 18(5), that section limits how far the authority can shorten validity after an early job end and notification. It does not extend the original expiry date.
Section 38 does not set a fee for registration. A recruitment fee charged by a private intermediary is a contract, not this duty.

What you need to know

Section 38 (1) says that people whose training or employment relationship is ending must register as seeking work with the Agentur für Arbeit at least three months before it ends, giving their personal data and the end date.

If there are fewer than three months between the day you learn the end date and the end itself, you must register within three days of learning it. The duty exists even if you are challenging the dismissal in court or the employer has held out the prospect that the job will continue. It does not apply to an in-company vocational training relationship.

This registration is as arbeitsuchend, meaning you are seeking work; it does not register you as unemployed. Unemployment registration is a separate step that matters for benefit entitlement and is explained on the unemployment-benefit page. The early notice under section 38 lets the Agency start helping you find work.

The Agency should hold a first advice and placement conversation promptly after the registration. It can be in person, or by video if you and the Agency agree. The Agency must also provide career advice promptly after the registration. If you use the Agency’s services, you must give the information and documents needed for placement and tell the Agency when you conclude a training or employment contract, naming the employer and its seat. The rest of subsection 3 continues those cooperation duties.

Looking for work does not by itself give you the right to live in Germany. Check which residence rights apply to you: EU/EEA free movement can include a qualifying non-EU family member, while Swiss citizens use the separate agreement explained on the free-movement page.

If the Residence Act governs your case, you need a title that permits your job search or work, such as an opportunity card or a work residence permit. The Agency does not issue residence permits. Private job boards are separate from the Agency, and a private recruiter’s fee is a contractual matter, not the registration duty under section 38.

If you hold an affected residence permit for study, training or work under Chapter 2, divisions (Abschnitte) 3 or 4 of the Residence Act, section 82(6) sets a separate duty. Tell the responsible Ausländerbehörde within two weeks of learning that the training or activity for which your permit was issued has ended early. This also applies to Blue Card holders, as section 52(2b)(2) confirms. The immigration authority and its deadline are separate from the Agency registration.

For a title issued for employment under Chapter 2, Division 4, section 18(5) limits a later shortening under section 7(2) if the job ends early and the authority is notified under section 82(6) or the employer’s duty in section 4a(5). The employer’s notification does not remove any separate duty you have to notify.

The shortening must leave at least six months from the end of the job, or nine months if there are sufficient grounds to believe the worker experienced particularly exploitative working conditions, but it cannot extend the title beyond its original expiry date. This is not an unconditional new period of six or nine months, and it does not settle other grounds for revocation. Ask the authority or a qualified adviser how the rule applies to your case.

EU free-movement cases and unrelated unlimited titles must not be treated as identical. Losing a job does not automatically make every title immediately invalid. Check your title and Zusatzblatt, any existing work conditions, and any authority decision or new application.

What to do

When you receive or give notice, count three months back from your last day and register as seeking work by then. If you learn the end date later, register within three days of learning it.
Register with the Agency that is responsible for you. Section 38 names the Agentur für Arbeit. It does not name a municipal Jobcenter. The Jobcenter is the Grundsicherungsgeld office, covered on that page.
Attend your first advice appointment and bring the documents the Agency requests to help with job placement. If you sign a new contract, tell the Agency the employer’s name and registered location.
If your affected residence title was issued for study/training or work that ended early, notify the competent Ausländerbehörde within two weeks of learning of it. Keep proof. Check your title and Zusatzblatt before starting another activity; seek advice on any needed new title.
If you also want unemployment benefit, do not stop at the seeking-work registration. The benefit page explains the separate unemployment registration and the qualifying period. A residence title that forbids work is not cured by an Agency registration.

Noteملاحظة

A government bill, Bundestag printed paper 21/7870, is not law. As of 22 October 2026 it has had a first reading and has not been enacted. Check before relying on it. It would not change the seeking-work duty in section 38. The first interview under that section can already be by video if you and the Agency agree. The bill would make the later unemployment registration preferably online, effective only once identity is authenticated within seven calendar days after unemployment begins, or within seven calendar days after a later registration, and it would allow video reporting appointments. Under section 159, a suspension for a missed reporting appointment lasts one week if its conditions are met, including notice of the legal consequences and no important reason. The draft would apply that week to a missed video appointment as well. The bill’s dates differ by provision. The unemployment-benefit page states them.

Looking for a job from abroad

If you are planning a move to Germany and looking for work, start with our overview of shortage occupations. It covers finding vacancies, recognition and work permission, and links to guides for specific professions.

Check the employer and recruiter

Verify an offer through the employer’s own website and independently obtained contact details. A familiar company logo or a listing on a known job portal does not authenticate the person contacting you. Question advance payments for equipment, training or recruitment before the job is verified; a private recruiter’s fee is separate from public agency registration. The consumer centre’s guidance on fake job adverts and its warning on forwarding money for a supposed job are places to get consumer advice. They are not the legal rule.

Do not open a bank account or complete video identification as an application test or mystery-shopping task, and do not give anyone login details or authorisation codes. Do not receive strangers’ money and forward it through your account as a supposed job. Doing that can be providing a payment service. Section 10 of the Payment Services Supervision Act requires permission before payment services are provided on a commercial scale, and section 63 makes providing them without that permission a criminal offence. It can also be money laundering under section 261 of the Criminal Code. A genuine payroll request for your IBAN after you have verified the employer is a different matter.

If you already shared identity documents, opened an account or sent money, contact the bank immediately through its official channel, explain the suspected misuse and ask about blocking access or recalling the payment. Preserve the advert, chats, account information and payment records, report to the police and obtain advice about identity misuse. Stopping contact alone does not secure an account. The scams-and-fraud guide covers payment recovery.

Common mistakes

Registering only at the Jobcenter and assuming section 38 is satisfied. The section names the Agentur für Arbeit.
Treating the seeking-work registration as the unemployment registration that section 137 requires for benefit.
Paying a private recruiter because you think the Agency charges for a vacancy. The duty to register under section 38 is separate from a private recruiter’s fee.