Country Reference

Germany

Visa news and reference for Germany — Schengen short-stay (Type C) visas for stays up to 90 days within any 180-day period and national long-stay (Type D) visas for employment, study, family reunification, and residence. Skilled-migration routes include the EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU) under Directive (EU) 2021/1883, the Chancenkarte (Opportunity Card) points-based job-seeker visa introduced in 2024, the Skilled Worker visa for vocational and academic professionals under the Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz, the Job Seeker visa, the Student and Student Applicant visas, the Research visa, and family reunification permits; Germany also operates an EU Long-Term Residence permit and a national settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis). Germany administers visa and residence policy through the Auswärtiges Amt (Federal Foreign Office) for visa issuance via its diplomatic missions and the Bundesministerium des Innern (Federal Ministry of the Interior) for residence and immigration law, with the Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) handling asylum and integration and local Ausländerbehörden administering residence permits. The governing framework is the Aufenthaltsgesetz (Residence Act) within the broader Zuwanderungsgesetz immigration framework, alongside the Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz (Skilled Immigration Act) reformed in 2023 and 2024 to expand skilled-worker pathways. Germany joined the Schengen Area as a founding signatory of the 1985 Schengen Agreement and is a founding member of the European Union under the 1957 Treaty of Rome, transposing EU legal-migration directives including the 2021 EU Blue Card Directive, the Single Permit Directive, and the Long-Term Residents Directive.