Changing jobs in Germany on a residence permit: when you need the immigration office

🇩🇪 DE · permits · 2026-10-01

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If your German residence permit was issued for one specific job, you may not start a different job until the immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) has allowed it. The Residence Act says this directly: a permit granted for a particular employment forbids any other employment as long as the competent authority has not permitted it. There are two big exceptions. EU Blue Card holders do not need the office's permission to change jobs, although in the first 12 months the office can pause the change for 30 days. And holders of a skilled worker permit under § 18a or § 18b may already be allowed to take any qualified job, so the first thing to check is what your card actually says.

Step 1: read the work line on your permit

Every residence title in Germany must show whether you are allowed to work and whether that work is restricted. This is in § 4a (3) of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz). Restrictions set by the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) must also be written into the title.

In practice there are three situations:

The permit names one employer or one job. Then § 4a (3) applies in full: the new job is forbidden until the immigration office permits it. Changing the restriction needs a permission of its own.
The permit was issued under § 18a or § 18b. These sections grant a residence permit to a skilled worker with vocational training (§ 18a) or with an academic degree (§ 18b) "for any qualified employment". Read the wording on your card and on any supplementary sheet carefully.
You hold an EU Blue Card. See the next section.

If your employer changes only because the business was transferred (§ 613a of the Civil Code) or because the company changed its legal form, the last sentence of § 4a (3) says the rules on restrictions written into the title, and on needing permission to change them, do not apply.

Step 2: if you have an EU Blue Card

§ 18g (4) of the Residence Act says that a Blue Card holder needs no permission from the immigration office to change jobs. The limit applies to the first twelve months of employment: during that time the office can suspend the change for 30 days and, within those 30 days, refuse it if the conditions for a Blue Card are not met by the new job. The conditions are in § 18g (1) and (2): among them a salary threshold set as a percentage of the pension insurance contribution ceiling, and a job that matches your qualification. The EU Blue Card in 2026 explains the thresholds.

So a Blue Card holder in the first year should still tell the office about the new job early. After twelve months, the switch itself does not wait for the office.

Step 3: if you need permission, what the office and the employer do

For most work permits the immigration office asks the Federal Employment Agency to approve the new job. § 39 (4) of the Residence Act requires the employer to give the Agency information about the job, in particular the pay, the working hours, other working conditions and social insurance. If the new employer is slow with this information, the whole case is slow.

The Employment Regulation (Beschäftigungsverordnung) sets the Agency's timing in § 36:

The Agency's approval is treated as granted if it does not tell the office within two weeks of receiving the request that the information is not enough or that the employer has not answered in time.
In Blue Card job change cases under § 18g (4), and in the fast-track procedure for skilled workers (§ 81a), that period is one week.
The Agency should approve, or check the labour market conditions, even before the formal request arrives, if the employer has already supplied the needed information and this speeds up the procedure.

What this means for you: ask the new employer to prepare the job details for the Agency at the same time you contact the immigration office. The two week rule covers only the Agency's part. The office's own processing time is not fixed in these rules.

What happens to your old permit when the old job ends

There is no automatic grace period written into these sections. Two rules matter:

The old employer reports the end of the job. Under § 4a (5), an employer of a foreign worker whose title was issued for work under Chapter 2, Section 4 of the Act must tell the immigration office within four weeks of learning that the employment ended early.
The office may shorten your permit. § 7 (2) says that if a condition that was essential for granting or extending the permit no longer applies, the validity of the permit can be shortened after the fact. Whether and when the office does this is its decision, so do not assume a fixed number of months.

If the job ended in a dismissal during probation, see Probezeit dismissal in Germany.

Fiktionsbescheinigung: staying legal while you wait

§ 81 (4) says that if you apply for an extension or for a different residence title before your current one expires, your current title is treated as continuing from its expiry until the office decides. The office must give you a certificate of this effect, the Fiktionsbescheinigung (§ 81 (5)). If the new application is refused, see what § 81(4) still protects.

§ 81 (5a) adds a rule about work for titles under Chapter 2, Sections 3 and 4 of the Act: the employment described in your future title counts as permitted from the moment the office arranges for the card to be produced until the card is issued, and this permission is written on the Fiktionsbescheinigung. In plain terms, once the office has approved the new title and ordered the card, you can start the job it describes, but not before.

FAQ

Can I start my new job before the immigration office answers?

If your permit is tied to a specific job, no. § 4a (3) forbids other employment until the office permits it. If you hold an EU Blue Card or a permit for any qualified employment under § 18a or § 18b, check the work line on your card, because you may already be allowed to work for the new employer.

Do Blue Card holders need permission to change employer?

No. § 18g (4) says no permission is needed. In the first twelve months of employment the office can suspend the change for 30 days and refuse it within that period if the new job does not meet the Blue Card conditions.

How long does the Federal Employment Agency take?

§ 36 (2) of the Employment Regulation treats the approval as granted if the Agency does not object within two weeks, or one week in Blue Card job change cases and in the fast-track procedure. This does not cover the immigration office's own processing time.

Is there a three month grace period after I leave a job?

These sections of the Residence Act do not set one. The old employer must report the early end of the job within four weeks, and the office may shorten your permit under § 7 (2). Ask the office in writing what applies to your case.

What is a Fiktionsbescheinigung?

It is a certificate that your application keeps your current title valid until the office decides (§ 81 (4) and (5)). For titles under Chapter 2, Sections 3 and 4 it can also state that the job in your future title is permitted once the card has been ordered (§ 81 (5a)).

Does a takeover of my employer count as a job change?

§ 4a (3) treats it differently. If your employer changes because of a business transfer under § 613a of the Civil Code, or because the company changes its legal form, the rules on restrictions in the title and on permission to change them do not apply.

How Jobsy fits

We build Jobsy, a job search service for Europe that searches for you: you say what work you want, and Jobsy finds employers and recruitment agencies, including in Germany, and prepares outreach in the language of the recipient. It does not deal with immigration offices or residence permits, so the permit questions above stay with you and the authorities. The first result is free, and Jobsy Active, which keeps the search going, costs €6.70 a month.

Sources

Sources: Residence Act, § 4a: Access to employment · Residence Act, § 18g: EU Blue Card · Residence Act, § 18a: Skilled workers with vocational training · Residence Act, § 18b: Skilled workers with an academic degree · Residence Act, § 39: Approval of employment · Employment Regulation, § 36: Granting of approval · Residence Act, § 7: Residence permit · Residence Act, § 81: Application for a residence title