There are five primary visas available to non-EU nationals: 1. EU Blue Card
2. Work visa for qualified professionals
3. Visa for IT specialists
4. Visa for self-employment
5. Visa for research
EU Blue Card
A special residency permit known as the EU Blue Card is available to highly competent foreigners looking for employment in Germany. It is only valid for a maximum of four years and is granted for the life of an employee's employment contract, plus three additional months.
Work visa for qualified professionals
The Germany Employment Visa is an opportunity for qualified foreigners to settle in Germany and work in their fields. It gives its holder the chance to enter and work in Germany for up to two years, with the possibility of extending the visa and later applying for an EU Blue Card, or other types of residence permits.
Visa for IT specialists
Germany is becoming an IT workers hub since the government has been trying to digitalize every sector. For the vast changes from the conventional working systems to digitalization, Germany does need more and more IT specialists and workers from abroad. Among all other possible streams, professionals in Software development, Application support, IT security, and data science are in extremely high demand.
Visa for self-employment
Residence permits are usually easily granted for highly specialized professionals, e.g.: scientists, professional experts or specified senior mangers etc. But other qualified professionals can also be granted residence permits.
If you want to move to Germany and be self-employed and you meet certain criteria, then you most likely will be automatically issued a residence permit (for both you and your family) if you can show that your business will have a positive effect on the German economy.
Visa for Research
Germany’s visa for researchers allows candidates from no-EU countries to research as a professional or a Ph.D. student under visa act 18d. A researcher is a person who has a degree of Ph.D. and is investigating for scientific purposes. For research institutions that are not recognized by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees under the Residence Act, the residence permit is issued and extended for 1 year.
