Hello everybody,

In the past, I got a "seeking for a job" visa. I remember that my ABH told me that I could work in any work with this visa but only for some hours a week since the idea of this visa is to have enough time to find an appropriate job in my field, but a mini-job may help to cover my living costs. Now a friend of mine got this same visa (§ 20 Abs. 3 Nr. 3 = 18 months), but her ABH says that she can work in any job with no limited working hours, even in her professional field.

I received this visa nine years ago, so it can be that the restrictions have changed during this time or that I received a piece of wrong information back then. I checked on the internet and I found that "Während dieser 18 Monate dürfen Sie jede Art von Tätigkeit aufnehmen" (source: /www.make-it-in-germany.com/) but at the same time "Während der Zeit der Arbeitsplatzsuche ist die Aufnahme einer Beschäftigung oder eine selbständige Tätigkeit nicht zulässig." (source: /www.auswaertiges-amt.de). So I am confused, and I hope someone here can help me figure out if a person can work with the "seeking for a job" visa and if there are any restrictions.

Thank you very much for any help.

Regards,
mcba

The ABH did gave your friend the right information. She is allowed to work without restrictions.

You were also given the right information nine years ago. The restrictions were lifted in 2020.

The information from the Auswärtige Amt applies to people who had not completed any training or studies in Germany prior to applying for a job seeker residence permit, see § 20 Abs.1 AufenthG.

Hi Bayraqiano,

Thanks a lot for the information.

Regards,

Mcba