The Opportunity Card, and the two ways into it.
Germany will let a qualified professional move there to look for work rather than requiring a job first. There are two doors into that: one for people whose qualification is already recognised in Germany, and one — the points system — for everybody else. Which door is open to you changes the entire application.
A residence title for looking for work
The job search opportunity card is defined in Section 20a of the German Residence Act. It permits a third-country national to reside in Germany for the purpose of seeking qualified employment, and it is normally issued for a maximum of one year.
It is not a work visa and it is not permanent residence. It is a period in which to find qualified work, with the expectation that you will convert it into a work-based residence permit before it expires. Official guidance is explicit that the application for the follow-on permit must be made while the Opportunity Card is still valid.
It is also not a route that skips the qualification question. Everyone who holds one has completed vocational or academic training. What differs is whether Germany already treats that training as equivalent to a German qualification.
Fees
Quoted after a consultation
Germany Opportunity Card support is scoped work. What it costs depends on your circumstances, how many applicants are involved, and how much preparation already exists — so we look at your case first and then quote it, rather than publishing a number that would be a guess for most people reading it.
Government, embassy, visa application centre, insurance, biometric, bank and other third-party charges are set and collected by those organisations and are always separate from Vizabolt’s professional fee. We confirm the scope and the fee in writing before any work begins — there is no online checkout, and nothing is charged from this website.
The skilled-worker door, and the points door.
They are alternatives, not stages. If the first applies to you, the points system is irrelevant — and a great deal of the advice online assumes everybody needs it.
Route 1 — you are already a skilled worker
You hold a German qualification, or a foreign vocational or academic qualification that is recognised in Germany.
- 1Your academic degree or vocational qualification is recognised or treated as comparable in Germany
- 2Official guidance states that in this case there are no additional requirements for the card itself
- 3You do not score points, and the points categories do not apply to you
- 4For a degree, comparability is normally evidenced through anabin or a ZAB Statement of Comparability
Route 2 — the points system
Your qualification is recognised in the country where you obtained it, but not (or not yet) in Germany.
- 1You have completed vocational training of at least two years, or a course of higher education
- 2That qualification is recognised by the state in the country of training
- 3You have German at A1 or above, or English at B2 or above
- 4You score at least six points across the categories below
What the points are awarded for
Six points is the threshold, and official guidance is clear that reaching it normally means combining several categories rather than relying on one. These are the categories as Germany publishes them.
The published criteria.
| Comparison criteria | Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Qualification found partially equivalent by the German recognition authority | 4 | Also awarded where a regulated profession requires you to take compensatory measures before being licensed. |
| German at B2 or above | 3 | CEFR levels throughout. |
| German at B1 | 2 | |
| German at A2 | 1 | |
| English at C1 or above | 1 | Awarded in addition to points for German, not instead of them. |
| At least five years’ professional experience in the last seven years | 3 | |
| At least two years’ professional experience in the last five years | 2 | |
| Qualification in a shortage occupation | 1 | Against Germany’s published shortage-occupation list. |
| Aged under 35 at the time of applying | 2 | |
| At least six continuous months of legal residence in Germany in the last five years | 1 | Study, language and work stays all count. |
| Your spouse or partner also meets the Opportunity Card requirements and is coming with you | 1 |
Qualification found partially equivalent by the German recognition authority
- Points
- 4
- Notes
- Also awarded where a regulated profession requires you to take compensatory measures before being licensed.
German at B2 or above
- Points
- 3
- Notes
- CEFR levels throughout.
German at B1
- Points
- 2
- Notes
German at A2
- Points
- 1
- Notes
English at C1 or above
- Points
- 1
- Notes
- Awarded in addition to points for German, not instead of them.
At least five years’ professional experience in the last seven years
- Points
- 3
- Notes
At least two years’ professional experience in the last five years
- Points
- 2
- Notes
Qualification in a shortage occupation
- Points
- 1
- Notes
- Against Germany’s published shortage-occupation list.
Aged under 35 at the time of applying
- Points
- 2
- Notes
At least six continuous months of legal residence in Germany in the last five years
- Points
- 1
- Notes
- Study, language and work stays all count.
Your spouse or partner also meets the Opportunity Card requirements and is coming with you
- Points
- 1
- Notes
We publish the categories because they are what determines whether this route is worth pursuing. We do not publish a calculator and we do not tell anyone what their score is. Points are assessed by the German authority on the evidence in front of it — particularly the recognition category, which turns on a decision a German body has to make about your specific qualification. A number produced by a website is not that decision, and treating it as one is how people spend money preparing the wrong application.
What the card lets you actually do.
More than most job-search visas allow, and the limits are specific rather than vague.
You may hold one or more part-time jobs totalling up to 20 hours a week while you search. This is secondary employment alongside the job search, not the purpose of the card.
Trial employment of a maximum of two weeks per employer is permitted. The stated aim must be qualified employment, an apprenticeship or a qualification programme.
The card is normally issued for a maximum of one year for job-seeking purposes.
Where the search leads to qualified employment but not every criterion for a work permit is met, the card may be extended for up to two years, subject to approval by the Federal Employment Agency.
Proving you can support yourself
You have to show you can fund your own stay while you look for work. Official guidance names two ways to do it: a blocked account (Sperrkonto) holding a set amount for each month of your intended stay, or a declaration of commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung) from someone in Germany who takes on that responsibility for you.
We deliberately do not print the monthly figure on this page. Two official German sources currently state two different current amounts — the federal Make it in Germany portal and the German Consulate General in Dubai’s own opportunity-card page do not agree — and the figure is revised in any case. Both are linked below, and we confirm the amount the competent mission is applying before a file is prepared. A number that is wrong for half the people reading it is worse than a clear explanation of the requirement.
Practically, a blocked account takes time to open and fund from the UAE, and it is the item that most often sets the real start date of an application. It is one of the first things we put in motion.
How it is actually made.
A national (category D) visa, applied for before you travel.
Any stay over 90 days requires a National, category D visa. The Opportunity Card is issued in that form and converted after arrival.
Most categories can be started through the Federal Foreign Office’s Consular Services Portal (Auslandsportal), with the in-person appointment for originals, biometrics and the fee.
You apply to the mission responsible for where you live. The mission decides; the visa fee is a German government charge, set and collected by them.
Once in Germany you register your residence and deal with the local foreigners authority, which issues the card itself and later the follow-on permit.
Financial thresholds and government procedures can change. We confirm the current requirement against official sources before your application is prepared.
What it converts into
The Opportunity Card is a bridge, and official guidance names what it can lead to. Depending on the role and your qualification, the follow-on title may be an EU Blue Card (Section 18g), a residence permit for skilled workers (Sections 18a and 18b), a residence permit for a recognition partnership (Section 16d(3)) where recognition still has to be completed, or a residence permit for professionally experienced workers (Section 19c(2) in conjunction with Section 6 of the Employment Regulation).
The critical timing point is that the application for the follow-on permit has to be made before the Opportunity Card expires. A year sounds generous until the search, the offer, the contract and an appointment all have to fit inside it.
We do not currently prepare those follow-on applications, and we will say so rather than imply an end-to-end service we do not run.
What we do, and what the German authorities decide
We work out which of the two routes is open to you, and say so plainly if neither is. We help assemble the qualification evidence, the language certificates, the experience documentation and the financial proof into a file the competent mission can assess, and we plan the sequence — particularly recognition and the blocked account, which both run on their own timelines and are what usually decides when an application can actually be made.
Everything else is theirs. Whether your qualification is recognised or comparable is decided by the German recognition authority or the ZAB. Whether you score six points is assessed by the mission on your evidence. Whether the visa is issued is the mission’s decision, and whether the card is extended later involves the Federal Employment Agency. We do not influence any of that, we cannot promise an outcome, and nobody who tells you otherwise is describing how this works.
We also do not find you a job. The card gives you the right to look; the looking is yours.
Opportunity Card questions.
Only if your qualification is not already recognised in Germany. Official guidance is explicit that someone holding a German qualification, or a foreign vocational or academic qualification recognised in Germany, does not go through the points system at all — and that in that case there are no additional requirements for the card. Establishing which side of that line you are on is the first thing worth doing, because a great deal of published advice assumes everybody is on the points side.
Completed vocational training of at least two years’ duration, or a course of higher education, and the qualification has to be recognised by the state in the country where you trained. Alongside that you need German at A1 or above, or English at B2 or above. Those are prerequisites for using the points system, not point-scoring items in themselves.
A blocked account holding a set amount for each month of your intended stay, or a declaration of commitment from someone in Germany. We do not publish the monthly figure because the two official German sources for it currently disagree and it is revised periodically — the federal portal and the German mission in the UAE state different current amounts. Both are linked in the sources below, and we confirm what the competent mission is applying before your file is prepared.
Yes, within limits. You may hold one or more part-time jobs totalling up to 20 hours a week, and you may do job trials of up to two weeks per employer. A trial has to be aimed at qualified employment, an apprenticeship or a qualification programme — it is part of the job search, not a way of working full-time by instalments.
It is normally issued for a maximum of one year for job-seeking. Where the search has produced qualified employment but not every criterion for a work permit is met, it may be extended for up to two years, subject to approval by the Federal Employment Agency. That is a discretionary extension in a specific situation, not a routine renewal.
Family reunification to Germany has its own requirements and is assessed separately from the Opportunity Card. We will not describe a general rule as though it applied to your household — what is possible depends on your circumstances and on the residence title you hold at the time. Note that a partner who independently meets the Opportunity Card requirements is worth a point in the points system, which is a different thing from a dependant joining you.
Yes — Chancenkarte is simply the German name. Both are used in official material, and both are worth knowing because German-language sources and search results use the German term almost exclusively.
Neither. The visa decision belongs to the competent German mission, recognition decisions belong to the German recognition authorities and the ZAB, and extensions involve the Federal Employment Agency. Finding work is yours to do — the card gives you the right to look for it. What we take responsibility for is that your file is complete, correctly sequenced, and put to the right mission in the form it expects.
Important considerations
- Eligibility depends on your qualification, your experience, your languages and your individual circumstances.
- German requirements, points criteria and financial thresholds are set by the German authorities and can change without notice.
- German government fees — the national visa fee and any foreigners authority charges — are set and collected by those authorities and are separate from anything Vizabolt charges.
- Processing times and appointment availability are controlled by the competent German mission, not by Vizabolt.
- Qualification recognition decisions are made by the German recognition authorities and the ZAB. We prepare the evidence; we do not decide the outcome and cannot predict it.
- The Opportunity Card is a job-search title. It does not include a job, and holding one is not a promise of employment.
Official sources
This page is written from official government and consular sources, not from other advisory websites. Last reviewed 2026-09-03.
- Make it in Germany — job search opportunity card
- Make it in Germany — questions and answers on the opportunity card
- Federal Ministry of the Interior — points system for the opportunity card
- Federal Foreign Office — German Missions in the UAE: Chancenkarte / Opportunity Card
- Federal Foreign Office — German Missions in the UAE: national (long-term) visa
- Federal Foreign Office — Consular Services Portal (Auslandsportal)
- ZAB (Central Office for Foreign Education) — Statement of Comparability
- Anerkennung in Deutschland — immigration of skilled workers
Understanding the Opportunity Card
Would the Opportunity Card work for you?
Tell us what you qualify in, where you trained, how long you have worked, and what languages you have. That is enough to say which of the two routes applies — and whether it is worth pursuing at all.