Filipino’s Guide to: German National Visa for Skilled Employment

I moved to Berlin a couple of months ago after 8 months of do-it-yourself applications. I read extensively about everything I would need for a fast and successful application, but at every stage I found myself discovering that there were bases I didn’t cover. Information was fragmented and incomplete, online and offline, and overall it made for an exhausting application process.

I’ve written this article with information from i) my online research, ii) other Filipinos already in Germany, and iii) my own experiences, in the hope that I’ll help at least a few others avoid some of the difficulties I went through. By itself, this is not meant to be a comprehensive guide. However, it should point you to official sources and give you tips these sources won’t tell you. The information here was also most valid for Jan-Aug 2018; some mechanics may have changed since then.

To my understanding, not all information here might apply to those with looking to work in regulated professions or with vocational degrees. I believe there are other certifications you’ll need to get, but I’m not the best person to speak about those.

What you’ll need:

1. A national visa for employment from the German Embassy in Manila (Part 1 of the series; this article!)
2. Overseas Employment Certificate from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in the Philippines (Part 2)
3. Various government registrations/documents after landing in Germany, including a temporary residence permit from the Ausländerbehörde (Part 3)

Part 1: The German National Visa

Timeline:

• Wait time for an appointment: 3–5 months
• Application processing: 1–3 months
• Remonstration/Appeal period: 1 month
• Remonstration/Appeal processing: No specific length but ~1 month from experience

Based on the conversations I’ve had and my personal experience, the process is fair albeit long and anxiety-inducing. As long as you submit the correct required documents, there should be no problem getting whatever type of visa you’re applying for. Some people have reported a 1–2 week processing time for well put together applications.

That’s why it becomes extremely important to submit the correct documents. Otherwise, it lengthens the process significantly, potentially causing you to go through an initial rejection only to get approved when the correct documents are submitted (which is what happened in my case). Click here for the official list of requirements.

Here are my tips for 3–4 crucial and time-consuming parts of the application:

1. Scheduling an appointment

Once you secure your job offer, make an appointment with the German Embassy as soon as possible. There’s a 3–5 month wait. This page has a link to the appointment booking system.

2. Degree equivalence (a.k.a. Anabin / ZAB)

If you intend to apply for the Blue Card, you will need to go through this step of the process. If you’re fairly sure you won’t qualify, either because i) you don’t have a degree that’s equivalent to a German higher education degree or ii) you don’t satisfy the salary minimum, then don’t bother going through this process. Instead, I suggest you focus on making sure that your Preapproval from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit goes through successfully, in support of your “regular employment permit”.

To prove that your foreign degree is equivalent to a German degree, you’ll need to apply for the “ZAB” degree equivalence evaluation. Click here to submit an application, and here to see the document requirements for Philippines degree holders.

There are mini-steps you’ll need to take for “ZAB”, namely:

1. Obtaining your diploma and transcript of records from your college/university. In UP's case, they were also able to give me an English copy of my diploma.
2. Getting it “certified as a true copy” first by CHED (Commission on Higher Education)/your university, then by the Philippine government (red ribbon). I went to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) Main Office to get the red ribbon certification done (Php 100 for regular; Php 200 for express).

In my experience, it took 5 months for ZAB to process my application despite their saying that it takes 3 months. With my 4-year undergraduate degree from the Philippines, I got a “school leaving certificate with some units toward an undergraduate degree” evaluation result, which is basically “not equivalent”.

I also learned, from various conversations, that if your Philippine degree is 4 years or less, it’s usually not equivalent to a German degree. If you have i) a 5-year degree or ii) a 4-year degree + some units of a Master’s, it might be equivalent.

3. Preapproval from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit

While it says in the German Embassy of Manila’s list of requirements that it’s “preferable” if you submit the Preapproval from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) with your application, I say you need to submit your application with it.

Otherwise, i) your application will take a long time to get processed and ii) you risk initial rejection because they won’t know what you’re qualified for.

Your employer needs to apply for this for you. It takes 2–3 weeks to process. They can get more information on the process by calling the BA and through this leaflet.

It helps to inform the BA of which legal provision you are eligible for. Each approval has a legal basis, after all. If you’re moving for work, it needs to be one of the provisions in the BeschV (Regulation on Employment of Foreign Nationals), § 2–9. The AufenthG (Law on Residence, Employment, and Integration of Foreigners in the Federal Territory) is another set of regulations commonly referenced.

In my experience, my employer initially obtained approval for qualified work (§ 2 BeschV). That meant “Blue Card”, which I wasn’t eligible for due to my degree not being equivalent. We applied again, this time for “Executive Officers and Specialists” (§ 4 BeschV) which doesn’t require an equivalent higher education degree, and obtained the proper approval. Many Filipinos have gone the “specialist” route before. As long as your employer can convince the BA that you have specialized skills, you should be able to get it too.

4. (if needed) Remonstration/Appeal Procedure with the German Embassy

In case your application is rejected, you have the chance to apply for Remonstration/Appeal directly with the German Embassy in Manila. The additional supporting documents you submit will need to prove that you deserve the visa.

I don’t think inspiring, heartfelt letters will work for the appeal. What they are looking for is legal proof, e.g., the appropriate approval from BA.

You have exactly 1 month from the date you received your rejection letter to appeal. You can submit either via email, in-person at the Embassy, or through an authorized representative (with authorization letter). Processing time after you’ve submitted your appeal is “as soon as possible on a first-come-first-serve basis”, which in my experience took ~1 month.

This is the end of Part 1.