Opportunity card: Application, Requirements, Points System Explained

Chancenkarte is a new type of visa that is being introduced in Germany from June 1, 2024. Chancenkarte translates to "opportunity card" or "chance card" in English.

This is a job search visa. It allows you to move to Germany for up to one year and look for a job there. This visa is intended for citizens of third countries, i.e., countries that are not part of the European Union.

Previously, there was already a visa in Germany that allowed you to come and look for a job within the country. However, it was issued for only six months and had a number of significant restrictions that Chancenkarte does not have.

The opportunity card is specifically designed for skilled professionals from non-EU countries who are interested in working and living in Germany. To qualify for the opportunity card, applicants must demonstrate at least a two-year vocational training or a university degree recognized in their home country. The target group includes a wide range of professions, from craftsmen and technicians to IT specialists and engineers, all of whom can contribute to addressing the skilled labor shortage in Germany. Professions in high demand include those in areas currently experiencing a shortage, such as nursing, the crafts sector, engineering, or information technology. The opportunity card offers these professionals the chance to establish themselves in the German job market, advance their careers, and become long-term members of German society.

First, of course, you can enter Germany and legally stay here for a year while looking for a job. This significantly increases your chances.

Let me give you an example. At one of my jobs, the employer simply did not show us the documents of those who applied from outside Germany. If you are in Germany and have a German address, your chances of getting a job in Germany will increase significantly. Once you receive a job offer, you don't need to leave the country. You can immediately change your status and start working.

Perhaps the most important advantage of the Chancenkarte is the possibility of part-time work. Staying in Germany for a whole year involves significant expenses. Now, thanks to the opportunity card, you have the right to legal part-time work throughout the year. You can work up to 20 hours a week. Thus, you can not only search for a job here but also finance your stay in Germany.

In addition, the Chancenkarte allows you to take a trial job. This means your potential employer can hire you for up to 2 weeks. You can work 40 hours a week during these two weeks. This period is given to test your knowledge and skills and to see if you are a good fit for each other. If everything goes well and you prove yourself well, the employer can offer you a long-term employment contract.

The first and most important requirement that applies to everyone is financial security. That is, Germany assumes that for the duration of the visa, that is, for a year, you have the funds to stay here. There are three options for ensuring this financing. I will explain these options in more detail later in this article.

Option 1

There are two ways to get the opportunity card. The first and simplest option is if you qualify as a Fachkraft. Fachkraft means skilled labor. So, what do you need to be recognized as a Fachkraft?

For this, you need to have either higher education or vocational education. It does not matter whether it is higher or vocational education, but it must be recognized in Germany.

I recorded a separate article on how to recognize your diploma in Germany. I added it to the description, where it is explained in detail how you can check in the Anabin database (this is a special database that contains all diplomas) whether your education is recognized in Germany.

If your education is not in the Anabin database, there is another way. You can send your documents to Germany to a place called ZAB, where they will check your documents and send you an official response on whether your education is recognized in Germany or not.

If your higher education or vocational education is recognized in Germany, then congratulations, because you can immediately get the Chancenkarte. Everything I talk about in the following points does not apply to you. That is, you automatically qualify for the opportunity card.

Option 2

Your education is not yet recognized in Germany or is only partially recognized. Then there is a so-called points system for you. In this system, you need to score six points to get the opportunity card.

Before we move on to how to score these six points, there are two other important conditions that apply only to those whose education is not recognized or partially recognized in Germany.

1. Language proficiency: you need to present either a certificate of knowledge of the German language at level A1 (this is the most basic level) or a certificate of knowledge of the English language at level B2 (this is a fairly good level of English). In both cases, you need to present a certificate of knowledge of either German or English.
2. Educational qualification: You need to present either a higher education diploma recognized in your country, i.e., the country where it was issued, or a vocational education diploma, which should also be recognized in the country that issued this diploma. What does vocational education mean? It means that the training lasted at least 2 years.

So, if you have sufficient knowledge of either the German or English language, and also have a minimum level of education, either vocational or higher education, you now need to score six points to qualify for the opportunity card.

Points System

Let's look in detail at how to score these six points. Points can be collected in four categories. The first category is your education and work experience. The second category is your language skills, either German or English. The third category is age. And the fourth category is additional points that can be collected according to different criteria.

Education and Professional Experience

• Four points can be obtained by those whose education is partially recognized in Germany. I remind you, if your education is fully recognized in Germany, you do not need to collect any points, you can immediately apply for the opportunity card. If your education is partially recognized in Germany (for example, in the Anabin database, your diploma has the status "H+/-" or your profession has such a status), this is an example that your education is only partially recognized in Germany. In this case, you are given a whole four points. Four points in this category will be received by very few people.
• Three points are given to those who have worked for at least 5 years out of the last 7 years in their specialty.
• Two points are given to those who have worked for at least 2 years in the last 5 years also in their specialty.
• One additional point is given to those who work in specialties that are in high demand in Germany. You can find the full list of such specialties in the article about the Blue Card. For example, these specialties include programmers or anything related to information technology, as well as Data Engineers, mathematicians, physicists, chemists, i.e., everything related to the exact sciences, all fall into the list of specialties with a high shortage of specialists.

Language Skills

In this category, you can get points either for knowledge of the German language or for knowledge of the English language.

• Three points are given to those who know German at the B2 level. To prove this, you need to have a certificate that guarantees or indicates that you have knowledge of the German language at the B2 level.
• Two points are given to those who know German at the B1 level, and one point is given to those who know German at the A2 level.
• Also, one point is given to those who know English very well, i.e., at the C1 level.

Age

• If you are under 35 years old, you will be given two points.
• If you are between 35 and 40 years old, you will be given one point.
• If you are over 40 years old, you will not be given any points. But this does not mean that you are not eligible to get the opportunity card. Of course, you can get the opportunity card even if you are over 40 years old, but naturally, Germany wants to get labor immigrants as early as possible, probably with the aim that they integrate well and pay more taxes. Therefore, there is such a system that those who are quite young have an advantage and receive additional points.

Additional Points

In this category, you can get up to two additional points in the following categories.

• If you apply together with your spouse, you will be given one additional point.
• Another additional point will be given for being in Germany for 6 months. What does this mean? For example, if you have ever studied in Germany or did an internship here, or maybe worked here legally, it must be a non-tourist stay, a legal stay in Germany continuously. Of course, you could leave, for example, to Austria to ski, but it means that your residence permit or visa, if you had one, must be valid for at least 6 months.

Example 1

So, now you know how points are given and how to score six points. Let me give you an example to make it completely clear. For example, let's take my case. I graduated from a higher educational institution, and it is recognized in the Anabin database. This means that I automatically qualify for the opportunity card without the need to collect points or meet other requirements to secure my stay in Germany.

Example 2

Let's consider another example. For instance, I am an electrician, and I have been working in my country for 7 years in my specialty, and I have a vocational education diploma as an electrician. I checked my diploma in the Anabin database, and unfortunately, it is not there. Therefore, I do not automatically qualify for the opportunity card, but since I have at least 2 years of education, I am eligible to apply for the opportunity card under the points system. So, let's see if I can score six points and qualify for the opportunity card.

First, we look at work experience. Let's say I have been working as an electrician for 7 years, which means I will get 3 points. Second, we look at my language skills. Unfortunately, I know German only at the A2 level, so I will get one point for knowledge of the German language. But let's say I know English very well and can show a certificate at the C1 level, then I will additionally get another point for the language. Next, we look at my age. Let's say I am 34 years old, which means I will get two points. In total, I have already scored seven points. If I were applying not alone but with my wife, who would also receive the opportunity card, I would get one more additional point.

As I mentioned earlier, the first and most important requirement that applies to both those who go the Fachkraft route, that is, immediately qualify for the opportunity card, and those who apply for the opportunity card under the points system - in both cases, financial security for living in Germany for a year is required.

How to prove that you have funding for your year of job searching in Germany? There are three ways:

• Financial resources: simply money. You need to have 12,324 euros for the entire year. This amount is valid for 2024, and it might be slightly higher in the following years. You transfer this amount to Germany, where you open a so-called blocked account or Sperrkonto in German. This special blocked account has an important restriction: you cannot withdraw or spend the entire amount at once. Each month, you are allowed to spend 1/12 of the total amount from this account. This way, the Germans ensure that each month you will have the minimum amount to support your living in Germany.
• Sponsorship from friends or relatives in Germany: You can ask them to make a so-called declaration of financial commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung) in Germany. In this declaration, your acquaintances guarantee that they will support your living in Germany and cover all expenses. This document can be made at the local Foreigners' Office (Ausländerbehörde) where they live. It costs about 25 euros. They get this document in the original and must send it to you in your country by regular mail. This document is needed in the original and can be presented when applying for a visa. This will be your financial security.
• Employment contract: Option number three, not the simplest, but probably very interesting for those who have neither relatives or friends in Germany nor 12,324 euros to support a year of living in Germany. This option is to find a part-time job in Germany. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, with the opportunity card, you have the right to work part-time for up to 20 hours a week. This means you can find any part-time job that suits you. It doesn't necessarily have to be a highly qualified job, for example, you can work as a waiter in a cafe and bring such an employment contract to the consulate or embassy and show that you can support yourself for this year. This employment contract will serve as proof of your living expenses in Germany.

Currently, the minimum subsistence level in Germany for 2024 is 1,027 euros per month. Therefore, you need an employment contract that provides you with at least this amount per month, and this should be enough to get the opportunity card. Obtaining an employment contract while not being in Germany, even as a waiter, is not an easy task. But the German government promises to launch a portal where companies can post such vacancies aimed at immigrants. As soon as this portal is published, I will definitely post information on our website. The idea of this portal is to help those who live outside the European Union find part-time work in Germany, to give a chance to those who do not have financial resources or relatives and friends in Germany, to get the Chancenkarte and come to Germany to build their lives here.

What documents are needed to obtain the Chancenkarte? This largely depends on your case. In the simplest scenario, where your higher education or vocational education is recognized in Germany, you only need the standard set of documents.

This includes a passport, a biometric photo for the visa, insurance, and an educational diploma. If the diploma is not in English or German, you will need to translate it into German. This can be done in your home country, from which you will be applying for the visa. Additionally, you will, of course, need to fill out the application form for the national visa.

Moreover, you need to prove that you have financial security. This means either an employment contract for part-time work in Germany, proof that you have a blocked account, or a document called Verpflichtungserklärung (declaration of financial commitment) showing that you have sponsors in Germany.

If your diploma is recognized in Germany or partially recognized in Germany, you will also need to obtain an excerpt from the Anabin database, showing that your diploma has the status of either "plus" or "plus-minus." Alternatively, if you applied for diploma recognition at an agency, you will need a certificate of recognition of your diploma.

If you are applying for the opportunity card through the points system, you will need to show that your diploma is recognized in your home country and translate it into German. Additionally, if you earn points for language proficiency in either German or English, or both, you will, of course, need to provide certificates of proficiency in German and English.

How and where to apply for the Chancenkarte? If you are currently outside the European Union, you apply for the Chancenkarte in the country where your official place of residence is. You find the nearest German embassy or consulate responsible for the place where you are officially registered.

Next, you need to prepare a complete set of documents. The website of this embassy or agency should have a checklist specifying exactly which set of documents you need to bring. The document set may vary slightly from country to country. Once you have prepared the entire set of documents, you can make an appointment to apply for the Chancenkarte. Usually, the application for the Chancenkarte is made either directly through the embassy and consulate or through special visa centers, depending on whether the German consulate or embassy in your country works with such visa centers.

If you are already in Germany and want to apply for the Chancenkarte, this is also possible in certain cases. It is expected that the cost of the Chancenkarte will not differ from other types of visas and will be around 75 euros. Since the Chancenkarte is valid for only one year, it is assumed that the Chancenkarte will be issued as a visa for 1 year. This means that upon arrival in Germany, you will not need to go to the foreigners' office to convert your visa into a residence permit.

If you find a job in Germany within this year, which everyone hopes for, you will need to go to the foreigners' office (Ausländerbehörde) at your place of residence and submit a set of documents to convert your visa into another type of residence permit. The foreigners' office will review your documents, and if everything is fine, they will issue you a residence permit, which will initially be limited in time. This will be either a residence permit or, for example, a Blue Card. I wrote a separate article about the Blue Card. It applies to those with higher education. For those with vocational education, there are other types of residence permits.

However, all these residence permits are initially issued for a limited period. Typically, this is, for example, 4 years. These residence permits can be extended, and if you ever meet the conditions that allow you to apply for permanent residence (PR), such a residence permit can be converted into PR. PR can also be converted into citizenship. In some cases, even from a residence permit, you can convert it into citizenship and obtain German citizenship. I wrote a separate article about German citizenship.

This year, a reform is taking place, and now German citizenship can be obtained much more easily and quickly, and you do not need to renounce your previous citizenship. In this video, I explained in detail about the new Chancenkarte, which gives you the right to move to Germany and look for a job here. If you still have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach out to us for a consultation. We also provide services for the complete processing of document packages and obtaining the Chancenkarte visa.