Basis regulations

Back to: Know-How: Access to Education and Employment

What kinds of opportunities and conditions, if any, exist for refugees to access the labor market, depends not only on whether a residence permit has been issued, but also on what kind of residence permit it is. Depending on the type of protection established in the course of the asylum procedure, refugees are granted a residence permit for one to three years. In the further course of the procedure, there is often the possibility of extension or issuance of permanent residence 1.

If you wish to find out what forms of protection and residence status exist and what they mean exactly, access the course unit The Asylum System and its Functions

Work permit according to residence status

In this context, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees currently distinguishes between three residence statuses 2:

  • 1. Aufenthaltsgestattung (preliminary residence permit)
  • 2. Duldung (temporary suspension of deportation)
  • 3. Aufenthaltserlaubnis (residence permit)

The only status that enables both unrestricted work and self-employment is the residence permit – i.e. a positive asylum decision. If we are speaking of a preliminary residence permit or a temporary suspension of deportation, there are certain conditions and restrictions:

Aufenthaltsgestattung (preliminary residence permit)

© Institut für Lern-Innovation

Presently, there is a waiting period of three months for employment. Anyone staying in Germany for three or more months for the purpose of an asylum procedure may be granted permission to take up employment. As long as the refugee is obliged to live in a reception center, a permit according to the BAMF (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) is excluded.

In addition, the Authority must decide for each individual case whether or not a work permit should be issued. The local Employment Agency must also give its approval. The following three criteria are decisive 3:

  • Filling the position must not exert any negative influence on the labor market.
  • The vacancy may not be filled if a preferential employee is available.
  • Concrete working conditions within the scope of the job

Only after a four-year stay is the approval of the Employment Agency no longer necessary. If the person concerned comes from a so-called safe country of origin, he or she is not allowed to work.

Duldung (temporary suspension of deportation)
Persons who possess a temporary suspension of deportation must also wait three months before obtaining a work permit. As with residence permit holders, permission from the Foreigners Authority and the local Employment Agency is required.

According to the BAMF, there is no waiting period for certain jobs for which approval by the Federal Employment Agency is not required. This applies, for example, to vocational training in a state-recognized or similarly regulated occupation. In the following cases, a person with a temporary suspension of deportation does not receive a work permit 4:

  • If a person has entered with a temporary suspension of deportation in order to receive benefits under the Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz (Asylum Seekers Benefits Act)
  • If a person prevents measures terminating the stay, or
  • If a person comes from a safe country of origin and their asylum application was rejected after 31.08.2015

Further information

If you would like to receive more information, please take a look at the FAQs provided by the BAMF. Here you will find information about

  • legal basis for access to the labor market
  • Effect of residence obligation and residence requirement on work permit
  • Effects of current changes to the Integration Act

and many other questions.

In addition, the Employment Agency provides a so-called „migration check“ for employees, which can give an initial overview of whether a work permit can be obtained in just a few clicks. Click here for the migration check.

Footnotes

  1. http://www.bamf.de/DE/Infothek/FragenAntworten/ZugangArbeitFluechtlinge/zugang-arbeit-fluechtlinge-node.html
  2. http://www.bamf.de/DE/Infothek/FragenAntworten/ZugangArbeitFluechtlinge/zugang-arbeit-fluechtlinge-node.html
  3. http://www.bamf.de/DE/Infothek/FragenAntworten/ZugangArbeitFluechtlinge/zugang-arbeit-fluechtlinge-node.html
  4. http://www.bamf.de/DE/Infothek/FragenAntworten/ZugangArbeitFluechtlinge/zugang-arbeit-fluechtlinge-node.html

Project Partners

Casework is a cooperation between the Innovation in Learning Institute (ILI), the ECC Association for Interdisciplinary Consulting and Education, the INTRGEA Institute for Development of Human Potentials, and Oxfam Italy. More info…