Seasonal employment of foreigners; application for a work permit
For the temporary employment of foreigners from Georgia and the Republic of Moldova as seasonal workers, you as an employer must apply for a work permit.
Description
Foreigners can take up seasonal employment in Germany if the Federal Employment Agency has concluded a placement agreement with the labor administration of the respective country of origin (currently with Georgia and the Republic of Moldova). On this basis, the Federal Employment Agency can issue a work permit for seasonal employment. The work permit can be issued for assignments in agriculture.
As an employer, you must apply for the work permit at the Federal Employment Agency. The seasonal employment may not be longer than 90 days per period of 180 days and may not exceed 6 months within a period of 12 months.
Placement of seasonal employees
You can order the Federal Employment Agency to place a seasonal worker for you (currently from Georgia and Republic of Moldova). To do this, fill out the order confirmation and employer's declaration.
If you already know seasonal workers from Georgia and want to employ them, please use the form for requesting seasonal workers by name. The request by name of seasonal workers from the Republic of Moldova is possible only from January 1, 2023.
Prerequisites
In order to obtain the work permit, you must be able to prove that the seasonal workers you wish to employ,
- have adequate health insurance,
- have adequate housing,
- have a concrete job offer or a valid employment contract, and
- will work at least 30 hours per week.
The work permit will not be issued if
- the foreigner is already residing in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, unless
- the person has entered the country to take up the seasonal employment for which the work permit is requested, or
- the work permit is requested for a seasonal employment that follows a previous seasonal employment.
- The seasonal employee has applied for asylum; or
- the seasonal employee has not fulfilled the obligations of a previous seasonal employment, or
- your company is in insolvency proceedings, or
- your company is not (any longer) in business.
Procedure
If you would like to employ a seasonal worker but do not yet know of one, you can order the Federal Employment Agency to provide you with a seasonal worker (currently from Georgia and Republic of Moldova):
- Go to the application page of the Federal Employment Agency, fill out the order confirmation and employer declaration and submit it to your responsible labor market admission team.
- The information sheet will inform you about further requirements and the next steps.
- Please sign and return the order confirmation to the employer service of your responsible employment agency.
- The Federal Employment Agency will review your application and ask you to submit evidence of pay, working hours and other working conditions.
If you already know seasonal workers from Georgia or Moldova (from Moldova only from 1.1.2023) and want to employ them, the following procedure applies to you:
- Go to the application page of the Federal Employment Agency, please fill out the form to request seasonal workers by name.
- The Federal Employment Agency will review your application and ask you to submit evidence of pay, hours, and other working conditions.
If your application is approved, you will receive a work permit for the seasonal worker from the Federal Employment Agency.
Processing time
At least 4 weeks if the seasonal employee to be hired is already known. Otherwise, a processing time of approx. 8 weeks should be expected. (4 bis 8 Wochen)
Required documents
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Required Documents
- Evidence of pay, hours, and other working conditions for your seasonal workers, for example, employment contracts or a statement on the Order Confirmation and Employer Declaration Request form.
- Informal notification of health insurance coverage
- Information in the Order Confirmation and Employer's Declaration of Accommodation form for your seasonal workers
- Copies of the seasonal workers' travel documents, for example, passports
Remedy
- Appeal. Detailed information on how to file an appeal can be found in the notification of your application.
- Social court action
Links to more information
Status: 27.10.2022
Responsible for editing: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales
- Online transactions, Bavaria-wide
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- Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide
- Legal bases, Bavaria-wide
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- Fees, Bavaria-wide
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