Work and training

You can use your time in Saxony to work. This requires a residence permit that allows gainful employment. In most cases, this will be a »Aufenthaltserlaubnis« temporary residence permit as established in Section 24 Paragraph 1 of the German Residency Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz).

Please note: If you are residing in Germany without a visa or with a Schengen visa, you are not allowed to work. You will require a temporary residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) for this.

You can apply for this temporary residence permit from your local foreigners’ office, which can be found at https://bamf-navi.bamf.de/de/Themen/Behoerden/.

It will take some time before you receive your temporary residence permit, which is why the foreigners’ office will issue you with a provisional certificate (known as a Fiktionsbescheinigung) or an informal letter when you apply for your temporary residence permit. This must also show that gainful employment is allowed.

Once you have been issued with a Fiktionsbescheinigung or informal letter showing that gainful employment is allowed, you can take up any form of employment in Germany. Professional access restrictions do, however, apply for some professions (e.g. doctors, teachers, childcare workers). You are also permitted to work as a temporary agency worker (known as a Leiharbeitnehmer).

Please note: Working without a permit may incur monetary fines or imprisonment.

You can also start your own business or work as a freelancer.  

Please note: Each industry has its own special requirements for starting a business, and you must comply with these. These may be professional regulations, specific permits or even insurance-related matters.

If you meet the requirements for this, you can generally also apply to your local foreigners’ office for a residence permit for the purpose of work or training.

If you need help looking for work or training/apprenticeships in Germany, you can contact your local job centre or employment agency. They will advise you on your job search, find specific job offers for you, and provide you with various services to assist you in starting your career.

If you receive social-welfare benefits from a job centre (»Jobcenter«), the job centre will also advise and assist you in terms of looking for employment or training/traineeships. If you do not receive social-welfare benefits from a job centre, your local employment agency (»Agentur für Arbeit«) will assist you.

Further information on the advice the employment agencies and job centres can provide is available at https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/ukraine/ukraine-en. This site will also show you your local centres.

Saxony also has additional free counselling services relating to the job market:  

Arbeitsmarktmentoren Sachsen will help you find training or work, and, if necessary, will even assist you after you have started your career.
The RESQUE forward network offers advice, information on gaining qualifications and placement.
The IBAS counselling centres will advise you on getting your vocational and educational qualifications recognised.
And the Fair Integration project provides advice on labour-law matters.
The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) provides information in Ukrainian, Russian and German on labour law, payment and minimum wages in Germany at https://sachsen.dgb.de/ukraine.