Avoiding scams

What the German missions say about agencies and paid appointments, and how to check a job offer before you pay.

Typical patterns

• Sold appointments or "quota places". Under the Western Balkans rule the appointment follows the employer's BA pre-approval. Nobody can sell you a place in the quota.
• Fake job offers – especially packages for construction, care, driving or "Ausbildung" that cost thousands of euros. A real offer comes with a contract from a named German employer, and the employer applies for the pre-approval.
• Temporary agency work disguised as a job. The Western Balkans rule excludes agency work (Leiharbeit). An offer where you are lent to other firms does not fit this route.
• Fake funding papers or a "rented" blocked account. False documents lead to refusal and can lead to an entry ban.
• Fake ETIAS sites charging more than the official €20, see Visa-free travel.
• "Visa-free work". Working during a visa-free stay is illegal, see Visa-free travel.

How to check before you pay anything

• Look up the employer in the German commercial register, call its published number and check its website.
• Book appointments only through the links on the mission's own website (Visa application).
• Job placement by the Federal Employment Agency (ZAV) is free; so is the public job board. Recognition questions: anerkennung-in-deutschland.de is free.

Already in Berlin and being exploited? See Already in Berlin? for free counselling.