Searching for a training place (Ausbildungsplatzsuche) in Berlin: the role of IHK and Handwerkskammer
The topic page "Berufsausbildung in Berlin" (vocational training in Berlin) already explains in detail which residence title you need for training (§ 16a AufenthG) or for searching for a training place (§ 17 AufenthG). What is missing there: the chambers. Whether you want to do commercial, technical, or craft training – your training contract only becomes valid once the Industrie- und Handelskammer (IHK, Chamber of Industry and Commerce) Berlin or the Handwerkskammer Berlin (Berlin Chamber of Crafts) has entered it in an official register. This is not a formality you have to handle yourself – your training company is legally obliged to submit the contract to the responsible chamber without delay after signing.
During the search for a training place, the chambers also help you with their own apprenticeship exchanges and counseling services. And for two gaps left open by the training topic page – the required German language level and the blocked-account amount for the visa to search for a training place (§ 17 AufenthG) – we checked with three missions abroad instead of just one and compiled the information here.
- During the search: use the chambers' apprenticeship exchanges and counselingSince its own apprenticeship exchange was discontinued as of 1.1.2025, the IHK Berlin refers to the search engines ausbildung.berlin and meine-ausbildung-in-deutschland.de, which bundle all open training places in Berlin or nationwide in the IHK sector – craft occupations can also be filtered there. The Handwerkskammer Berlin runs its own apprenticeship and internship exchange (hwk-berlin.de) with radius search and the app "Lehrstellenradar 2.0". The IHK project "Passgenaue Besetzung" (tailored placement) additionally helps in person: application documents are reviewed, matched with companies' requirements, and suitable training companies are referred.
- Have your foreign school certificate recognized if necessary – but not at the chamberIf your desired occupation requires a specific school-leaving qualification, it may be useful or necessary to have your foreign certificate compared with a German qualification (e.g. Mittlerer Schulabschluss, intermediate school-leaving certificate). In Berlin, the responsible body for this is not the IHK or Handwerkskammer, but the Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle (office for recognition of school certificates) of the Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie (Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family). A requirement for the procedure is either a residence in Berlin or a written commitment from a Berlin company for a training place or job.
- Sign the training contract – the company registers it with the chamberAs soon as you have signed a training contract, your training company must submit the contract for registration to the responsible body without delay (§ 34 BBiG for commercial/technical occupations or § 30 HwO for craft occupations). For you as a trainee, this registration is free of charge (§ 34 BBiG); only with registration does your training relationship become formally effective.
- In the crafts sector: specific documents and fee at the Handwerkskammer BerlinAccording to the Service-Berlin page, the company submits the signed vocational training contract, for trainees under 18 years a copy of the initial medical examination (not older than 14 months), and, if applicable, proof for shortening the training period to the Handwerkskammer Berlin. Registration in the Lehrlingsrolle (register of apprentices) costs the company 16 euros; there are no costs for you as a trainee.
- For § 17 AufenthG: language level and blocked account re-checkedUnlike the Embassy in Pristina (level B2), the German missions in Nairobi and Skopje consistently require German language skills at level B1, proven by a certificate certified according to ALTE standards that may not be older than one year. Both missions also name a blocked-account or declaration-of-commitment amount of 1,091 euros net per month (2026) for the visa to search for a training place. Nevertheless, check with the mission abroad responsible for you, as the information can differ between individual missions (see "Attention").
- The topic page "Berufsausbildung in Berlin" covers § 16a and § 17 AufenthG in detail, but does not mention the role of the chambers anywhere. This page adds exactly that: the statutory obligation to register the training contract with the IHK or Handwerkskammer and the chambers' placement services during the search.
- On the language level for § 17 Abs. 1 AufenthG, in addition to the Embassy in Pristina (B2), two further missions abroad were checked: Nairobi (page as of 12.12.2024) and Skopje (as of 15.01.2025) both consistently name level B1. The contradiction with Pristina therefore remains and is expressly not smoothed over here – two of three checked missions name B1, one names B2. This confirms that the required level can differ between missions abroad, and at the same time shows that B1 is the more frequently stated requirement.
- The blocked-account amount for § 17 AufenthG, is stated consistently at two missions abroad (Nairobi, Skopje) at 1,091 euros net per month (2026). However, this figure still does not come from a Berlin authority but from the missions abroad themselves – which is factually correct, since this procedural step takes place abroad before entry. Whether exactly the same amount applies at every mission abroad was not checked for all of the roughly 150 German missions worldwide.
- The assignment assumed that the chambers play a role in the recognition of foreign school certificates. This could not be confirmed: according to the Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie, only its own Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle is responsible for this, not the IHK or Handwerkskammer. The chambers are only responsible for the recognition of foreign vocational qualifications (see “Chambers (Kammern) and regulated professions in Berlin”), not for general-education school certificates.
- For the fee that the IHK Berlin charges the training company for registering a training contract in the IHK sector, no publicly accessible figure could be found – the IHK Berlin pages on the training contract state no amount. No confirmed information is available on this. For the crafts sector, by contrast, the fee is clearly documented at 16 euros (see above). For trainees themselves, registration in both sectors is expressly free of charge under § 34 BBiG.
- For § 17 AufenthG (search for a training place), it remains unclear whether and what role the chambers already play before entry – the available sources (missions abroad, IHK/HWK Berlin) describe chamber registration exclusively for the point at which a signed training contract already exists, i.e. after switching to § 16a AufenthG.
In depth · Legal basis, figures and practice – for counsellors and professionals
Federal law: obligation to register in the register of vocational training relationships
Under § 34 BBiG, every responsible body – for commercial, technical, and most other dual training occupations the Industrie- und Handelskammer (Chamber of Industry and Commerce), for craft occupations the Handwerkskammer (Chamber of Crafts) – must keep a register of the vocational training relationships existing in its area of responsibility; every vocational training contract must be entered in it. Registration is free of charge for trainees. § 35 BBiG regulates the registration requirements: the contract must comply with the law, the trainer must be personally and professionally suitable, and for trainees under 18 years the medical certificate of the initial examination must be submitted. If these requirements are missing and are not remedied, registration must be refused or deleted. For the crafts, the structurally corresponding rule in § 30 HwO applies: the trainer must apply for entry in the Lehrlingsrolle (register of apprentices) without delay after conclusion of the contract, enclosing a copy of the contract; the trainee's previous general and vocational education as well as the appointment of instructors must also be reported.
Implementation in Berlin: IHK Berlin and Handwerkskammer Berlin
For IHK training occupations, the IHK Berlin, Fasanenstraße 85, 10623 Berlin, tel. 030 31510-0, is responsible; the training company must submit the signed contract for registration without delay, at the latest before the start of training, for which the IHK Berlin provides an online application system and paper forms. Subsequent changes in content compared with the submitted contract must be reported to the chamber without delay. For craft occupations, the Handwerkskammer Berlin, Blücherstr. 68, 10961 Berlin, email [email protected], tel. 030 25903-345/-346/-334, is responsible. Required are the signed vocational training contract (form in three copies), for minor trainees a copy of the initial medical examination (not older than 14 months), in the case of a shortened training period corresponding proof, and for newly appointed instructors an instructor form and proof of aptitude. Also checked are the personal and professional suitability of the instructor, suitable training facilities, an appropriate ratio of trainees to skilled workers, and the location of the company in the chamber district. Registration costs the company 16 euros; it is free of charge for trainees.
Apprenticeship exchanges and placement services during the search
As of 1.1.2025, the previous IHK apprenticeship exchange was discontinued; since then, the IHK Berlin has referred to the meta search engines ausbildung.berlin (all training places in Berlin, filterable by district/postal code) and meine-ausbildung-in-deutschland.de (nationwide, IHK sector), which also include craft occupations and liberal professions. The Handwerkskammer Berlin runs its own apprenticeship and internship exchange with radius search via hwk-berlin.de and the app "Lehrstellenradar 2.0", through which you can also post your own requests. In addition, the IHK project "Passgenaue Besetzung" (tailored placement), funded by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs), supports applicants in person: application documents are reviewed and assessed from the business perspective, and applicants are specifically referred to suitable training companies. For the employment and training of refugees, the IHK Berlin, together with the employment agency, Handwerkskammer Berlin, BAMF, UVB, and DGB, offers a joint overview of funding opportunities.
Foreign school certificates: not the chambers, but the Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle Berlin
Unlike the recognition of foreign vocational qualifications (see the topic page “Chambers (Kammern) and regulated professions in Berlin”), the IHK and Handwerkskammer play no role in evaluating foreign school certificates. Responsible is the Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle (office for recognition of school certificates) of the Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie (Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family), Bernhard-Weiß-Straße 6, 10178 Berlin, email [email protected]. It checks whether a foreign certificate corresponds to a Berlin school-leaving qualification (e.g. Mittlerer Schulabschluss, Abitur) – expressly only with regard to taking up training or employment in Berlin. A requirement for the procedure is either a permanent residence in Berlin or, for residents abroad, a written and secured commitment from a Berlin company for a training place or job. The fee is 45 euros for certificates acquired in Germany and 55 euros for those acquired abroad. Whether and when this recognition is actually a prerequisite for starting training (e.g. for formal admission requirements of certain occupations) or only serves voluntarily for classification could not be conclusively determined from the available sources.
§ 17 AufenthG: language level and blocked account checked at three missions abroad
The Embassy in Pristina names level B2 and a 6-month search period on site (see the topic page "Berufsausbildung in Berlin"); it is therefore advisable to ask the responsible mission individually. The missions in Nairobi (Kenya, as of 12.12.2024) and Skopje (North Macedonia, as of 15.01.2025) were additionally checked. Both consistently require German language skills at level B1, proven by a certificate certified according to ALTE standards (specifically named in Skopje: Goethe-Institut, ÖSD, telc/ECL), which may not be older than one year at the time of application. For securing subsistence, both missions name an amount of 1,091 euros net per month (2026), provable via a blocked account at a German bank or a declaration of commitment; with the minimum visa validity of 91 days, this corresponds to at least 3,309 euros, and with the maximum validity of nine months, up to 9,819 euros. The contradiction with the B2 information from Pristina remains and is deliberately not resolved here; it shows that the specific requirement can still vary depending on the responsible mission abroad, even though B1 is the more frequent information at the additionally checked missions.
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