Chancenkarte (Opportunity Card): points system and procedure in Berlin
The Chancenkarte (Opportunity Card) gives you time to look for a suitable job in Germany or to have your foreign vocational qualification recognized. To get it, you must either already be recognized as a skilled worker (Fachkraft) or reach at least 6 points in the points system.
Points are awarded, among other things, for: your language skills (German, or English at level C1), your professional experience, your age, how long you have already lawfully been in Germany, and whether your occupation belongs to certain sought-after occupational groups. If your spouse or registered partner meets the conditions and enters together with you, you also get one additional point.
With the Chancenkarte you may work on the side – but only up to 20 hours per week in total, and only qualified trial employments of at most two weeks. Since a legal amendment at the end of 2025, it has been expressly clarified: other side jobs are not permitted with the Chancenkarte.
If you find a suitable job, you do not switch automatically to another title. If you already meet the requirements for the Blaue Karte EU (EU Blue Card) or a skilled-worker residence permit (§ 18a/§ 18b AufenthG), you must apply for that title anew. Only if this is not yet the case but an employment contract exists can you apply to the LEA for a follow-up Chancenkarte for up to two more years.
- Check your pointsFirst check whether you already count as a skilled worker. If not: add up your points according to the twelve criteria in § 20b Absatz 1 AufenthG (qualification, language skills, professional experience, shortage occupational group, age, connection to Germany, partner criterion). You need at least 6 points.
- Collect proof and have it confirmedFor the qualification and language requirements under § 20a Absatz 4 AufenthG, you need a confirmation from a competent domestic body or, for a vocational qualification obtained abroad without state recognition in the country of training, a confirmation from a German Chamber of Commerce Abroad (Auslandshandelskammer, AHK).
- Apply for a visa at the German mission abroad (if not yet in Germany)If you are not yet in Germany, first apply for a national visa at the responsible German mission abroad (Auslandsvertretung) in your country of residence. The assessment follows the same substantive requirements from § 20a/§ 20b AufenthG.
- Have the Chancenkarte issued at the LEA KeplerstraßeAfter entering with the D visa – or when switching from another residence title within Germany – submit the online application with the required documents to the LEA and pay the fee.
- During the validity period: observe job search and side-job limitsKeep to the 20-hour limit and the two-week limit for trial employments. If you find a suitable job, check immediately whether you can apply directly for another residence title (Blaue Karte EU, § 18a/§ 18b) instead of only a follow-up Chancenkarte.
- As of 24 December 2025, the word "only" ("nur") was added to § 20a Absatz 2 AufenthG by Article 13 of the SGB-VI-Anpassungsgesetz (SGB VI Adaptation Act, promulgated 22.12.2025, BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 355): since then, the Chancenkarte expressly entitles you exclusively to the two named side activities (20-hour secondary employment, two-week trial employment) – no other employment.
- Under § 20a Absatz 6 AufenthG, § 9 AufenthG (requirements for the settlement permit, Niederlassungserlaubnis) does not apply during the Chancenkarte. Periods with a Chancenkarte therefore do not automatically count toward later periods for a settlement permit.
- According to § 20a Absatz 5 Satz 3 AufenthG, a follow-up Chancenkarte is granted only if the person does NOT yet meet the requirements for another residence title for employment (Abschnitt 4 AufenthG, e.g. Blaue Karte EU, § 18a, § 18b). Anyone who already meets these requirements must apply for the respective title as a separate new application – there is no automatic conversion of the Chancenkarte.
- On any reporting or other obligations of employers for a trial employment under the Chancenkarte, no confirmed information is available.
- For the specific catalog of documents for the visa application at the respective German mission abroad in the country of residence, no source published separately for Berlin is available.
- For the GEAS-Anpassungsgesetz (CEAS Adaptation Act) of 28 April 2026, which entered into force on 12 June 2026, no source was found documenting substantive changes to § 20a or § 20b AufenthG; according to the available sources, the law primarily concerns asylum procedure and protection status law.
In depth · Legal basis, figures and practice – for counsellors and professionals
The points system under § 20b AufenthG and the Annex to the AufenthG
To obtain the Chancenkarte via the points system (§ 20a Absatz 3 Nummer 2 AufenthG), at least 6 points according to the table in the Annex to § 20a Absatz 3 Nummer 2, § 20b AufenthG (reference: BGBl. 2023 I Nr. 217, p. 20) are required. The points in detail:
- 4 points: foreign professional qualification for which a competent recognition body has determined that adaptation or compensation measures or further qualifications are necessary (§ 20b Absatz 1 Nummer 1)
- 3 points: good German language skills (Nummer 2)
- 2 points: sufficient German language skills, unless points have already been awarded under Nummer 2 (Nummer 3)
- 1 point: adequate German language skills, unless points have already been awarded under Nummer 2 or 3 (Nummer 4)
- 1 point: English language skills at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (Nummer 5)
- 3 points: at least 5 years of relevant professional experience within the last 7 years (Nummer 6)
- 2 points: at least 2 years of relevant professional experience within the last 5 years, unless points have already been awarded under Nummer 6 (Nummer 7)
- 1 point: the professional qualification belongs to one of the shortage occupational groups under § 18g Absatz 1 Satz 2 Nummer 1 AufenthG (Nummer 8)
- 2 points: age at most 35 years at the time of application (Nummer 9)
- 1 point: age over 35 up to at most 40 years, as an alternative to Nummer 9 (Nummer 10)
- 1 point: at least 6 months of lawful, uninterrupted residence in Germany within the last 5 years – "connection to Germany" (Nummer 11)
- 1 point: spouse or registered partner also meets the Chancenkarte requirements, submits their own application to the same office, and enters together or intends to do so (Nummer 12)
If the person already receives points under Nummer 1 (adaptation or compensation measure required), the separate qualification requirements under § 20a Absatz 4 Satz 3 Nummer 1 no longer apply to them. The Annex names no maximum score, only the minimum score of six.
Additional requirements beyond the points system (§ 20a Absatz 4 AufenthG)
Anyone who wants to obtain the Chancenkarte via the points system additionally needs either (a) a foreign vocational qualification recognized by the state in the country of training with a training duration of at least two years, (b) a foreign university degree recognized by the state in the country of training, or (c) a vocational qualification obtained abroad that corresponds in content, duration, and implementation to the requirements of the Berufsbildungsgesetz (Vocational Training Act) and has been confirmed by a German Chamber of Commerce Abroad (AHK). In addition, either basic German language skills or English skills at least at level B2 must be proven, confirmed by a competent domestic body. Subsistence must be secured; anyone already staying in Germany needs a residence title under Abschnitt 3 or 4 AufenthG for this.
Procedure: application before entry and application in Berlin
Anyone not yet in Germany first applies for a national visa at the responsible German mission abroad in the country of residence; the assessment follows the same substantive requirements from § 20a/§ 20b AufenthG. For the specific catalog of documents of the respective mission abroad, no source published separately for Berlin is available. After entry with a D visa – or when switching from another residence title within Germany – the actual issuance of the Chancenkarte takes place at the LEA at the Keplerstraße location. According to the service page service.berlin.de, the following must be submitted, among other things: the online application form, passport copies (data page, in color), copy of the current residence title/visa or of the EU Blue Card in case of a change of status, registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung) or rental contract with landlord confirmation as proof of Berlin residence, proof of monthly housing costs, proof of secured subsistence (e.g. bank statements, salary statements), and proof of health insurance. According to the same source, the fee is 56 to 100 euros for first issuance after entry with a D visa, or 54 to 98 euros when switching from the EU Blue Card or another employment title (difference: sticker vs. electronic residence title/eAT); for Turkish nationals, reduced rates of 27.60 to 46 euros apply.
Secondary employment and trial employment
Under § 20a Absatz 2 AufenthG, the Chancenkarte only entitles you (1) to carry out employment of on average at most 20 hours per week in total and (2) to trial employments of at most two weeks each, which must either be qualified, be aimed at training, or be suitable within the framework of a recognition procedure under § 16d AufenthG. The word "only" ("nur") was inserted as of 24 December 2025 by Article 13 of the SGB-VI-Anpassungsgesetz and clarifies that no other side activities are permitted. On any reporting or other obligations of employers for a trial employment under the Chancenkarte, no confirmed information is available.
Transition to a regular work residence title
If the search is successful, the change is not an automatic "conversion": under § 20a Absatz 5 Satz 3 AufenthG, a follow-up Chancenkarte (extension by up to two more years) is granted only if the person does not yet meet the requirements for another residence title for employment under Abschnitt 4 AufenthG – such as the Blaue Karte EU, § 18a, or § 18b. If they already meet these requirements (suitable degree, employment contract, where applicable salary threshold and approval of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Federal Employment Agency), they must apply for the respective title as a new, separate application at the LEA. Only if an employment contract or a binding job offer for qualified employment exists and the Bundesagentur für Arbeit has approved, but the requirements for another title are still lacking, does the follow-up Chancenkarte come into question. Note: under § 20a Absatz 6 AufenthG, § 9 AufenthG (requirements for the settlement permit) does not apply during the Chancenkarte.
Legal changes 2025/2026
The Annex with the points table itself still bears the reference BGBl. 2023 I Nr. 217 (Gesetz zur Weiterentwicklung der Fachkräfteeinwanderung, Act on the Further Development of Skilled Immigration, in force since 1 June 2024) and has not yet been revised. In 2025, only the introductory sentence of § 20a Absatz 2 was changed (clarification "only", see above). For the GEAS-Anpassungsgesetz of 28 April 2026, which entered into force on 12 June 2026, no source was found documenting substantive changes to § 20a or § 20b AufenthG; according to the available sources, the law primarily concerns asylum procedure and protection status law (Asylgesetz, Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz, and asylum-related parts of the AufenthG).
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