Job search and labor market access in Berlin: BA approval, ZAV, and portals
Whether you may work in Germany is formally decided by your residence title – issued in Berlin by the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA, State Office for Immigration). For many titles, an internal approval of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA, Federal Employment Agency) under § 39 AufenthG is required: this is an administrative process between the BA and the immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde), not a permit that you apply for separately yourself or hold in your hands.
For the actual job search from abroad, the central official point of contact is the federal portal "Make it in Germany", supplemented by the Zentrale Auslands- und Fachvermittlung (ZAV, International Placement Services) of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, which supports companies in recruiting skilled workers from abroad. In Berlin, the Agentur für Arbeit Berlin-Nord and the Agentur für Arbeit Berlin-Süd (employment agencies for north and south Berlin) are responsible locally for labor-market questions, depending on the district of residence; after a recognized residence status with receipt of benefits, the Jobcenter may take over.
Important for orientation: there is no nationwide official portal called "Fachkräfteportal" (skilled-worker portal) for immigration to Germany – existing "Fachkräfteportale" are offers of individual federal states (e.g. Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg) for regional economic development and have nothing to do with residence law. Anyone looking for a central nationwide offer will find it under the name "Make it in Germany".
- Check whether a BA approval is needed for your residence titleFor many employment titles (e.g. under § 18a/§18b AufenthG), the Bundesagentur für Arbeit internally checks priority and working conditions before the LEA grants the title. For other titles (e.g. Blaue Karte EU (EU Blue Card) at certain salary thresholds), the approval is not required. Ask the LEA whether this step applies in your case.
- Present a job offerFor most employment titles, you need a concrete job offer appropriate to your qualification before the residence title can be granted – the BA approval relates to this specific position.
- Use official portals for your job searchUse make-it-in-germany.com (the central federal portal for international skilled workers) and arbeitsagentur.de for your job search; the ZAV in particular supports companies in international recruitment.
- For questions on labor market admission: contact the BA counseling serviceFor general questions on labor market admission, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit offers a telephone counseling service (0228 713 2000).
- Locally: Agentur für Arbeit Berlin-Nord or Berlin-SüdDepending on your district of residence, the Agentur für Arbeit Berlin-Nord (Königin-Elisabeth-Str. 49, with branch offices in Pankow, Reinickendorf, Spandau) or Berlin-Süd is responsible. These offices are responsible for labor-market matters, NOT for issuing the residence title – that remains with the LEA.
- There is no official nationwide portal called "Fachkräfteportal" that is responsible for immigration to Germany. Anyone searching for this term may end up at state offers (e.g. Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg) that are not relevant to Berlin practice or residence law. No confirmed information is available that confirms such a federal portal under this name – the central offer that actually exists is called "Make it in Germany".
- The approval of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit under § 39 AufenthG is an internal process between authorities, the BA and the immigration authority – as a rule, you do not receive a separate decision on it that you would have to present separately. Do not confuse this process with a stand-alone work permit.
- On exact processing times for the BA approval and on a possible allocation of individual Berlin postcodes to Berlin-Nord or Berlin-Süd, no reliable, complete source is available in the available sources.
In depth · Legal basis, figures and practice – for counsellors and professionals
Approval of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (§ 39 AufenthG)
For numerous residence titles for employment purposes, the granting of the title is linked to the prior approval of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency) under § 39 AufenthG. The BA checks, among other things, working conditions (no wage or social dumping) and – depending on the title – carries out a priority check. This process runs internally between the immigration authority (in Berlin: the LEA) and the Bundesagentur für Arbeit; the person concerned does not apply for it separately and as a rule does not receive a separate approval decision. For certain titles – such as the Blaue Karte EU above certain salary thresholds – the approval is not required at all.
Zentrale Auslands- und Fachvermittlung (ZAV)
The ZAV (International Placement Services) is the Bundesagentur für Arbeit's specialist unit for international placement of skilled workers. It primarily supports companies that are specifically looking for skilled workers abroad, but also offers counseling on labor market admission. For general questions on this, a telephone counseling service of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit can be reached at 0228 713 2000.
"Make it in Germany" instead of "Fachkräfteportal"
The central information portal for international skilled workers operated by the federal government is called "Make it in Germany" (launched in 2012) and bundles information on visas, recognition, job search, and life in Germany. A targeted search for a portal called "Fachkräfteportal" at the federal level found no corresponding nationwide offer of the immigration administration – only identically named, thematically different state portals (among others Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg) for regional economic and skilled-worker development were found, which have nothing to do with residence law. This gap is expressly named here rather than inventing a supposed portal.
Berlin implementation: LEA, employment agency, Jobcenter
In Berlin, only the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA) is responsible for granting and extending the residence title. For questions of labor market access in the narrower sense – job placement, qualification, and, where benefits are received, also basic income support – the Agentur für Arbeit Berlin-Nord (Königin-Elisabeth-Str. 49, with branch offices in Pankow, Reinickendorf, and Spandau) or the Agentur für Arbeit Berlin-Süd is responsible, depending on the district of residence; where SGB II benefits are received, the Jobcenter is also involved. This separation of responsibilities – residence law at the LEA, labor market at the employment agency/Jobcenter – is a purely Berlin organizational feature, while § 39 AufenthG applies uniformly nationwide.
Federal law vs. Berlin implementation
Prescribed by federal law are: the requirement of a BA approval under § 39 AufenthG for certain titles, and the existence and tasks of the ZAV. Berlin-specific is the organizational division between the LEA (title) and the two employment agencies Berlin-Nord/Berlin-Süd or the Jobcenter (labor market/benefits).
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