Skilled worker and Blue Card

Qualified professionals with a job offer: Blue Card, IT without degree, § 6 BeschV, recognition partnership.

With a concrete job offer from a German employer there are several residence permits for skilled workers (AufenthG). The Embassy in Cairo issues the visa; the permit is then issued in Berlin.

Route	Core conditions
Blue Card (§ 18g)	University degree recognised or comparable; salary at least 50.700 € gross a year, or 45.934,20 € for shortage professions and new entrants.
IT without degree (§ 18g Abs. 2)	ISCO-08 groups 133 or 25; 3 years of relevant experience within the last 7 years; same salary threshold.
Skilled worker with vocational qualification (§ 18a; experience route § 19c (2) with § 6 BeschV)	State-recognised qualification of at least 2 years of training; for the experience route the BA consents under § 6 BeschV without a priority check, salary at least 45.630 € (from age 45: 55.770 €, § 18 (2) no. 5 AufenthG / § 1 (2) BeschV), 2 years of experience within the last 5 years.
ICT professions (§ 19c Abs. 2)	The qualification requirement does not apply for ICT professionals.
Recognition measures (§ 16d; "recognition partnership" is only an informal name; Abs. 3)	You come while recognition is completed; A2 German ("hinreichende Sprachkenntnisse", defined in § 2 Abs. 10 AufenthG; required by § 16d Abs. 3).

Steps

Find an employer; get the contract or a binding offer in writing.
Check the recognition status of your degree: Recognition.
Check whether the employer or you can use the accelerated skilled-worker procedure at the Berlin Foreigners' Authority (LEA). Details and fees of that procedure were not confirmed.
Apply: Visa application.

Settlement later

Permanent residence after 3 years (36 months) with B1 as a skilled worker (§ 18c Abs. 1); 24 months after training or study in Germany. Blue Card: 27 months with A1 or 21 months with B1 (§ 18c Abs. 2). Text of § 18c.

Family can follow: Family. Doctors and nurses: Doctors, Nursing.

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