Avoiding scams

Visa agents, fake job and training offers, paid appointments, forged funding papers.

People who want to leave a country under pressure are a target. Some warning signs apply everywhere; the rest are typical of the routes in this guide.

Warning signs

• "Guaranteed visa", "guaranteed job", "guaranteed training place". Nobody can guarantee a visa. The German mission decides, and it decides by law.
• Money before a contract. A real employer or school never asks you to pay for the offer. Under German law recruitment fees are to be paid by the employer, not by you (check for your route). Nursing recruiters with the seal Faire Anwerbung Pflege Deutschland pay costs themselves.
• Paid appointments. Appointments and the waitlist for the embassy are free. Anyone selling a place or a "priority" is not the embassy. See Visa application.
• Forged funding papers. Fake bank statements or sponsor letters lead to refusal and can lead to a ban on future visas and criminal charges. Use only a real blocked account: Money and sanctions.
• Unlicensed money transfer. Handing cash to an informal broker has no protection if the money disappears.
• Look-alike websites. Official sites end in diplo.de (Foreign Office), bamf.de, arbeitsagentur.de, make-it-in-germany.com. Check the address letter by letter.
• Pressure and secrecy ("pay today", "do not tell the embassy").

Check before you pay

• Is there a named company or school with a real address you can check in the German commercial register or on its own site?
• Does the contract come in writing, in a language you read, before any payment?
• Does the Federal Employment Agency or Make it in Germany confirm the route?

If it already happened

Keep all messages, receipts and transfer proofs. Free advice in Berlin is listed on Already in Berlin? (BEMA for work-related cases). Report fraud to the police.