Hiring third country nationals in Germany became easier to start and no easier to run. The Skilled Immigration Act of 16 August 2023 opened a second way in, built on work experience rather than diplomas. The duties that sit on the employer once somebody is hired are short, specific and easy to miss, and that is where German penalties come from.
Germany is a market in preparation for us. No German case yet. This page says what we do and do not claim, before you write to us.
Hiring third country nationals in Germany: the three duties in section 4a
Section 4a(5) of the Residence Act tells an employer of a foreign national to do three things. Check that the residence title actually permits this work. Keep a copy of it, on paper or electronically, for as long as the employment lasts. Notify the competent immigration office within four weeks of learning that the employment ended early.
The third duty is the one that gets missed, because nothing prompts it. Missing it is an administrative offence under section 98(2a) no. 2, and section 98(5) puts the ceiling for that offence at 30,000 euro.
The approval, and what the labour agency asks you for
For a skilled worker under sections 18a and 18b the Federal Employment Agency approves the job without a priority check, unless the Employment Ordinance says otherwise for that case. One condition stayed. The person may not be employed on worse terms than comparable domestic employees.
Proving that is your work, not the worker's. Section 39(4) makes the employer hand the agency the pay, the working hours, the other working conditions, the social insurance position and any professional licence the job requires. Seasonal work adds the accommodation, the rental terms and the rent. On request the answer is due within one month.
The Western Balkans route does not reach Uzbekistan
Section 26(2) of the Employment Ordinance lets nationals of six countries — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — be approved for any job after a priority check, capped at 50,000 approvals a calendar year. Uzbek nationals are nowhere on that list.
What is open to them is section 6 of the same ordinance: two years of relevant experience gained within the last five, a foreign qualification recognised by the state that issued it and requiring at least two years of training, and a salary from 45 per cent of the annual contribution assessment ceiling in the general pension insurance. An employer bound by a collective agreement and paying its own tariff terms escapes the salary threshold. In information and communication technology the qualification condition falls away.
Where we actually are
Market in preparation is what the country card on this site says about Germany, and it is accurate. We are not going to write anything warmer on a page whose job is to sell.
What exists already is the sending end. We are a licensed Uzbek agency: entry 0078 of 7 April 2021 in the state register of private employment agencies of Uzbekistan, under the company name LLC "Specialist Group Private Employment Agency". The office sits in Andijan, and every candidate we put forward has been interviewed by us first. Five years of that work sit behind hiring in Bulgaria, and Croatia is opening now.
Tell us the occupation and the headcount you expect to need. We will answer with what we can prepare in Uzbekistan for it, and with the German steps we cannot take for you.
