Germany Opportunity Card 2026: requirements and points

Almost 17,500 cards in eighteen months and roughly 83% approved. But the card gives you the right to look for work, not a job: the German government does not know how many holders found one. Points, money, applying from Russia, Kazakhstan and Armenia, and the switch to a Blue Card.

Between June 2024 and November 2025, German embassies and consulates issued 17,489 Opportunity Cards (Chancenkarte), the visa that lets you move to Germany to look for work without a job offer. Most applicants get a yes: according to Federal Foreign Office data, about 83% of applications decided between June 2024 and early May 2025 were approved, roughly five out of six. The uncomfortable part comes later. The German government does not know how many cardholders actually found a job: in October 2025 it told the Bundestag that it has no reliable data on this.

Applicants from Russia and the wider post-Soviet region are visible in the queue. From June 2024 to April 2025, German visa sections processed 510 applications from Russian citizens, the fourth-largest group after India, China and Pakistan. Below: how to get the card in 2026, how to count your points, how much money you need to lock away, where to apply from Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Serbia and Turkey, and how to move on to an EU Blue Card (the EU residence permit for well-paid graduates) or a work permit within a year.

What the Chancenkarte is, in plain terms

Chancenkarte literally means chance card. The official English name is Opportunity Card, and the German embassy in Moscow calls it karta shansov (chance card) in its Russian materials. In substance it is a residence permit for job hunting, valid for up to one year; the law calls it the Such-Chancenkarte, or search card. The legal basis is Section 20a of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz, AufenthG), while the points rules sit in Section 20b and the annex to the Act.

The rules took effect on 1 June 2024 and replaced the old job-seeker visa. That visa gave only six months and only to people whose degree was already recognised in Germany: in 2023, 3,640 were issued. Under the new card, visa sections processed about 17,500 applications in 2025 alone. That is still well short of the benchmark of 30,000 cards a year that the government cited when the law was drafted.

The card is issued abroad as a national D visa, a long-stay visa for living in Germany, as opposed to the 90-day Schengen C visa. It is stuck into your passport and serves as your residence document for its whole validity. After arrival you only need to register your address (Anmeldung, residence registration at the local citizens' office). You deal with the foreigners' authority (Ausländerbehörde, the local immigration office) only when you switch status or extend the card.

The card gives you three rights: to live in Germany while you look for work or go through recognition of your qualification; to work up to 20 hours a week; and to do trial work of up to two weeks. It does not allow full-time work, running your own business or claiming welfare benefits.

Who gets the Chancenkarte without points

The fastest route is open to people Germany already treats as skilled workers (Fachkraft under Section 18 AufenthG). That means a German university degree or vocational qualification, or a foreign qualification that Germany has recognised as equivalent. These applicants need no points at all: they only have to prove they can support themselves.

• University graduates. You need a printout from the anabin database (Anerkennung und Bewertung ausländischer Bildungsnachweise, a free database rating foreign qualifications). Your university must be rated H+, meaning a recognised higher education institution, and your degree must be marked entspricht or gleichwertig (corresponds to or is equivalent to a German degree). If those ratings are missing, you order a Statement of Comparability (Zeugnisbewertung) from the ZAB (Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen, the Central Office for Foreign Education in Bonn).
• Vocational graduates. You need a recognition decision (Anerkennungsbescheid) from the competent German body. For occupations in industry, trade and services, that is IHK FOSA (Foreign Skills Approval), the recognition centre of the German chambers of industry and commerce (Industrie- und Handelskammer, IHK).
• Regulated professions such as doctors, nurses, some engineers and teachers. You need a licence to practise (Berufsausübungserlaubnis) or a written assurance that it will be granted by the authority of the federal state.

Germany does not count how many cards go to recognised skilled workers and how many to points-based applicants: the statistics do not separate the two, and the government is only examining whether they could.

What are the basic requirements for the points route

If your qualification is not recognised in Germany, the path runs through points. But first you have to clear an entry filter of three conditions, and if you miss any of them, your points are not even counted.

1. Education. A university degree recognised by the state that awarded it, or vocational training lasting at least two years, also recognised in the country where you trained. A third option is vocational training delivered by a German Chamber of Commerce Abroad (AHK). This has to be confirmed by a German body: for a degree, an anabin printout or a ZAB statement; for vocational training, a ZAB statement on a foreign vocational qualification.
2. Language. German at A1 (beginner) or English at B2 (upper intermediate). The certificate must come from a member of ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe); English can also be proven with TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).
3. Money. Proof of funds for the full validity of the card: in 2026 that is EUR 1,091 a month, broken down below.

There is a separate rule for people already in Germany. You can only switch to the Chancenkarte inside the country from a residence permit for study, training or employment. Switching from a Schengen visa or a visa-free stay is not possible, so you would have to apply from abroad. Switching from refugee status is not possible either.

How to count Opportunity Card points

You need at least 6 points. The key rule: points within one category do not stack. German at B2 earns 3 points, not 3 plus 2 plus 1 for every level along the way, and work experience earns either 3 or 2. German and English C1, however, do add up.

Experience only counts if it is in your field and was gained after you qualified. The six months in Germany mean continuous lawful residence, for example on a student permit: Schengen short stays do not count. The spouse point applies when your spouse meets all the card requirements, applies at the same mission and enters Germany with you. Only one of the two gets this point, as the embassy in Moscow states explicitly. If you have a partial recognition decision, you no longer need to pass the education part of the entry filter.

Shortage occupations are defined by the ISCO-08 groups listed in the Blue Card rules: managers in production, construction and logistics, ICT service managers, managers in health, social care and education, science and engineering professionals, medical doctors, nursing and midwifery professionals, veterinarians, other health professionals, teachers and ICT professionals.

Example calculation 1. A process engineer, aged 33, with a degree recognised in the country that awarded it but not recognised in Germany as equivalent to a German one, English at B2, no German and 6 years of relevant experience. Age 35 or under earns 2 points, 5 years of experience in the last 7 earns 3, and engineers belong to a shortage group for 1 more. Total: 6, a pass. English B2 only gets you through the entry filter here; it earns no points.

Example calculation 2. An accountant, aged 38, with a three-year college diploma, German at A2 and 3 years of experience. Age over 35 and up to 40 earns 1 point, A2 earns 1, and 2 years of experience in the last 5 earns 2. Total: 4, two short. The options: pass German B1 (2 points instead of 1, total 5) and apply together with a spouse who also qualifies (1 more, total 6), or obtain partial recognition of the qualification in Germany, which adds 4 at once.

How much money you need for the Opportunity Card in 2026

The headline number is EUR 13,092, about USD 14,900. That is what you must show for a year in Germany: EUR 1,091 a month per applicant. The figure appears in the 2026 guidance of the German embassies in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Egypt and of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). If you can show less, the card may be issued for a period shorter than 12 months.

There are three ways to prove funds:

• Blocked account (Sperrkonto). You deposit the full amount up front and can withdraw no more than EUR 1,091 a month. Open it before you apply: embassies only accept the provider's official confirmation stating the total deposit and the monthly payout. A transfer receipt on its own will not do.
• Formal obligation (Verpflichtungserklärung). Someone permanently resident in Germany formally undertakes, before the foreigners' authority, to cover your costs under Sections 66 to 68 AufenthG.
• Part-time job or your own savings. If you already hold a contract for a side job in Germany stating hours and pay, that income counts. Some embassies also accept bank statements, but the embassy in Moscow does not accept statements from Russian banks.

Example calculation for a single applicant with a university degree who needs a ZAB statement: EUR 75 visa fee, EUR 208 for the ZAB, EUR 149 to 278 for the blocked account and roughly EUR 600 to 710 for a year of insurance. Mandatory costs come to about EUR 1,030 to 1,270, plus EUR 13,092 that stays yours and pays for your living. Flights, a rental deposit, language courses and translations come on top. Rent is the biggest expense once you arrive, especially in large cities. For housing costs, see our guides to Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Frankfurt.

Insurance must be private incoming cover (a policy for foreigners coming to Germany): at least EUR 30,000 of cover, valid across the Schengen area and for the full validity of the card. Ordinary travel insurance will not do: the embassy in Tbilisi warns that such policies exclude long-term stays. You must show the policy no later than when you collect the visa. For how to choose a policy, see our article on health insurance when relocating.

How to apply from Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and other countries

You apply at the German embassy or consulate responsible for your place of permanent residence. Since 1 January 2025, all 167 German missions abroad have been connected to the Auslandsportal, the Foreign Office's online visa application portal. The sequence is similar everywhere:

1. Take the Self-Check on the government's official Make it in Germany portal and print the result: some embassies want it in the file.
2. Prove your education: an anabin printout or a ZAB application. The standard processing time is 3 months for a degree statement and 2 months for a vocational statement, and the clock only starts once the fee and a complete file are in.
3. Pass a language exam at an ALTE centre or take TOEFL.
4. Open a blocked account or arrange a formal obligation.
5. Buy incoming health insurance.
6. Fill in the VIDEX form (the online national visa application form) or apply via the Auslandsportal. Attach a CV and a motivation letter covering the jobs you are after, where you will send applications, where you will live and, if relevant, how you plan to get your qualification recognised.
7. Attend in person: hand in originals with translations, give fingerprints and pay the fee. Do not buy tickets before the decision; the embassies in Moscow, Yerevan and Tbilisi say so explicitly.
8. After arrival: register your address, look for work and switch status before the card expires.

From Russia. National visas are handled only by the embassy in Moscow: the visa sections of the consulates general in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Kaliningrad stopped taking applications on 31 May 2023. You cannot book a slot directly: you put yourself on a waiting list through the embassy's booking system, and the embassy assigns appointments in order. Documents can also be lodged at VisaMetric centres in the regions, but forwarding makes the process longer. When you apply, you must prove permanent residence in Russia.

The EUR 75 fee is taken in cash roubles at the embassy's rate or by a German-issued card; Russian cards are not accepted. At the Central Bank of Russia rate that is about 7,200 roubles, but the embassy uses its own rate, which may differ. Funds must be shown through a blocked account or a formal obligation, and since 1 January 2026 applicants need a biometric passport: Germany no longer accepts non-biometric Russian passports, see our article on countries rejecting old-style Russian passports. The embassy's guideline processing time is about 8 weeks, and it does not answer status enquiries during the first three months. Russian-language documents need a German translation by an authorised translator.

From third countries. You can apply where you lawfully live. The statistics suggest many do: of 510 applications from Russian citizens, only 234 were handled in Russia itself. German missions in the UAE issued 170 cards between June 2024 and mid-June 2025. Georgia requires non-citizens to prove habitual residence, so applying there makes sense only if you actually live in Georgia.

If you are refused. On 1 July 2025 the German Foreign Office abolished remonstration, the informal request to reconsider a visa refusal. Two options remain: a lawsuit at the Administrative Court of Berlin, conducted in German and with court costs, or a fresh application with a corrected file. Before suing, it is worth having Murblz specialists review the refusal.

Can you work on the Chancenkarte

Yes, within two limits. First, no more than 20 hours a week on average, and the job can be anything, including outside your field. Second, trial work (Probebeschäftigung): each trial lasts no more than two weeks and must be qualified work, lead to vocational training or form part of a recognition procedure. The Federal Employment Agency does not need to approve these jobs.

Example calculation: Germany's minimum wage in 2026 is EUR 13.90 an hour. Twenty hours a week at the minimum rate comes to about EUR 1,205 a month gross, slightly above the required EUR 1,091. A minijob (a small job with simplified contributions) is capped at EUR 603 a month in 2026.

What you cannot do: work full time, run a business, freelance or claim benefits. The basic Bürgergeld benefit (citizen's income for jobseekers) and social assistance under Books II and XII of the Social Code (Sozialgesetzbuch, SGB) are closed to cardholders by law. For employers, the 20-hour cap is the main drawback: a cardholder cannot be hired full time. So a full-time offer means switching status before you start.

What comes after: Blue Card, work permit, permanent residence and citizenship

The card is a springboard, and you have to jump before it expires. Once you find a job, you switch status inside Germany at the foreigners' authority; there is no need to leave and apply for a new visa. Apply early. In Munich, for example, the foreigners' authority quotes 10 to 12 weeks to process Chancenkarte applications, with a fee of EUR 100.

Almost everyone moves straight to a work permit and skips the follow-up card. On 30 August 2025, the Central Register of Foreigners listed only four people who had moved on to a Folge-Chancenkarte. In December 2025 the government told the Bundestag that Opportunity Card visa holders usually switch straight to a work permit. By 31 October 2025 the register showed 767 people who had received a work permit after the card, but it does not capture direct switches from the visa, so the government expects the real number to be far higher.

One detail matters for your timeline: the 21 months, 27 months and 3 years are counted from the Blue Card or work permit. Under the wording of Section 18c AufenthG, months spent on the Chancenkarte do not count towards them. The second trap is age. The EUR 55,770 salary requirement (about USD 63,600) applies to anyone who is 45 or older when they receive their first work permit under Section 18a or 18b. The embassy in Tbilisi warns specifically that if you turn 45 while holding the card, the rule applies to you too. All routes and salary thresholds by occupation are on our German work permit page.

Family. As a rule, you cannot bring your spouse and children on the search card: Section 30 AufenthG requires your stay in Germany to be expected to last more than a year, and the card is issued for a year at most. The workaround is to apply as a couple if your spouse also qualifies: each gets their own card, and one of you gets an extra point. Once you move to a Blue Card or a skilled worker permit, your family can follow, and your spouse no longer needs an A1 German certificate.

Citizenship. On 30 October 2025 Germany abolished fast-track naturalisation after 3 years; the minimum is once again 5 years. Dual citizenship has been allowed since 27 June 2024. More in our analysis of German citizenship in 2026.

Tax. As soon as you have a home in Germany or stay longer than six months, Germany treats you as tax resident and taxes your worldwide income. How to square this with your previous country is covered on our taxes in Germany page.

Opportunity Card or another visa: which to choose

The Chancenkarte beats the other routes on one point only: you do not need a job offer before you arrive. On everything else it loses, because it gives you a year and 20 hours of work a week. If you already have an employer, going straight for a work visa is faster. For Blue Card and work visa details by profession, see our article on German residence permits for skilled workers.

The experience route is still rarely used: between March 2024 and November 2025 it produced just 838 visas, while 17,489 Opportunity Cards were issued between June 2024 and November 2025. Liberal professions have a separate freelance visa, and Germany has no dedicated digital nomad visa. If your income comes from abroad and you work remotely, compare Germany with Spain's digital nomad visa.

Pitfalls: who the Chancenkarte is not for

• A card is a right to search, not a vacancy. The government admits it does not know how many cardholders found work. The law will be evaluated three years after it took effect by the IAB (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, the Institute for Employment Research) of the Federal Employment Agency, and the research centre of BAMF (the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees).
• Without German it is hard. The main difficulties are finding a job that matches your qualification, a lack of German for paperwork and daily life, bureaucracy and high rents in big cities.
• Your money is locked. A blocked account releases no more than EUR 1,091 a month, and there are no benefits. If you have not found work within the year, the search card cannot be extended: you must leave or move to another status.
• A second card only after a break. A new search card is only issued if, after the previous one ended, you spent at least as long abroad, or in Germany on another lawful status, as you spent on the search card.
• Refusals are hard to challenge. With remonstration abolished, only the court in Berlin remains.
• No quota yet, but one is possible. The law lets the government cap the number of cards by ordinance without the consent of the Bundesrat, the chamber representing the federal states. In October 2025 the government said it saw no need to change Sections 20a and 20b.
• Passport and money issues for Russian citizens. A biometric passport is required, and Russian bank statements are not accepted. Check in advance whether your blocked account provider opens accounts for Russian citizens and residents: financial firms apply different client screening rules.

It does not suit people who need a guaranteed job before moving; families who want to move together at once when the spouse does not qualify; people aged 45 or over expecting a salary below EUR 55,770 without proof of pension provision; and anyone without EUR 13,000 of spare money. It suits professionals under 40 with experience in a shortage occupation, English or German and a financial cushion, who are prepared to live on a side job for the first months and go to interviews.

How we can help with the Chancenkarte and your move to Germany

We check whether you qualify on points, prepare your embassy file and map your route from the Opportunity Card to a work permit, permanent residence and a passport.

All of Germany's programmes are gathered on our Germany country page.

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