Do I meet the requirements of German work visa and how exactly should I apply?

Question

I'm from Azerbaijan and I've got a software development job offer from Berlin paying 60k+. Thing is I don't have a degree. I've got around 6 years of relevant professional experience (I can show past job offers to the immigration officer). I don't know any German either, the company language is English.

From what I read you need a degree for work visa but not IT specialist visa. Some people in the company also immigrated from third countries without a degree but they didn't mention that they specifically applied for an IT specialist visa.

Also for IT specialist visa, do I need to take an exam to prove equivalence of professional qualifications? Is such exam even provided in English or is it German only?

My company told me that they would provide the necessary documents but the process of application is up to me. In German embassy site for Azerbaijan I don't see any option for applying to "IT specialist visa", just that you can specify "Employment" as your reason in VIDEX application. Is that what I am supposed to do?

Also, VIDEX application requires a place to stay in the destination. I can try to book an apartment from wunderflats but for how long should I book?

VIDEX application also asks about departure date, do I just put "INDEFINITELY" there?

I would really appreciate it if you could answer some of my questions. Thanks!

Answer 1

I will provide you some suggestions, but you should keep in mind, that I'm not a lawyer and do not guarantee anything. This is a generic advice for generic cases similar to yours:

1. Please see my another answer for details: https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/a/11511/13223

2. Therefore, I think applying for the employment visa is fine.

3. As for departure date, put the date of the earliest possible departure you might want to take. This might be first day of your visa's validity.

4. it is really important that you have a signed job offer or better signed working contract already. In my eyes, signed working contract will help a lot. From your question, it is not clear what do you mean under "past job offers".

5. For the place to stay, try to ask your company for help. Otherwise, book a hotel or rent an apartment. The visa will be for max. of 6 months, so no need to rent for more than 6 months.