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I have visited Austria for an interview and I received a Schengen visa for it. Now I am in Germany and I have a proposed contract for the next few months before I start my PhD (next year) to work here in Germany (I used to work in the same company during my studies in Germany). The question is can I apply for a work visa permit for this duration or do I need leave the German soil and apply from somewhere else?

Apparently here it is said that it is not possible to do so for a study visa, but I am not sure about work visa.

In case I need to leave the country for applying again, can I do it from another country say Turkey. Because of military duty, I can only leave the country once after graduation (which is my situation now).

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    It depends on your citizenship, what is it? But if you have got a Schengen visa (i.e. you cannot enter the Schengen area without a visa), you most definitely cannot apply for a work permit from within Germany.
    – Gala
    Apr 8, 2015 at 17:01
  • I am an Iranian. This doesn't make any sense, but thanks for enlightening me! Since returning to my country is not an option (I can only leave it once each year because I didn't do military service), is it possible to apply for this work permit from say Turkey?
    – Cupitor
    Apr 8, 2015 at 17:41
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    It's best to add this information to the question (click ‘edit’ to do so). I will try to see if I can find more details on where you could apply from.
    – Gala
    Apr 8, 2015 at 20:28

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Germany only allows people from very few countries (e.g. the US, South Korea, or Australia) to apply for a residence permit from within the country. People from other countries – including Iran and all countries whose citizens need a Schengen visa for short stays in Germany – need to apply for a long-stay visa from a German consular post abroad.

I am not completely sure of that but I think that you can only apply to the consulate/embassy competent for your usual place of residence. This could mean that if you wish to apply outside of your country of origin, you would have to provide an address and a proof of your status as a resident in the country where you wish to apply (e.g. if you want to apply to the German embassy in Turkey, you need to show them some Turkish document establishing your status as a resident of Turkey).

Depending on the specific type of visa you are seeking, it might be necessary for the consulate to involve the Ausländerbehörde for your intended place of residence in Germany and the Bundesagentur for Arbeit, which means that the application process could take several months. You will therefore obviously need to have the right to stay that long in the country where you lodged your application to wait for the result.

Additionally, work visas/permits have rather stringent requirements so getting one for a temporary job could be very difficult.

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  • I suggest Cupitor takes a trip to his nearest German consulate in Belgium, Holland or Czech Republic and apply there... you need not fly back to Iran to get this resolved =)
    – fiprojects
    Feb 26, 2016 at 20:45
  • @fiprojects Do you know that for a fact? As I wrote, I am not 100% sure what the rules are for Germany but that's rarely as simple, you typically need to show you have some long-term residence status in the relevant consular district to even lodge an application. That means you would need to spend more than a few days in, say, the Netherlands and to qualify for a Dutch residence before applying to the consulate there, i.e. not only have you not solved your issue with respect to Germany but you also have the exact same issue in the Netherlands (which are not particularly lenient either).
    – Gala
    Mar 2, 2016 at 22:48
  • I don't know it as a fact specific to an Iranian, but I do know it as a fact based on other examples (Canadian/Irish/Polish/American citizen/visas). When I was in Vancouver, I applied for a visa to Canada, I went to an Immigration presentation - I was told I had to apply from outside of Canada, and that different consulates around the world had different clearance times. The fastest (at the time) was London, the slowest was Hong Kong - they also said they cannot help with visa's to the UK for those who wanted to apply via London.
    – fiprojects
    Mar 6, 2016 at 16:45
  • I should also add that I know of an American who extended his Shengen/CZ visa via a trip to the Czech Embassy in Poland. And a New Zealand resident who extended his German visa via a trip to the German Embassy in the UK. I know the OP was specific to Germany, but the solutions I am aware off are worth considering for some folk who read this Q&A at some future date.
    – fiprojects
    Mar 6, 2016 at 18:25
  • @fiprojects Yes, that's definitely something worth exploring in any case and it's true that's it definitely possible for Canada for example. For Germany, I am still a bit surprised because I just reread the website I linked to in my other answer and it really says that you should apply in the German representation competent for your place of residence. Incidentally, a New Zealand citizen (not merely a resident but a citizen) should not need to go anywhere as they are among the list of people who can even apply from within Germany. Not so for Iranians, however.
    – Gala
    Mar 12, 2016 at 7:57

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