Hi all,
I’m very new to all this so would appreciate some information and advice. I am a UK citizen doing this post Brexit.
I’ve been living and working in Germany for just over a year and my contract ends in March 2026.
I’ve been applying for new jobs so I can stay here after my contract ends. No luck so far but I will keep looking. I emailed the ausländerbehörde to ask if I can stay for 3 months after my contract ends and look for work. I assumed this is allowed with the 3 month rule ? As long as I am not working during this time? Is this true or must I go immediately back home? Perhaps I’ve used my 3 months already, I don’t know how it tallies up. If that’s the case I will need to try and get out of my flat contract this month.
The AB responded to my questions with this info. I’m a bit miffed as I’ve been working and paying my taxes like a good Ausländer.
From my research, I think post Brexit, there is unfortunately no job seekers visa available to me?
Anyway, I’ve been really enjoying developing a life for myself here and will be very sad if I don’t get the chance to pursue this further.
Thanks in advance 🙂
https://i.redd.it/yu8w6kidfs7g1.jpeg
Posted by kitty_daisy
2 Comments
You can apply for a Chancenkarte to stay for 12 months after your contract ends
The most important questions are: When does your current contract expire? (You’ve already answered that of course, March 2026) And: when does your current residence permit expire?
The 3 months is for if they retroactively shorten your permit. Eg. if your permit is valid until December 2026, but you get fired in January 2026, they would shorten the duration of your permit.
And this shorthened duration is usually “end of job + 3 months”. But as should be apparent now, this is more for unsudden circumstances, like suddenly getting fired or quitting.
If an end date is known, they would generally not issue it for much longer than this end date anyway.
And if your permit by coincidence happens to expire within the 3 months, then they can’t extend it either. It can only be shortened, not extended.
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That’s a big prelude for a simple statement: as soon as your permit expires (either because it expires normally or because they shortened the duration), you’ll need to at least have applied for a new one.
The new permit can be either a new permit for employment if you found a job or a job seeking permit if you have not yet found a job.
Though it’s no longer officially called the “Job Seekers Permit”, instead it is now called “Chancenkarte” (Opportunity Card)