How the two routes work
Route 1 — Skilled worker (no points)
Your degree or vocational training is from Germany, or fully recognized as equivalent. You only need the financial proof — the points system doesn't apply to you.
Route 2 — Points system (6+ points)
Qualification not (yet) fully recognized: meet the basic requirements, then score 6 points from recognition, experience, language, age, ties to Germany, and spouse.
The Opportunity Card (§20a Residence Act, introduced June 2024) gives you up to 12 months in Germany to find qualified work — no job offer needed upfront. Once hired, you switch to a work permit, EU Blue Card, or later permanent residence.
The full points table
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Partial recognition of qualification / permission for regulated profession | 4 |
| Work experience: 2 yrs (last 5) / 3 yrs (last 7) | 2 / 3 |
| German: A2 / B1 / B2+ | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| English C1 or native (additional) | 1 |
| Age: ≤35 / 36–40 | 2 / 1 |
| 6+ months legal stay in Germany (last 5 yrs, not tourism) | 1 |
| Qualification in a shortage occupation | 1 |
| Spouse applying together | 1 |
Basic requirements (2-year vocational training or degree + German A1 or English B2 + funds) earn no points — they're the entry ticket to the points route.
How to apply: steps, fees & timeline (2026)
Frequently asked questions
Q. Do I need a job offer to apply?
A. No — that's the point of the card. You get up to 12 months in Germany to search, with part-time work (20 hrs/week) and unlimited 2-week trial jobs allowed.
Q. What counts as a "previous stay" in Germany?
A. At least 6 continuous months of legal residence in the last 5 years — study, work, or language courses count. Tourist stays don't.
Q. My spouse and I both want to go. Does that help?
A. If your spouse is also eligible and you apply together, each of you earns 1 extra point. Note the card itself doesn't include family reunification — each adult needs their own permit.
Q. What happens after I find a job?
A. You switch to a skilled worker permit or EU Blue Card. If you have a qualified job but don't yet meet another permit's requirements, the Opportunity Card can be extended up to 2 more years.
Q. Is this the same as the official Self-Check?
A. It follows the same published criteria. The official Self-Check on the Make it in Germany portal and the consular portal govern in case of any discrepancy — use this tool for quick planning.
Document checklist (save your progress)
Tick each item as you gather it. Progress is saved in this browser — nothing is uploaded.
Sources and official references: §46 Aufenthaltsverordnung — visa fee, “für die Erteilung eines nationalen Visums (Kategorie „D“), auch für mehrmalige Einreisen 75 Euro”; §45 Aufenthaltsverordnung — residence-permit fee, “für die Erteilung einer Aufenthaltserlaubnis, einer Blauen Karte EU oder einer ICT-Karte … 100 Euro”; German Federal Foreign Office — Consular Services Portal; §20a Aufenthaltsgesetz (Residence Act). Source URL not obtained for the blocked-account amount, the points table and the fee amounts on this page. Measured again on 22 August 2026 across six collection rounds and roughly sixty official addresses, direct and via the Internet Archive, with a headless browser where a page looked like a JavaScript shell: the Make it in Germany portal that used to be linked here was removed on 19 September 2026 — it answers a bot check to a plain request and to a headless browser alike (415 characters, “Secure access verification”), so it cannot be collected; its archived Opportunity Card page (snapshot of 12 August 2026, 7,565 characters) is a hub of navigation and teaser links and states no amount, so we do not attach it. §20a of the Residence Act linked above did answer once with the full section (5,150 characters) and timed out on the other five attempts — and it fixes no euro figure at all: it requires that living costs be covered and leaves the sum to be set administratively. The Federal Foreign Office visa pages return HTTP 404, BAMF returns HTTP 404, the Federal Ministry of the Interior returns HTTP 400, the BAföG portal of the Federal Ministry of Education returns HTTP 404, study-in-germany.de and the DAAD return HTTP 403, and ten German missions abroad on diplo.de return HTTP 404 for their visa pages. Because the minimum sum is revised and therefore only means something with an effective date, and because no fetchable official document carries the current one, this page no longer quotes a figure. Ask the German mission handling your application, and see §20a linked above for the rule itself. Checked again on 3 September 2026 for a statute that does carry the amount, and the answer is that the law delegates it. §2 Abs.3 of the Residence Act (reachable that day through an archive snapshot, 10,210 characters) defines when living costs count as covered and then hands the figure to the executive: “Das Bundesministerium des Innern … gibt die Mindestbeträge nach Satz 5 für jedes Kalenderjahr jeweils bis zum 31. August des Vorjahres im Bundesanzeiger bekannt.” §20a itself (5,048 characters on the fourth attempt that day) again fixes no euro amount. We also tested BAföG §13, sometimes cited as the basis for blocked-account rates, and ruled it out: it sets 442 and 475 euro monthly plus 59 or 380 euro for accommodation, none of which is the blocked-account minimum. So the gap is structural, not a collection failure — the amount lives only in an annual Bundesanzeiger announcement we cannot fetch, and we do not invent one. Checked once more on 3 September 2026 whether that announcement has a statutory base we could quote instead, and it does — but not for this permit. §2 Abs.3 Satz 5 ties the announced minimum amounts to the monthly Bedarf “der nach den §§ 13 und 13a Abs. 1 des Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetzes bestimmt wird”, and Satz 6 adds ten per cent on top of it. Both sentences name the permits they cover: Satz 5 covers §§16a–16c, 16e and 16f (study and training), Satz 6 covers §§16d, 16f Abs.1 language courses and §17. The Opportunity Card under §20a appears in neither list, so that BAföG-based denominator is not the basis for its blocked-account minimum. For §20a the requirement stays the general one in §2 Abs.3 Satz 1 — living costs covered without recourse to public funds — which fixes no amount at all. The blocked-account figure therefore remains not obtained, and we still do not quote one. Last reviewed: August 22, 2026. This calculator provides an estimate only and is not legal advice. Verify with the official Self-Check and consult the German embassy or a qualified adviser.