Hi,
I am an IT engineer. I am non-EU. I see some contract jobs in Germany that match my skill set. The roadblock is that the recruiters are unable or unwilling to sponsor. One reason is that mostly they want someone who can join immediately (which is not possible in my case because a work visa/permit takes time. But the bigger reason is that it is difficult to get the work visa/permit for contract jobs (even more difficult for short term contracts, and the jobs I am talking about are mostly 3 months or 3 monhts rolling). Can anyone tell me whether there are and what are the legitimate ways for me to be able to do contract jobs in Germany? For example, is it possible (and legitimate) for me to get a job offer of permanent employment from an umbrella company based out of Germany , based on which I can apply for a work visa for Germany, and after getting it, I start contracting there? Is it possible, legitimate and has anyone does this? Or, any other ideas?
Thanks

For umbrella company i would say contact Detlef, the owner of this forum. He will have some options for you. Other options are you could take some company in germany (company of Detlef for example) and do the work in your country (kind of outsourcing). LAter you can apply for workpermit or register a GmbH in germany and then VISA should not be an issue. pls note this is no legal advise.

@Savion: Thanks a lot for your reply mate. Few questions arise here. Could you kindly advice:
- So, do you think the umbrella kind of option is possible and legitimate? Have you seen anyone who has gone this route to enable themselves to work in Germany?
- Regarding GMBH, can I as a non-EU living outside EU register a GMBH in Germany? For this do I need to show access to some large amount of money? I think that after registering a GMBH I would become the employee of my GMBH. Then, would I be allowed to do IT contract jobs in Germany?
Many thanks for your kind advice.

my advise is to have a intermediary company in Germany who would outsource to your country. Once you have 25K euros you can register your own company. But you need to be careful which company you are taking as trusted company.

Now whether you as non EU can register a GmbH, why not? i am non EU from India. My case was little different as i already had a NE visa. You need to check with a german consulate in your country.

@Savion: Thanks again for the reply. But why do you suggest the outsourcing option? Is it so that I would be able to collect 25k euroes? Supposing I already have this amount, then can I directly apply for GMBH, and skip the outsorcing/intermidiary option?
Also please tell me, do I need only 25k Euroes for registering GMBH? And would registering GMBH enable me to live in Germany and do contract jobs there?
Many thanks again

to register a new GmbH keep another max 5k, as it depends on which notary you will go.

IF you can register a GmbH directly please contact the german consulate in your country. You case seems to be a special one.

Hi Worker, hi Savion,

I followed this thread and I guess I should give my 5 cents now ;-)

@Savion

Thanks for recommending me!

@ Worker
There are not as many umbrella companies in Germany as in UK. The situation here is different from UK, very strict rules for protecting employees afm.

Nevertheless, depending on the profile and the expert I do offer umbrella services insome cases. If you are interested you can send me your profile. In case we come to an agreement, I would employ you with my company netWalk IS ( http://www.netwalk-is.com/ ).

This is 100 % legal.

Regarding the GmbH. Savion is right, everybody from any nation can found a GmbH in Germany. But to be the owner/shareholder of a GmbH does not give you the right to work in Germany!!

You would still need a work permit or you apply for a selfdependent visa, which is even more complecated than the work permit. §21 Zuwanderungsgesetz (Immigration law) has many points, one is that you should invest 250.000,- € !!

For foreign companies it is much easier to set up a dependent or independent branch of their excisting foreign company.

If anybody is interested in this field here is a link to one of my websites... http://www.gt77.com/index_e.html

Good luck
Detlef

@Trust7: Thanks a lot for your kind reply. Referring to your following paragraph, I have few questions:
“You would still need a work permit or you apply for a selfdependent visa, which is even more complecated than the work permit. §21 Zuwanderungsgesetz (Immigration law) has many points, one is that you should invest 250.000,- € !!”
- Just to confirm, you meant that the 250k investment requirement applies to the self dependent visa option, but such investment is not required if I choose the work permit option, right?
- And I understand from what you mentioned, that after founding a GMBH, I can become the employee of my own GMBH and apply for a work permit. Two questions here:
1.) I believe that the work permit eligibility criteria would require me to show job offer with a salary of atleast x Euroes per year.. in that case, can it work like this: I deposit x or more Euroes in my GMBH to be able to pay myself the minimum required salary even if I don’t manage to find contract jobs?
2.) Supposing I succeed in GMBH formation and in getting a work permit as employee of my own GMBH, then am I allowed to perform contract jobs in Germany? In other words, does Germany allow this kind of thing or do they consider this as disguised employment given the possibility that if it were not for my GMBH then I could be considered as a direct employee of the final client for whom I would perform the job?
Thanks a lot again

Hi Worker,

250.000,- € are 250k €.

A workpermit does not allow to work as a freelancer/contractor.

And there are plenty reasons NOT to do what you are thinking of, but I will not answer this here.

By
Detlef

But once you get an NE, you can be a freelancer / contractor ? Thanks.

---
Detlef said:

A workpermit does not allow to work as a freelancer/contractor.

@Detlef: Sorry but if a work permit does not allow me to do contracting then why did you suggest me that idea? Can you suggest me whether it can work in the following way:
I set-up a GMBH in Germany and become its employee and get a work permit. My GMBH would be the supplier of consultancy services to IT companies. So, for a contract job for an IT company, there will be contract between my GMBH and that IT company (client), and my GMBH will send its employees (for example, me) to the client to perform the job. In other words, I will be a permanent employee of my GMBH, and my GMBH will do contracting for client IT companies. Is it not possible and legitimate this way?

I wrote freelancer/contractor, which means that you can not work as a freelancer or selfdependent with a normal work permit, but sure, any GmbH or any other company can get projects and send their employees to the client.

So if you would run your own GmbH you could be employed by this company, but this is absolutely nonsens. Sorry, but if you would know anything about German tax system, social contributions and other regulations, you would never think about this.

By
Detlef

@worker

My advise, dont play around with German Labour Laws. You could be in for greatest trouble and no possibility to enter germany for ever.

Just take a umbrella company make a contract that your clients would be yours, work for 2 yrs and then plan your GmbH

You can trust Detlef on it. i know him personally and he is honest.

@detlef, i dont expect anything for this, but i know you personally hence i could speak for you.