Hello trust7 family!

After hearing about the blue card, I've been spending the last couple of hours searching the net and this forum for specific information without finding answers.

The situation is as follows:
I'm German and have been living in Australia with my girlfriend (American) for the last year.
She's did her Master's degree in video game design in Copenhagen (hasn't worked much in that specific field though).
I'm about to go back to Germany and she will come with me.
The blue card seems interesting, I read that she would have up to 6 months to find a job.
The question is - where does she need to apply? Can she come in on a tourist visa (3 months, Schengen agreement) and apply for a blue card in Germany?
Also, I'm confused about the wording. I'm reading about minimum salaries etc - which means:
1. you have a job in Germany
2. you apply for the BC
--> now that opposes the "6 months to find work"

Another uncertainty:
She might look into doing another Master's degree or PhD in Germany. Are studies possible on the Blue Card? Or is it possible go to a study visa from the BC (preferably without flying to the States and back)?

If anybody can shed some light on the matter I would greatly appreciate it.
I'm really not lazy when it comes to finding info that is scattered around the net, but this time I have been very clueless...

Thank you very much!

Hi Stee,

your girlfriend is an US Citizen? So she has some advantages compared with citizens of other nations:

Staatsangehörige Australiens, Israels, Japans, Kanadas, Neuseelands, der Republik Korea und der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika können darüber hinaus einen erforderlichen Aufenthaltstitel auch nach der Einreise einholen. Für alle anderen Staatsangehörigen gilt: Das Visum für einen längerfristigen Aufenthalt muss grundsätzlich vor der Einreise bei der zuständigen Auslandsvertretung beantragt werden.

So she can come on a tourist visa and then she can decide if she applies for a study visa or a work permit (Blue Card).Good luckDetlef

Hi Detlef,

thank you very much for your speedy response!
This is great news since we're not 100% sure of our plans yet.
I'm still wondering about the Blue Card though:
 - will this work permit (the card) only be granted if she's got an employer (contract) already or can she apply on her own (on the base of her education) and has those 6 months to find work?

Thanks

You are welcome!

The Blue Card is only given if one has an employment contract already. 

The so called 'Job Search Visa' for 6 month is given, if one fulfills the repuirements for highly qualified persons with a degree and/or 5 years of specific experiences. 

Ciao
Detlef

Thank you very much!
I didn't expect to have all my questions answered so quickly, I really appreciate that!

I think we'll definitely get her in on a tourist visa first and see how we go.
I've been trying to find a list of qualifications that will fullfill the requirements. Whenever I've been doing searches for "job seeker visa germany" or "job search visa germany", I ended up on websites of Indian agencies. "Visa fuer Arbeitssuchende" returned information about people who studied in Germany and information on the situation in Austria.
Is there a list of the qualifications? Or an information page from the Auslaenderbehoerde?

Hi again,

this link is also available on our website, in the 'Medicine' section ;-

http://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/de/

This should help.

Good luck and 'Happy Easter'!

Detlef

Thank you!

I haven't found what I was looking for on those pages yet, but I'll keep on searching.
I noticed that the first two links on your medicine page are broken, it seems like they changed their website ;)

Ha, happy easter to you too. To be honest, I completely forgot about that. I'm enjoying the last few days of beautiful weather in Australia.

Hello Detlef,

Thank for posting so much useful information. I am a US citizen with a German work contract in Bremen for >65k Euro per year. I am trying to get a blue card but the local immigration seems to be locked into my having a college degree but all I have is vocational experience. I have seen posted many places that equivalent work experience (I have 23 year in my specialized offshore engineering field) is also sufficient. Do you happen to know where this might be documented? I would like to print this out for the Ausländerbehörde to help with the process. Thank you for any assistance you might be able to provide.
 
Kind regards,
Juan

Hi Juan,

here is the link to law in German:

http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg_2004/__19a.html

Your point is clearly stated in (1) 1. b

It seems that they do not like you or the officer in charge was in a bad mood. Ask for the team leader or hire a lawyer!

Good luck

Detlef