In many industries, employers face significant difficulties finding qualified personnel. New legal regulations offer an escape from this structural dilemma. The accelerated skilled-worker process makes hiring foreign professionals simpler than ever. International recruitment becomes a true option for successful future staffing.
Why this process is important for employers
So far, excessive requirements and overly long processing times have made international recruitment of personnel unattractive. All these issues are now a thing of the past thanks to the accelerated skilled-worker process. It significantly lowers the requirements for hiring foreign employees and promises binding decisions within just a few weeks.
Once employers and skilled workers reach an agreement, the employer initiates the process with the responsible immigration authority and coordinates all necessary documents, translations, and appointments with them.
Of course, this work can also be delegated to third parties, making the process even more attractive for employers. In such a case, one signature from the employer is sufficient for the entire process. Delegating to experts is also recommended because incomplete or incorrect application documents are the main cause of delays and rejections.
Visa within just three months
If the process is carried out correctly by the employer, only three months may pass from application submission to the granting of the work-start permit, according to legally set deadlines. This makes the process significantly shorter than the average vacancy duration for open positions in many sectors.
A major content change compared to before is that no elaborate priority check is required anymore. This means that employers no longer have to provide the (challenging) proof that no domestic skilled worker is available for the open position in the German labor market.
Thus, the focus is solely on the professional qualifications of the candidates. And employers once again have full freedom of choice among all applicants.
Manageable and predictable costs
Another advantage is that the law sets transparent fee rates for processing and reviewing documents. These are reasonable and prevent unexpected additional costs during recruitment.
A processing fee of €411 is charged by the responsible immigration authority for conducting the accelerated skilled-worker process.
94% positive recognition rate
94% of applications are approved positively by the responsible immigration authorities. This allows for reliable planning for employers. In 2025, 44,000 decisions were issued, permitting foreign skilled workers to start their employment in their new companies.
Central to the authorities' decision is the so-called equivalence assessment. The immigration authority checks whether the foreign professional qualification, such as the university degree or vocational training, is comparable to its German counterpart.
The authority may determine either full or partial equivalence. Full equivalence equates the foreign professional with a German employee and certifies compliance with domestic training content. Partial equivalence identifies the areas requiring additional qualifications to achieve full equivalence. These can usually be obtained alongside employment after the skilled worker has already started the new position.