Internship in Germany for Foreigners: Visa, Pathways and Rules

An internship in Germany is for many people the first real step into the German job market — and this is exactly where things get complicated fast if you don't hold an EU passport. Do you need a visa? Are you even allowed to work? For how long? And who actually decides? Official pages typically cover only one specific scenario and leave you wondering which one is actually yours.

This guide cuts through the confusion. We walk step by step through the two situations you can find yourself in as a non-EU national, and answer the questions that actually matter in practice: which residence title applies, how long your internship may last, whether you're entitled to minimum wage, and which authority you'll need to deal with.

Two pathways into your internship — and only one is yours

If you are a national of a non-EU/EEA country (legally: a third-country national), you fall into one of two situations when it comes to internships.

• Pathway 1 — you're coming from abroad for a study-related internship. This is the standard case. The legal basis is the study-related internship EU under § 16e AufenthG1§ 16e AufenthG — Studienbezogenes Praktikum EUBundesministerium der Justiz, which transposes EU Directive 2016/801 into German law.
• Pathway 2 — you already hold a German student residence title (§ 16b AufenthG). In this case your internship runs under your existing study permit, not under a new title.

EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals, by the way, don't need a residence title at all and may do an internship without any further restrictions.5Praktikanten aus dem AuslandMake-it-in-Germany (BMWK) For everyone else, it depends on which of the two pathways applies to you — and that's exactly what we'll look at in detail now.

Pathway 1: The study-related internship EU under § 16e AufenthG

The most common case is the study-related internship from abroad. It is aimed at students and recent graduates — and is clearly tied to your field of study. For the competent immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) to grant you a residence permit, several conditions must all be met.1§ 16e AufenthG — Studienbezogenes Praktikum EUBundesministerium der Justiz3Visum zur Absolvierung eines studienbezogenen Praktikums EUMake-it-in-Germany (BMWK)

• You are currently enrolled at a higher-education institution or completed your degree no more than two years ago.
• The internship must relate to your field of study — it needs to connect academically to your degree, not be an arbitrary activity.
• There is a written internship agreement with the host organisation, describing the programme, duration, working hours, supervision, and the legal relationship.
• The host organisation commits in writing to cover the costs of any unlawful residence and removal — and to do so for up to six months after the internship ends.

The good news: for this internship you do not need the Federal Employment Agency's (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) approval. It is explicitly exempt from approval requirements under § 15 of the Employment Ordinance (BeschV)2§ 15 BeschV — Praktika zu WeiterbildungszweckenBundesministerium der Justiz. Make-it-in-Germany puts it clearly: third-country nationals "may … be employed as interns for up to 6 months without the approval of the Federal Employment Agency".5Praktikanten aus dem AuslandMake-it-in-Germany (BMWK) This saves you an entire procedural step.

The visa route — and when you can skip it

How you enter Germany depends on your nationality. Most people apply for a national visa before they travel; some may go to the authority after entry.

If you require a visa, you apply at the German mission abroad in your home country for a national visa (D-Visum) "for completing a study-related internship EU" before you travel.3Visum zur Absolvierung eines studienbezogenen Praktikums EUMake-it-in-Germany (BMWK) You use this visa to enter and then obtain the residence permit from the local authority.

Which authority is responsible for you depends on where you live in Germany. Our free Authority Finder helps you find the immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) responsible for your area — saving you a search through nested city portals.

Pathway 2: Internship while already studying in Germany (§ 16b)

If you are already in Germany on a student residence permit under § 16b AufenthG, you do not need a new title for an internship. The key question here is only whether the internship counts towards your work allowance.4Sonstige Möglichkeiten — Arbeit für Zuwanderer aus DrittstaatenBAMF

• Voluntary internships count as regular employment and are deducted from the work allowance: 140 full days (or 280 half days) per year for students from non-EU/EEA countries.
• Mandatory internships (Pflichtpraktika) that are prescribed by your study or examination regulations are exempt from the 140-day limit — they do not use up your allowance.
• If you want to work beyond the 140 days, you need the approval of both the immigration authority and the employment agency.

Here's how the two pathways compare at a glance:

Do you get minimum wage? The four exemptions

Interns are fundamentally employees and are entitled to the statutory minimum wage — unless your internship falls under one of the four exemptions in § 22 of the Minimum Wage Act (MiLoG).6§ 22 MiLoG — Persönlicher Anwendungsbereich (Praktikanten)Bundesministerium der Justiz

The current minimum wage has been €13.90 gross per hour since January 1, 2026 and will rise to €14.60 on January 1, 2027.7Mindestlohn steigt zum 1. Januar 2026 auf 13,90 EuroBMAS The Minijob threshold in 2026 is €603 per month.

In practice, this means for you as a foreign intern: a voluntary internship lasting more than three months is generally subject to the minimum wage. This means fair pay — and it also helps you demonstrate that you can cover your living costs. For a mandatory internship, on the other hand, the pay can be below the minimum wage or absent entirely, which is why the host organisation's written cost-coverage commitment becomes especially important.

When the Federal Employment Agency does have a say (§ 15 BeschV)

§ 15 BeschV lists the individual internship categories. Most are exempt from approval — but two cases require Federal Employment Agency approval.2§ 15 BeschV — Praktika zu WeiterbildungszweckenBundesministerium der Justiz

Exempt from approval (no BA approval required) include, among others:

• the § 16e internship itself,
• a field-related internship during a school or university stay,
• internships within EU or bilateral development cooperation programmes,
• internships by scholarship holders with public German, EU, or international funding,
• internships by pupils of German schools abroad (up to 6 weeks) and foreign pupils with sufficient German language skills (up to 6 weeks).

Federal Employment Agency approval is required for:

• international exchange programmes (via associations or student organisations) of up to one year,
• foreign university students for a field-related internship of up to one year — here the immigration authority decides "in agreement with the Federal Employment Agency".

So if your internship doesn't fall under § 16e, but runs through an exchange programme or as a longer field-related internship, plan for the additional procedural step from the outset.

Which internship pathway fits you?

A quick two-step self-assessment. The result is informational and not legal advice — for a reliable assessment, use our free Visa Check, which shows you which residence title fits your internship.

What comes after the internship

A § 16e internship is capped at six months — so the interesting question is what happens next. The internship residence title is not a dead end; it's often the first link in a longer chain.

If you want to stay in Germany after the internship, the path typically runs through a change of purpose: from the internship permit to a study or qualified-employment title. How this change of residence purpose works and what to watch out for is covered in detail in our guide on changing your residence title purpose.

If you've completed your degree or are looking for a job after the internship, two further options come into consideration: the Chancenkarte as a points-based route for job searching, and — for qualified employment after graduation — the EU Blue Card. Both connect seamlessly to a successful internship.

And if you're still at the beginning and considering studying in Germany rather than doing an internship: our guide on how to find the right school in Germany is the right starting point for Pathway 2.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)