Visa
The German Ausbildung Visa (Section 16a)
The German Ausbildung visa is granted under Section 16a of the Residence Act. You need a concrete training place in Germany, German at B1 level, and proof you can support yourself — €1,048 gross or €822 net per month for company-based training, €959 net for school-based training (2026 figures). The permit lasts for the duration of your training, and you may work up to 20 hours a week alongside it.
On this page
What Section 16a is, and what it is not
Section 16a of the German Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) is the residence permit for vocational training. It is tied to a specific training place: your employer, your programme, your start date. It is not a permit to enter Germany and look around, and it is not a student visa.
The permit is granted for the duration of the vocational training programme in question. For a nursing Ausbildung that means three years, usually issued and renewed in steps by your local immigration office.
The four conditions
| Condition | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| A training place | A signed contract with a German employer for in-company training, or a place in school-based training. This comes first — everything else follows from it. How to find one → |
| German at B1 | B1 on the Common European Framework, unless the training institution has already assessed your language skills or you have completed a preparatory course. From a provider German authorities recognise. Note your nursing school may separately want B2. |
| Proof of funds | 2026: €1,048 gross or €822 net monthly for company-based training; €959 net monthly for school-based training. Your training salary usually counts towards this. |
| Recognised qualifications | Your school certificate assessed by the relevant German authority — frequently required by the school before the contract is finalised. How assessment works → |
Proof of funds in practice
This causes more confusion than any other condition, so to be precise about it: the requirement is that your living costs are covered, and your training salary counts towards covering them.
A first-year nursing trainee on the Caritas AVR 2026 scale earns €1,599.81 gross, comfortably above the €1,048 gross threshold. Where your salary does not cover it — a lower-paying employer, or school-based training with no salary at all — you make up the difference by other means.
Germany accepts blocked bank accounts, declarations of commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung) and scholarships as evidence:
- A blocked account (Sperrkonto) holds a fixed sum that releases to you monthly. You open it with a provider before the visa appointment.
- A Verpflichtungserklärung is a formal undertaking by someone resident in Germany to cover your costs, signed at their local foreigners’ authority. If you have a reliable relative or friend in Germany, this is often simpler and cheaper than a blocked account.
- A scholarship from a recognised body.
Embassies apply proof-of-funds differently, and some require a blocked account even where the salary appears sufficient. Email the German mission handling your application and ask what they require for a Section 16a nursing Ausbildung specifically. Keep their reply.
I keep an updated list of the exact documents each Bundesland asks for. It is in the community. Have a look →
The document list
Exact requirements vary by mission, so treat this as the set to prepare rather than a final checklist — your embassy’s own list is the one that counts.
- Valid passport, plus copies of the data pages
- Completed national visa application form and declaration
- Biometric photographs to German specification
- Signed training contract (Ausbildungsvertrag), or the provisional acceptance letter if the contract is finalised on arrival
- Confirmation of your training place from the nursing school
- German language certificate from a recognised provider
- School certificates, with certified German translations
- The certificate assessment or recognition decision
- Proof of funds: blocked account confirmation, Verpflichtungserklärung, or scholarship letter
- Proof of health insurance cover for the period before your German insurance starts
- Curriculum vitae in German
- Motivation letter
- Visa fee
Documents generally need certified translation into German, and depending on your country may need legalisation or an apostille. Find out which applies to your country early — legalisation chains can take weeks on their own.
The timeline, and the step that ruins it
People plan around the processing time and are ambushed by the appointment queue.
| Step | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Getting a visa appointment | Weeks to several months, depending entirely on the mission. This is usually the longest single wait. |
| Document preparation | 4–10 weeks including translations and any legalisation |
| Decision after the appointment | Commonly 4–12 weeks; varies by case and mission |
The practical consequence: check your embassy’s appointment availability before you agree a training start date with an employer. If the queue where you are is four months and the intake starts in three, you need a different intake, and it is far better to discover that in an email than in September.
After you arrive
- Register your address (Anmeldung) at the local registration office, usually within two weeks of moving in.
- Convert the visa into a residence permit at the Ausländerbehörde, your local immigration office.
- Complete the occupational health examination your employer requires for care work.
- Open a German bank account and give your employer the details plus your tax ID.
- Finalise the training contract if it was provisional, and start.
The permit is renewed during training rather than issued once for three years, so keep your documents in order and apply for extensions in good time. Missing a renewal deadline is a self-inflicted problem that is tedious to fix.
If you have no training place yet
There is a separate route: a visa to seek a training place, allowing up to nine months in Germany to find one. It has stricter conditions — you must be under 35, hold B1 German, and show €1,091 per month (2026) in funds.
It is a real option for someone young, funded and confident, and a poor one for someone hoping it will work out. Nine months in Germany with no income is expensive, and you can apply for training places from home for free.
Common questions
What German level do I need for the Ausbildung visa?
B1 is normally required for the visa, unless the training institution has already assessed your language skills or you have completed a preparatory course. Your nursing school may separately require B2, and the school’s requirement is the one that decides whether you get the contract the visa depends on.
How much money do I need to show for a German Ausbildung visa?
For 2026: €1,048 gross or €822 net per month for company-based training, and €959 net per month for school-based training. A typical nursing training salary exceeds these, but embassies apply the rule differently, so confirm with yours.
Can I work while doing an Ausbildung in Germany?
Yes, up to 20 hours a week, as long as the work is independent of your training programme. Nursing training is demanding shift work, so consider carefully whether to take on side work in the first year.
How long does the Ausbildung visa take?
Processing after your appointment is commonly four to twelve weeks, but the appointment queue itself is often the longer wait — weeks to several months depending on the mission. Check your embassy’s availability before agreeing a training start date.
Can I stay in Germany after I finish my training?
Yes. After successfully completing training you may stay to look for qualified employment: up to 12 months for care professions, extendable by a further six months.
An agent charges thousands. I charge $10 a month.
Inside the community you get the employer shortlist, the German-style CV and motivation letter templates, the self-review guide you use to check your own documents, the interview question bank and the visa document checklists. You do the applying. I show you exactly how.
Sources
- Make it in Germany — visa for vocational training (Section 16a, B1, proof of funds, 20-hour side work, job-seeking route, post-training stay)
- Caritas — Ausbildungsvergütung fact sheet, February 2026 (training salary against the funds threshold)
- Uniklinik Ulm academy — application and visa steps for applicants from abroad