Changing jobs or losing your job with a work permit or EU Blue Card
Your residence permit depends on your job? What to report to the Ausländerbehörde and by when, when a change needs permission, and how long you may look for work.
Last checked: November 10, 2026
First: read your permit
Most residence permits for work are given for one specific job. What you may do is written on the card and on the extra sheet (Zusatzblatt) that belongs to it. Read it before you sign a new contract or resign.
Changing employer with an EU Blue Card
- In the first 12 months of work with the Blue Card you need no permission, but you must tell the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office) about every change of employer. The office can stop the change for 30 days and refuse it in that time.
- After 12 months you need no permission and do not have to report the change. The new job should still meet the Blue Card conditions, such as the minimum salary: the office checks them at the latest when you extend.
Changing employer with another work permit
- If your permit names your employer or your job, other work is forbidden until the office allows it. Apply for the change first, and start the new job only when you have the permission.
- Often the office has to ask the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) to agree. This is no longer needed after two years of lawful employment with social insurance in Germany, or after three years of living here without a break.
- Even then, what is written on your permit still counts. Offices handle this differently: ask yours to change the entry, or to confirm in writing that you may change.
- A second job or self-employment on the side also needs permission, unless your permit already allows it.
If you lose your job or resign
- Tell the Ausländerbehörde within two weeks of learning that the job ends early. If you do not, a fine of up to 1,000 euros is possible.
- Register as looking for work with the Agentur für Arbeit: at least three months before the job ends, or within three days of learning the end date if there is less time. Registering late costs one week of unemployment benefit.
- The office can shorten your permit, because its reason is gone. Since 29 July 2026 a new rule applies: if you reported the end of the job, at least six months from that day must remain for you to find new work, but not longer than your permit was valid anyway.
- Unemployment benefit from your own contributions (Arbeitslosengeld) does not harm your residence status. Grundsicherungsgeld (called Bürgergeld until June 2026) is different: get advice before you apply for it.
Where people get stuck
- Starting the new job before the office has allowed it.
- A new salary below the Blue Card minimum.
- Signing a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag) without knowing what it means for the permit and for unemployment benefit.
- Thinking the employer reports the end of the job for you. The employer has its own duty to report; yours stays.
How a lawyer in Germany helps
A lawyer can read your permit and the new contract before you sign, make the application for the change, write the report to the office in time, and act if the office shortens your permit or refuses the change. A lawyer for employment law can check a dismissal or a termination agreement: the time limit for going to court against a dismissal is short.
Questions people ask
Can I start the new job right away?
With a valid EU Blue Card, yes. In the first 12 months you must report the change, and the office can stop it for 30 days. With a permit that names your employer, only after the office has allowed the change.
How long may I stay in Germany after losing my job?
Your permit does not end on the last day of work. If you reported the end of the job, at least six months must remain to look for work, unless the permit ends earlier anyway. If you need more time, the Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte) for job search can be an option.
Does my employer tell the office for me?
The employer has its own duty to report, with its own time limit. It does not replace yours: report it yourself within two weeks.
Official information
General information, not legal advice. Rules change and every case is different: a lawyer checks yours.