I will be in Germany for a 3 months internship under a national D Visa Stipendium/Public interest, what are the different possible paths that I can take to change my status to a residence permit? (Job contract, job seeking, diploma recognition -I'm a doctor- or Ausbildung)
Is it possible to apply for the Opportunity card (Chancenkarte) directly from Germany since I will be already there?
Moderation
Hi faresalaeddine ,
welcome to the forum and thank you for your question.
By 'national D Visa for Stipendium/Public interest', do you mean the visa for research (section §18d of Residence Act) or for study-related internship (section §16e)? Let me know which type of visa you have, as the possibility of switching to a different residence permit depends on the type of the initial visa/residence permit.
In any case, you should get your residence permit that matches the national D visa after entering Germany. You can do this at a local immigration office of the place you'll be registered. Once you obtain this initial residence permit, you might be able to apply for different permits, like the job-seeking permit (section §20), opportunity card (section §20a), vocational training (§16a) for example. It depends, again, on the type of residence permit you initially held.
In any case, you would need to prove sufficient finances and get your degree recognised. Doctor is a so-called 'regulated' profession in Germany, additional recognition process is required. You can read up more on this here: https://handbookgermany.de/en/recognition#faq_17
I will share more links about the different options of residence permit and the requirements.
job-seeking permit: https://handbookgermany.de/en/visa-jobseekers
opportunity card: https://handbookgermany.de/en/opportunity-card
vocational training: https://handbookgermany.de/en/vocational-training-visa
I hope this was helpful and let me know if you have more questions.
Best wishes
Seoyoung
Hello seoyoung _community management support
Thank you for your responsiveness. As for my national D Visa type, only (Stipendium/Offentliches Interesse) is mentioned on the supplementary sheet with the visa, not mention to the section type. Knowing that this is a fellowship sponsored (Fully funded) by a German governmental agency (A sort of exchange program)
faresalaeddine
It sounds like you might be on the visa for study-related internship: https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/visa-residence/types/other/internship
In this case, it is theoretically possible to apply for residence permit for job-search (§20), opportunity card (§20a), process of recognization (§16d), vocational training (§16a) or search for vocational training or studies (§17). In all cases, you need to prove sufficient finances. Even though one is allowed to work on side (allowed amount of working hours depend on the permit), it can be hard to prove the sufficient finance for the initial application, as it is hard to find a job before getting a long-term permit. Otherwise the specific requirements vary depending on the type of permit.
Also, it might be a bit tight time-wise, as your visa is tied to the internship program which is 3 months long, and you will need to first change your visa into the according residence permit, and then apply for a different permit. The application process can take up few months as most immigration offices in Germany are overloaded with cases. We are an informational site and cannot give you a definite, legal advice. Maybe it can help to reach out to a migration counselling center once you are in Germany and go over different possibilities with them. You can search for one near the place you'll be staying in Germany. If you are up to 27 years old, you can choose a youth migration center (JMD). You can type in the address or town in the search: https://bamf-navi.bamf.de/en/Themen/Migrationsberatung/
Lastly, if you want to learn more about the possibility of working as a doctor in Germany with training from outside of Germany, this site might be helpful: https://www.bundesaerztekammer.de/en/work-and-training-in-germany
If you need help with searching for a counselling center, you can also tell me the postal code or town you'll be in. I can search for you then.
I hope this was helpful and let us know if you have further questions.
Best wishes
Seoyoung