At one point every international graduate has to ask whether his occupational future is in Germany or in his mother country. With the Migration Act coming into effect on January 1st in 2005, the prospects for international students that graduated in Germany have improved:
Getting professional experience in Germany
International students that graduated in Germany have the right to stay here up to one year after their graduation in order to find an employment suiting their qualification. If the student is successful, the Foreigner’s Registration Office together with the Federal Employment Agency decides whether a residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) is granted or not.
During this year after graduation the “90-full-day” and “180-half-day-work-arrangement” becomes effective, just like for regular German students.
Find out more at: www.zuwanderung.de
Going back
If the student decides to return to your home country the AGEF organization is in charge of the occupational affiliation in the student’s mother country and is run by skilled employees that were trained in Germany. Graduates can be supported financially during their search for and at the beginning of their employment ,over a certain period of time.
In this connection, the AGEF organizes information meetings and vocational seminars for people from developing and emerging countries. Right now the AGEF is doing a survey among German Universities in order to improve their strategies for counselling international graduates.
More information can be found at: www.agef.net
