"With labor market permits, we are protecting standards on the German labor market for both German and foreign employees. By ensuring equal working conditions, we promote acceptance of skilled immigration. We decide on around 99 percent of applications within 14 days, provided that the application documents are complete. Even where additional documentation was required, we were able to obtain it in 82 percent of cases. When it comes to complex entry procedures, the Federal Agency is a fast and reliable player; we are not the bottleneck," says Vanessa Ahuja, Executive Director for International Business at the Federal Agency.

Three-quarters of permits for economic migration

In 2025, the Federal Agency issued a total of 521,000 labor market permits. That is a good 17 percent more than in the previous year; in 2024, the number of permits stood at 446,000. More than three out of four permits were for intended employment in the context of skilled worker immigration. Just under 24 percent of labor market permits went to potential employees with a refugee background. These are usually asylum seekers or persons with temporary residence permits.

In 2025, the Federal Agency had to reject around 134,000 applications because, for example, the legally prescribed working conditions were not met. The exhausted quota under the so-called Western Balkans Rule also meant that a large number of labor market permits could not be granted.

In which occupations do people from third countries want to work in?

The largest occupational group, with 78,000, is nursing staff with labor market permits. A good 70,000 permits were for professions in logistics, such as delivery or warehousing. Almost 45,000 are chefs in the wider sense, and a good 38,000 are service staff in the catering industry.

Definition and procedure for labor market permits 

In accordance with residence law, the immigration authorities issue work permits to foreign nationals from outside the European Union. To do this, they usually need a labor market permit from the Federal Employment Agency. A labor market permit does not necessarily mean that entry into Germany will actually follow. Furthermore, the statistics count applications rather than individuals. It should therefore be assumed that the number of applicants is lower than the number of applications. EU citizens do not need a work permit. The same applies to refugees whose application for asylum has been approved.

The Federal Employment Agency can only approve applications if the working conditions for foreign workers from third countries are not less favorable than the working conditions for domestic workers in a comparable job at the time of hiring.