General information

The Working Holiday Programme offers young people the opportunity to gain insight into culture and everyday life in Germany for a maximum of 12 months.

The Working Holiday Programme is available in different forms for young people from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Israel, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and Uruguay. To be eligible for a Working Holiday Visa you must be at least 18 years of age but have not turned 31 yet when filing your application (Youth Mobility agreement with Canada - 35 years).

Nationals from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Israel can travel to Germany without a national visa and apply for the necessary residence permit at the responsible immigration authorities („Ausländerbehörde“). You may only take up employment once you have been issued a residence permit explicitly authorizing working holiday employment.

If you do not have one of the nationalities mentioned, you must apply for a Working Holiday Visa before entering Germany.

Korean nationals can only apply for a visa at the German Embassy in Seoul. Taiwanese nationals can only apply for a visa at the German Institute Taipei. Anyone resident in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region can only apply for a visa at the German Consulate General in Hong Kong. Brazilian nationals can only apply for a visa at a German diplomatic mission in Brazil. Argentinian, Chilean and Uruguayan nationals can apply for the required visa at any German mission abroad.

Appointments in Athens

You can book an appointment here.

Please note that the appointments offered on this system are the earliest appointments possible. Appointments cannot be booked or changed by e-mail or phone. As demand is high, you may have to wait for an appointment. New appointments will be made available for booking at regular intervals.

Please only book an appointment, once you are sure that you will travel to Athens. If you cannot attend your appointment, please cancel it as soon as possible. Persons who do not show up without cancelling well in advance will be blocked from making new appointments in Athens.

If you do not speak German, English or Greek, you are kindly requested to bring an interpreter with you. The interview cannot be held in Spanish.

Application

Please prepare the following application documents (do not staple any papers!):

• One complete and signed printout of your online visa application form (including the Barcode):VIDEX
• Two fully biometric passport photos, not older than three months: photo template
• Original valid passport and one copy of the data page and all the pages with stamps or visas. The passport needs to have at least two subsequent blank pages and must be valid for at least 3 months beyond the validity of the visa applied for
• Application fee of 75 Euro
• Curriculum Vitae in German or English
• Individual motivation letter (not copied from the internet!)
• Proof of first accommodation in Germany (for private stays additional requirement: registration certificate („Meldebescheinigung“) + passport copy from your host
• Current (not older than six months) certificate of good conduct issued by your home country

• Proof of sufficient financial means:

  For the first three months of your stay, at least EUR 1,200 + costs for accomodation must be proven when you apply. In addition, you should have a return ticket to your home country or proof of sufficient financial means of EUR 1,000. Evidence is: recent bank statements for an account in your name from the last three months OR a blocked account with the stated amount OR a formal obligation („Verpflichtungserklärung“) by a sponsor resident in Germany in which he/she agrees to bear the costs of your living expenses.

• Proof of health insurance according to EU regulations (minimum 30.000€) for the entire stay including coverage of return flight in case of sickness or death

Please note that your application can only be processed if your documents are complete on the day of application. In individual cases, the submission of further documents may be required.