General information

The Working Holiday Programme (Youth Mobility Agreement for Canada and Andorra) offers young people the opportunity to gain insight into culture and everyday life in Germany for a maximum of 12 months.

Citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan and New Zealand may apply for their residence permit with the local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) after arrival in Germany and without having obtained a visa prior to travelling to Germany.

Please note that you need to register your new residence (Anmeldung) with the authorities (Meldebehörde) within 2 weeks of having moved in and apply for your residence permit with the local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) within the first 90 days of stay in Germany. We strongly recommend contacting the local immigration office as soon as possible after your arrival in Germany in order to secure a timely appointment. Please also note that you may only take up employment once you have been issued a residence permit explicitly authorising working holiday employment. You may also choose to apply for a visa prior to travel, effectively permitting employment from the first day of visa validity.

Citizens of Andorra, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay require a visa prior to travel to Germany.

Korean nationals have to apply with the German Embassy in Seoul. Holders of Taiwan passports may only apply with the German Institute in Taipei. Holders of SAR Hong Kong and British National (Overseas) passports must apply with the German Consulate General in Hong Kong. Brazilian nationals may apply at any German mission in Brazil.

To be eligible for a Working Holiday Visa and apply at the German Embassy in Athens you must

• be a citizen either of Argentina, Australia, Chile, Israel, Japan, New Zealand or Uruguay,
• be at least 18 years of age but have not turned 31 yet when filing your application,

To be eligible for a Visa based on the Youth Mobility agreement with Canada or Andorra you must

• be a citizen of Canada or Andorra,
• be at least 18 years of age but have not turned 35 (31 for Andorra) yet when filing your application
  

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:

  To cover your living expenses in Germany for the first three months of your stay at least EUR 2,466 must be proven. 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 in your name for a minimum of three months showing that you hold a continuous and sustainable balance 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. Depending on your overall financial situation we may ask you to provide additional evidence.

• 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.