Do you qualify?
The Chancenkarte lets you move to Germany without a job offer and search for DevOps roles for up to 12 months. You need a qualifying degree (ISCED 6 or higher) and — if not fully recognised — at least 6 points.
A Diplôme d'Ingénieur d'État (5 years) or a 3-year Licence LMD in Informatique, Réseaux, or Systèmes meets the base eligibility. OFPPT Technicien Spécialisé does not.
Which route applies to you?
| Your situation | Route |
|---|---|
| Diplôme d'Ingénieur, programme listed in anabin | Route 1: no points needed |
| Diplôme d'Ingénieur or Licence LMD, programme unlisted | Route 2: 6 points required |
| OFPPT diploma | Not eligible |
Route 2: points table
| Criterion | Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Partial equivalence (ZAB decision) | 4 | |
| Shortage occupation (DevOps, ISCO-08 group 25) | 1 | |
| At least 2 years qualifying experience in last 5 years | 2 | |
| At least 5 years qualifying experience in last 7 years | 3 | Replaces 2-year tier |
| German A2 / B1 / B2+ | 1 / 2 / 3 | |
| English at B2 or higher (certificate required) | 1 | French does not award points |
| Age under 35 | 2 | |
| Age 35–39 | 1 | |
| Prior lawful German residence ≥ 6 months in last 5 years | 1 | |
| Spouse applies jointly | 1 |
Worked example: Issam Elboukhsimi, 28, DevOps engineer, INPT Ingénieur (programme not individually listed in anabin), 4 years CI/CD and Kubernetes experience, IELTS 7.0 (C1), no German: 1 (shortage) + 2 (experience) + 2 (under 35) + 1 (English) = 6 points ✓
Financial requirement: the Sperrkonto
€13,092 in a blocked Sperrkonto before your appointment. Open at least 4 weeks early (Fintiba, Coracle, Expatrio).
What you can do on the Opportunity Card
- Part-time work: up to 20 hours per week on average
- Trial employment: up to 2 weeks per employer
- Freelancing: not permitted
Document checklist
- Passport (at least 2 empty pages)
- Degree certificate with Moroccan MFA apostille
- Academic transcript with Moroccan MFA apostille
- anabin printout or ZAB Statement of Comparability
- Language certificate (IELTS/TOEFL/Cambridge or Goethe-Institut/telc/ÖSD)
- Experience letters (CI/CD tools, IaC: Terraform/Ansible/Pulumi, Kubernetes, architecture decisions, seniority) and payslips
- Sperrkonto certificate (€13,092)
- Travel health insurance
Certifications (CKA, Terraform Associate, AWS DevOps Pro) are supporting evidence only — they do not substitute for the degree or contribute to the points total.
Which German mission handles your application
Embassy Rabat and Consulate General Casablanca both handle employment visas. Jurisdiction follows your registered address. Book via digital.diplo.de.
Common mistakes
French proficiency counted toward the language point. French is not in the Chancenkarte table. English B2+ or German A2+ certificates are the only language points available.
Submitting experience letters focused on monitoring and incident response. For qualifying experience, letters must show engineering design scope: IaC authorship, CI/CD pipeline design, platform architecture decisions.
Opening the Sperrkonto too late. Providers take 1–2 weeks. You need the certificate before your appointment slot.
Sources
- § 20a AufenthG, Bundesministerium der Justiz
- Opportunity Card: Make it in Germany
- anabin database, KMK / ZAB
Not legal advice. Verify requirements with the relevant German mission before applying.
See also
Request a lawyer consultation
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