Do you qualify?

The Chancenkarte lets you move to Germany without a job offer and search for ML/AI engineering 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 Master LMD in AI or Data Science meets the base eligibility at ISCED 7. A 3-year Licence LMD in Informatique or Mathématiques at ISCED 6 also qualifies as the base, though most ML roles in Germany expect master-level training in practice. OFPPT diplomas do not meet the threshold.

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Which route applies to you?

Your situation	Route
Diplôme d'Ingénieur (ENSIAS 2IA, INPT Data & IA, ENSA Kénitra), programme listed in anabin	Route 1: no points needed
Diplôme d'Ingénieur or Master LMD in AI, programme not individually listed	Route 2: 6 points required
UM6P MSc Data Modeling & Science or AI programme	Route 2: ZAB Zeugnisbewertung strongly recommended first
Private institution Masters (Mundiapolis, MegaCampus)	Route 2: ZAB required
OFPPT diploma	Not eligible

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Route 2: points table

Criterion	Points	Notes
Partial equivalence (ZAB decision)	4
Shortage occupation (ML/AI engineering, ISCO-08 group 25 or 21)	1
At least 2 years qualifying experience in last 5 years	2	Production ML/AI, not only research
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 and Arabic do 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: Rim Tahiri, 27, ML engineer, ENSIAS 2IA filière (programme not individually listed), 3 years production ML experience (PyTorch, MLflow, SageMaker), TOEFL iBT 92 (C1), no German: 1 (shortage) + 2 (experience) + 2 (under 35) + 1 (English) = 6 points ✓

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Financial requirement: the Sperrkonto

€13,092 in a blocked Sperrkonto before your appointment. Providers: Fintiba, Coracle, Expatrio. Open at least 4 weeks before your appointment.

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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

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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 (mandatory for UM6P and private institutions)
• Language certificate
• Experience letters (frameworks: PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, MLflow, Kubeflow; production model deployment, monitoring, system architecture) and payslips
• Sperrkonto certificate (€13,092)
• Travel health insurance

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Which German mission handles your application

Embassy Rabat and Consulate General Casablanca. Jurisdiction follows your registered address. Book via digital.diplo.de.

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Common mistakes

Applying with an UM6P degree without a ZAB assessment. UM6P's private status makes its anabin entry uncertain. A ZAB Zeugnisbewertung provides the written German classification you need before deciding which route applies.

Submitting experience letters describing only model experiments. Jupyter notebooks, Kaggle competitions, and academic papers are research evidence. Experience letters for § 20a purposes must show production deployment, monitoring, and engineering design ownership.

No English certificate despite being English-proficient. Most Moroccan engineers speak English at B2+ level but hold no certificate. An IELTS or TOEFL is typically 1 additional point — often the difference between 5 and 6.

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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

• Chancenkarte for Moroccan applicants
• EU Blue Card for Moroccan ML engineers