For German employers
Do you have to prove no EU candidate exists? (Vorrangprüfung)
This is the single most confused point in German skilled-worker hiring. The short answer: for a qualified skilled-worker hire you do not have to advertise the role to EU workers first, and you do not have to prove that no EU candidate exists.
Read in Deutsch. For German companies hiring a non-EU skilled worker.
In short
For qualified skilled workers the Vorrangprüfung (labour-market priority check) was abolished with the Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz, in force since 1 March 2020. For an EU Blue Card or a recognised-qualification hire you do not have to prove no EU candidate exists. The Federal Employment Agency, where its approval is required, still checks only that pay and conditions are comparable to those of domestic employees (Vergleichbarkeitsprüfung, § 39(2) and § 39(3) AufenthG).
At a glance
- Priority check (Vorrangprüfung)
- Abolished for skilled workers since 1 March 2020
- Prove no EU candidate?
- No, not for a qualified skilled-worker hire
- EU Blue Card
- No priority check at any salary band
- Still required
- Pay parity with comparable domestic employees
- Who checks pay parity
- Bundesagentur für Arbeit, where approval is required
- Statute
- § 39(2), § 39(3) AufenthG
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The change that most pages still get wrong
If you have read that a German employer must first advertise a role to EU workers and prove that none is available before hiring from a third country, that information is out of date for skilled workers. The Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz abolished the labour-market priority check (Vorrangprüfung) for qualified skilled-worker employment. The law came into force on 1 March 2020. You do not run a recruitment search, you do not document that no EU candidate applied, and you do not wait for a clearance period before you can hire.
The confusion has a clear cause. Older guidance, and a lot of relocation-agency content that copies it, still carries the pre-2020 framing. It also blurs two checks that are not the same thing. One was abolished. The other still exists and is easy to satisfy.
The two checks, kept apart
The single fix for the confusion is to separate the priority check from the pay-parity check. They answer different questions.
| Abolished: Vorrangprüfung | Still required: Vergleichbarkeit | |
|---|---|---|
| What it asks | Is a German or EU worker available for this role? | Is the foreign worker paid and treated like a comparable domestic worker? |
| The question for you | None. You do not have to test the market. | Match pay and conditions to a comparable German employee. |
| Applies to skilled workers | No, abolished since 1 March 2020 | Yes, where Federal Employment Agency approval is required |
| Statute | § 39(3) Nr. 3 AufenthG (only where the Beschäftigungsverordnung provides for it) | § 39(2) and § 39(3) AufenthG |
| Who runs it | Nobody, for a skilled-worker hire | Bundesagentur für Arbeit, inside the visa process |
The pay-parity check has a precise statutory basis. Where the Federal Employment Agency approval is required, § 39(2) and § 39(3) AufenthG let it approve the employment only if the foreign worker is not employed on less favourable terms than comparable domestic employees(„nicht zu ungünstigeren Arbeitsbedingungen als vergleichbare inländische Arbeitnehmer“). That covers salary and working conditions. It is not a test of whether someone else could have done the job.
The EU Blue Card case
For an EU Blue Card the position is even simpler. There is no priority check at any salary band. Above the general 2026 threshold of €50,700 the Federal Employment Agency approval is not required at all. In the reduced band for shortage occupations and new entrants, where the threshold is €45,934.20, the approval is required but is granted routinely, and it still involves no priority check, only the pay-parity check. Software and ICT roles sit in that shortage band.
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Submit a hiring brief →So why does the Federal Employment Agency appear at all?
Its role is narrow. For a hire that needs its approval (the Zustimmung), it confirms two things: that the pay and conditions are comparable to a domestic employee’s, and that the contract and role match the residence title being issued. There is no step where it asks whether an EU worker could have taken the job. The check it runs is a floor on terms, not a gate on hiring.
Honest note on residual categories. A priority check still exists in German law, but only where the Beschäftigungsverordnung or a statute expressly provides for it (§ 39(3) Nr. 3 AufenthG). For qualified skilled-worker employment it no longer does. It can still apply to some non-skilled-worker categories, for example access to vocational training. Separately, temporary-agency work (Leiharbeit) is generally excluded from approval under § 40(1) Nr. 2 AufenthG rather than being subject to a priority check. If your case sits near one of these edges, confirm it with the Federal Employment Agency for the specific role before you plan around it. We do not over-state a clean exception here.
If you have hired in the UK or US before
The pre-2020 framing maps onto a system you may know. The UK resident labour market test, retired for most routes there too, and the US recruitment steps behind some employment categories both ask the question Germany dropped: could a local worker have filled this role? For a qualified skilled-worker hire in Germany there is no equivalent step. You do not advertise to clear the market, and there is no register or sponsor licence to hold first. The relief here is real, and it is the part US- and UK-experienced HR teams most often do not believe at first.
What this means for a first international hire
For Mittelstand HR doing this for the first time, the practical takeaway is short. You do not need a documented recruitment search, a job-board paper trail aimed at EU workers, or a waiting period to prove the market was tested. You need a compliant contract at the right salary level, with pay and conditions matching a comparable domestic employee. The rest of the labour-market question that older guides describe no longer applies to your hire. For the full set of employer duties see what a German employer must actually do, and to compress the timeline see the accelerated skilled-worker procedure.
When you still want a lawyer, and how we help
Most skilled-worker hires need no priority-check work at all, so a lawyer is optional. Bring one in when the pay-parity question is genuinely uncertain, for example with an unusual contract structure or a role that sits near a residual category named above, or when you want someone to manage the Federal Employment Agency and the foreigners authority end to end. We connect you with vetted immigration lawyers for exactly this, and the candidates we send already have their Blue Card or Chancenkarte eligibility checked, so the process starts from a clean base.
Start with a candidate, not paperwork
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Frequently asked questions
Do I have to prove no EU candidate is available before hiring a skilled worker?
No. For qualified skilled workers the labour-market priority check (Vorrangprüfung) was abolished with the Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz, in force since 1 March 2020. For an EU Blue Card or a recognised-qualification hire you do not have to advertise the role to EU workers first or prove that no EU candidate exists.
Then what does the Federal Employment Agency actually check?
Where its approval (Zustimmung) is required, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit checks that the foreign worker is not employed on less favourable terms than comparable domestic employees. Under § 39(2) and § 39(3) AufenthG that means the pay and working conditions must be comparable to those of a German employee in the same role. This pay-parity check (Vergleichbarkeitsprüfung) is separate from the abolished priority check.
Is this the same as a US labour condition application or a UK resident labour market test?
No. There is no resident-labour-market-test step for a qualified skilled-worker hire in Germany. You do not run a recruitment search to show no settled or EU worker could fill the role. The only labour-market condition that remains is pay parity with comparable domestic employees.
Does an EU Blue Card hire need the priority check?
No. The EU Blue Card has no priority check. Above the general salary threshold the Federal Employment Agency approval is not even required; in the reduced (shortage / new-entrant) band approval is required but is granted routinely and still involves no priority check, only the pay-parity check.
Are there any cases where a priority check still applies?
A priority check survives only where the Beschäftigungsverordnung or a statute expressly provides for it (§ 39(3) Nr. 3 AufenthG). For qualified skilled-worker employment it no longer does. It still applies to some non-skilled-worker categories, such as access to vocational training. For a specific borderline case, confirm with the Federal Employment Agency.
Where does the confusion come from?
Many public pages still carry pre-2020 framing that implies a labour-market test applies to every foreign hire. They also blur two different checks: the priority check (Vorrangprüfung, abolished for skilled workers) and the pay-parity check (Vergleichbarkeitsprüfung, still required where BA approval is needed). The two are separate.
Sources
All factual claims on this page are sourced from German government publications only:
- § 39 AufenthG: Zustimmung zur Beschäftigung (pay-parity and priority-check conditions), Bundesministerium der Justiz
- § 40 AufenthG: grounds for refusing approval (incl. Leiharbeit), Bundesministerium der Justiz
- The Skilled Immigration Act, Make it in Germany, Federal Government
- Umsetzung des Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetzes (in force 1 March 2020), Auswärtiges Amt
- § 18g AufenthG: EU Blue Card salary thresholds, Bundesministerium der Justiz
We are not a law firm. This page provides general information only, not legal advice. German immigration law and the Beschäftigungsverordnung change, and practice varies between foreigners authorities. Always verify current rules with the relevant Bundesagentur für Arbeit office and Ausländerbehörde before acting.
Last reviewed: 3 June 2026. Sources: gesetze-im-internet.de (§ 39, § 40, § 18g AufenthG), Make it in Germany, Auswärtiges Amt.