Finishing an Ausbildung is a milestone, but it is also the point where the practical questions start: will your training company keep you on, what happens to your visa if they don’t, and how does a training placement eventually turn into the right to stay in Germany long-term? The legal mechanics are more specific — and more workable — than most first-time applicants expect.
Most apprentices are kept on by their training company
The German Institute for Employment Research (IAB) runs an annual establishment survey (the IAB-Betriebspanel) that tracks exactly this. Its most recent findings show a retention rate (Übernahmequote) of 79% in 2024 — a new record high, up 18 percentage points since 2010. In plain terms, close to eight out of ten apprentices who complete their training are offered a job by the same company.
That average hides real variation by industry. IAB’s data shows the best retention chances — close to nine in ten — in finance and insurance, mining/energy/water supply, transport and logistics, and public administration. Agriculture and forestry sat at the other end, around 60%. If your trade falls in a sector with typically lower retention, it is worth asking about this directly during your employer interview rather than assuming the national average applies.
If your company doesn’t keep you on: the 18-month job-search permit
German immigration law does not leave a graduating apprentice without a legal basis to stay and look for work. Under §20 AufenthG, a foreign national who has successfully completed a qualified vocational training programme under §16a — the same training visa most Ausbildung applicants enter on — is entitled to a residence permit specifically to search for a job matching that qualification, for up to 18 months. The requirement is that living costs are secured for that period (through savings, part-time work, or the standard financial-proof route), and that the job being sought is one that could itself be filled under §18a, §18b, §18d, §18g, §19c or §21 — i.e., a real skilled-worker role, not any job.
This is a meaningfully longer window than many applicants assume, and it means a training company not extending an offer is a setback, not the end of the pathway.
Moving to a long-term work residence permit
Once a job offer matching your trained qualification is in hand — whether that’s immediately from your training company or after a search under §20 — the relevant status is §18a AufenthG, the residence permit for qualified employment for skilled workers with vocational training (Fachkraft mit Berufsausbildung). Since Germany’s 2020 Skilled Immigration Act reform, this permit covers “any qualified employment” matching the training, rather than being restricted to a narrow shortage-occupation list, which is a broader route than it used to be.
This §18a permit is also the status that starts the clock toward permanent settlement — covered in full in our companion piece on the permanent residency timeline.
The road toward permanent residency, briefly
Germany’s settlement permit rules give a materially faster route to people who trained in Germany itself, compared to the standard route for other skilled migrants. The detail — including the exact residence-duration and pension-contribution requirements under §18c AufenthG, and the German-language threshold — is long enough to deserve its own article, which we’ve written separately rather than compress it here inaccurately.
A typical trajectory
Put together, a realistic sequence looks like this: apprenticeship under §16a (2–3.5 years depending on the trade, see how long different Ausbildung programmes take), then either immediate retention or up to 18 months on a §20 job-search permit, then a §18a qualified-employment permit once a matching role is secured, and from there the accelerated §18c settlement route for people trained in Germany. None of these steps requires leaving Germany or restarting a visa process from India.
If you’re still choosing a trade or comparing programmes, our Ausbildung programmes page lists the sectors we place candidates into, and our guide to Ausbildung age limits covers who qualifies to start in the first place. For questions specific to your situation, get in touch.
Where this comes from
Retention-rate figures: IAB — “Neuer Höchstwert: Rund acht von zehn Azubis wurden nach erfolgreichem Abschluss übernommen”. Job-search permit: §20 AufenthG, gesetze-im-internet.de. Qualified-employment permit: §18a AufenthG, gesetze-im-internet.de. Training visa reference: §16a AufenthG, gesetze-im-internet.de.
