A residence permit for study purposes (see §16b AufenthG) is often provided with a so-called "resolving condition", such as "Expires upon completion of studies in history at Humboldt University". If this condition occurs, e.g. because you change the course of studies, drop out of university or finish your degree, the residence permit expires automatically, even if the validity date has not yet expired.

The student permit allows employment not exceeding a total of 120 days or 240 half days per year, as well as to pursue secondary student activities (=”studentische Nebentätigkeiten” at the university that do not count into the 120/240 days), see §16b (3) AufenthG.

You are solely responsible to know how many of your permitted work days you have already used up during the year. Every day that you have worked more than 4 hours counts as a full day, everything equal to or below 4 hours counts as a half day. Sick days or vacation days do not count here.

If your work permit application has already been submitted to your local immigration office, your previous residence permit (your student permit) will automatically still be valid until the decision for the work permit is made (=”Fiktionswirkung”). This means that you can continue working, also in a full-time position, as long as you do not exceed the 120 full / 240 half days.

If you do want to apply for a work permit without having finished your degree, you would have to hold another degree/qualification that is recognized in Germany (or at least 3 years of work experience in IT for an IT specialist permit) to be able to apply for a work permit.

If you graduated from a German university, you have the possibility to get a residence permit valid for up to 18 months to look for a job. During the job search period, you have full access to the labor market. A priority check does not take place for graduates of German universities. However, the Federal Employment Agency checks whether the salary corresponds to the local or collectively agreed remuneration. Note that this form of residence permit cannot be extended. The following requirements must be met in order to obtain a residence permit for 18 months:

For extension, however, a job offer is then required "to which the degree qualifies". The intended job must therefore be related to your degree.

If you have any further questions on this, feel free to get in touch with your Case Manager.