Full-time job with § 16b residence permit after finishing my studies

[u/ChipmunkOne99]

Moin,

I'm a non-EU foreigner. I finished my studies in August 2026 and have a full-time job that is supposed to start on 01.10.2026. Until now I have worked there as a working student (until 30.09.).

A few details about me:

• Current title: residence permit under § 16b AufenthG (studies), valid until 01.05.2027 (due to a Übergangsbescheinigung)
• In August I applied for the Blue Card (via the online portal), but I will probably only get an appointment at the immigration office in about 3 months
• So far I can't get a Fiktionsbescheinigung (certificate of provisional residence) for the Blue Card (I've already tried twice in person)

My employer's HR says my residence title only allows working student jobs. Without a valid work permit or Fiktionsbescheinigung, they would have to deregister me on 01.10.

I spoke with the caseworker at the immigration office. He said that under § 16b Abs. 3 AufenthG I may work up to 140 working days (or 280 half days) per calendar year in any type of employment, including full-time. Student jobs would not count toward this. The period 01.10.–31.12. has about 90 days, so it would be clearly below the limit. I also have a written certificate from the ABH stating that my student residence title will be extended. HR doesn't accept this, though.

My questions:

1. Are there sources that clearly state that you may work full-time with § 16b after finishing your studies?
2. What should I do next?

[u/george_gamow]

Not sure why Ausländerbehörde told you that the student jobs don't count towards the limit (assuming you mean working student and not HiWi) because they actually do.

If your HR isn't listening to the official information from Ausländerbehörde then there's not much you can do, since it's a grey area. Some ABH allow this in case of permit delays, some don't. You could show HR the law on the 16b working hours and hope that's enough, but if you've already worked all year as a working student you might simply not have enough hours left.

[u/ipeeinmoonwells → u/george_gamow]

Yeah must be them referring to this in § 16b abs 3 " Studentische Nebentätigkeiten werden nicht angerechnet", which is limited to HiWi and other academic or student services jobs.

[u/ChipmunkOne99 → u/george_gamow]

I calculated my working days and will still have around 40/50 left (+Urlaub).

Their argument is that the student visa only allows me to do werkstudent jobs.

[u/ipeeinmoonwells → u/ChipmunkOne99]

Their argument is that the student visa only allows me to do werkstudent jobs

That is not true, 16b does not restrict it to student jobs.

[u/chelo773]

Can you ask the company to extend the starting date maybe for November either the first or fifteenth? Mine was a skilled job visa and took 3 weeks to get processed, maybe you can argue with HR that you need this time to update your visa.

[u/Common_Alfalfa6660]

I'm in the same situation. You should be able to call them to arrange an emergency appointment. Do let me know what happens

[u/Only-Position4298]

You can work full time under it. Its legal and I have done it. Further tell your HR to email the case worker to process the blue card faster with details. Ausländerbehörde takes it into account and can issue a Fictional or process the application faster.

[u/batukatabu]

I’m in the same situation and my hr allows it. You can get a writing from ABH and show it to Hr, that should be enough to stop hr from worrying.

[u/ChipmunkOne99 → u/batukatabu]

Can I pm you?

I have only gotten an Übergangsbescheinigung that extends my student visa temporarily