FSJ in Germany ⭐ You need to know this for 2024 as international

The Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr (FSJ in Germany) – or Voluntary Social Year – is a popular option in Germany for young people looking to gain work experience and do good at the same time. Through the FSJ program, participants can work in social, cultural, or environmental sectors, gaining valuable personal and professional skills. Especially for international youth, the FSJ is an ideal way to experience Germany and learn the language.

What interesting positions are there for FSJ in Germany?

There are many open FSJ positions in Germany that are also open to applicants from non-EU countries. It doesn’t matter whether you come from Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, Egypt or any other country: In principle, everyone has access to these positions if the following criteria are met:

• completed school education
• maximum age 27 years (for older interested persons a BFD might be suitable as well)
• basic knowledge of German language.

Employment in the field of care

You can find a lot of positions for a FSJ in the care sector. If you are interested in nursing, you have very good chances to get a FSJ position directly.

FSJs in nursing are available in practically every major city in Germany. So you can either choose a FSJ in nursing in a big city (for example Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Hanover or Hamburg) or you can go to a smaller place. Smaller towns often have the advantage that life here is a bit cheaper than in big cities.

Job opportunities in the nursing field currently include:

• hospitals
• retirement homes
• mobile care services
• child care
• personal assistance for people in need of care

Other interesting fields

In addition to health and nursing care, you can also find other FSJ positions in practically every major city in Germany. We present some of the positions you can search for on the job boards:

Cultural sector

• Theaters, operas and concert halls

If you look around a bit, you can also find FSJ positions in the areas of technology, organization, secretarial work or management. Such positions can be ideal to start from here into a dual study, a study or a dual vocational training.

Is a FSJ in Germany worthwhile?

You will by no means become rich with the Voluntary Social Year. The money you receive here is often just enough to pay for the most important expenses. But for many FSJ’ers from abroad, it’s not about the money at first. Most international FSJ’ler would like with this service:

• improve their German language skills
• build up a network in Germany
• gain work experience in Germany
• prepare for university studies

In the end – as our interviews with applicants show – most FSJ’ers from abroad are interested in finding and building future prospects in Germany through the FSJ.

For many, these future prospects also exist, for example when they switch to regular employment or begin a course of study or dual vocational training.

During the FSJ, you will first learn the language and some basic skills in these areas, which you can then refine through Vocational training in Germany. After successful completion of Vocational training or studies, there is usually nothing standing in the way of working and living in Germany.

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FSJ in Germany for applicants from abroad

A prerequisite for international applicants is that they already have German language skills, if possible German at level B1. Applicants who are not from the European Union must also note that a visa is required. Applicants who are older than 27 may be eligible for the BFD.

Questions and answers

Finding a FSJ position

The easiest way to find a FSJ position is via the Internet. Your search can start with the mayjor employers for FSJ:

In addition you can search for FSJ positions on major private or government job portals. If you already know that you might want to do an FSJ in the field of culture, you can search for “culture FSJ” on Google and Bing, for example.

On Google, we recommend searching for the term “FSJ job offers”: Here, you will often be shown various positions directly.

Practical tip

The website of the German Employment Agency regularly lists several hundred positions for a voluntary social year. If you search on this site, you should not only enter “FSJ” in the search mask. If you use “FSJ”, you will often only be offered up to 500 free positions. However, if you use “Social Year” (or in German “soziales Jahr”) as your search term, you will often be shown over 6,000 vacancies.

Application

Once you have found a suitable position, you can apply directly to the employer. At the beginning, you don’t have to worry too much about questions such as visa, blocked account or accommodation. Most providers of FSJ in Germany know this well and will guide you through this process.

FSJ as an international: There are attractive alternatives!

Before we explain the requirements for an FSJ as an international in Germany for international applicants, we would like to point out attractive alternatives to the FSJ:

• If you are older than 27, you cannot participate in the FSJ. The BFD in Germany is then available to you.
• If you already speak German at level A2 or B1, or if you have even earned a university degree or a trade school diploma abroad, you can also directly start a vocational training in Germany, or take up gainful employment.

As a foreign applicant from any country in the world, you can start vocational training in Germany if you have a ninth or tenth grade school diploma and also speak German at least at level A2 (you can apply with level A2, but you must raise this level to B1 before entering Germany).

Such vocational training is possible, for example, in the fields of nursing, metalworking, trade, agriculture, crafts, electrical or IT. After completing the three-year vocational training, you can take on highly qualified jobs in Germany as a skilled worker with stable career and life prospects in German companies.

If you have already completed a course of study abroad or vocational training abroad, you can in principle take up a job directly in Germany, provided you have at least a B1-level command of German. Applicants who are not EU citizens require a visa for this purpose. We will inform you about this during the application process.

For some professions, for example in the field of science, IT or research, international applicants can often take up a job without German language skills. This depends, among other things, on the requirements of the employer.

FSJ in Germany: Requirements for international applicants

The most important prerequisite for an FSJ as an international in Germany is first of all to find an employer in Germany who offers such an FSJ.

Most employers expect international applicants to speak German at least at level A2, so that they can take on the diverse tasks in the social or cultural field in Germany. Any further requirements, especially professional requirements, are determined by the employers.

Visa for FSJ in Germany

For a Voluntary Social Year, all persons need a visa who are not German or come from another member country of the European Union. The visa must be applied for before entering Germany and a contract with an employer in Germany must already exist when applying for the visa.

Applicants from abroad should therefore be sure to note that the very first step is to find an employer in Germany. The application for the visa will then often take several weeks. Therefore, if you are interested in a Voluntary Social Year in Germany and are a third-country national, you should start your application several months before the start of the desired activity.

Applicants from the EU do not need a visa or further permission for a voluntary social year.

What comes after FSJ?

Applicants from non-EU countries should note that in many cases it is not possible to stay in Germany after the FSJ to live and work here. In our experience, many applicants in this Voluntary Social Year do not succeed in acquiring the necessary German language skills and finding a follow-up job. We therefore always recommend thinking about vocational training in Germany as an alternative.

With a Vocational training in Germany one earns not only during this training already more money than in the voluntary social year. Vocational students also significantly improve their technical knowledge during this time and thus become sought-after workers.

Vocational training programs are structured training processes in which you learn both theoretical knowledge in trade school and practical knowledge in companies. An FSJ does not usually offer such structured Vocational training in Germany.

Keyword search: Jobs with English, Volunteering in Germany