Recruitment agencies
Recruitment agencies in Germany for foreigners: how to tell a good one from a bad one
A good agency can save you months and many mistakes. A bad one can cost you your savings. We are a recruitment agency ourselves, and this is what we would want every applicant to know before signing with anyone, including us.
The short version
- For the placement of an apprentice, German law allows payment only from the employer, not from the applicant (Section 296a of the German Social Code, Book III).
- For regular jobs, German agencies may only charge applicants under strict conditions: a written contract, a maximum of 2,000 euros and payment only after a successful placement.
- No one can guarantee you a training place or a visa. A guarantee in exchange for money is the clearest warning sign.
- Before you sign anything, check that the agency is a registered company, that you will speak to the employer yourself and that all costs are in writing.
What a recruitment agency does
A recruitment agency connects applicants with companies. For an Ausbildung, a serious agency typically selects suitable candidates, checks their German and their documents, prepares them for interviews, presents them to companies and helps with the visa, arrival and the first months in Germany.
The agency's client is the company. The company pays for the service because it gets a well-prepared apprentice and saves time and risk. This is how it works in Germany, and it is how it should work: an agency that earns its money from employers has a reason to find candidates who will actually stay.
There are also public services. The Federal Employment Agency runs its own international placement service, and the government portal Make it in Germany offers free information and advice. They do not select you for a company, but they are a reliable source when you are unsure.
What an agency may charge you
German law is clearer here than many people think.
For an Ausbildung
Section 296a of the German Social Code, Book III, states that for the placement of apprentices, payment may only be requested from or accepted from the employer. An agency may not charge you, the applicant, a placement fee for finding you a training place.
For a regular job
For job placement, agencies in Germany may ask the jobseeker for a fee only under strict conditions (Section 296 of the same law): there must be a written contract, the fee may not exceed 2,000 euros including VAT, and it is only due if the placement has actually led to an employment contract.
Agencies in your home country
Agencies abroad are subject to the law of their own country, and many of them charge high fees. Even so, you can use the German rules as a benchmark. If an agency asks you for thousands of euros before you have a contract, you are paying for something a German employer would normally pay for.
Costs that are normal
Some costs are yours regardless of the agency: your German course and exam, translations of your documents, the visa fee (75 euros for a national visa) and often the flight. A serious agency tells you exactly which costs you will have before you start.
Is there a free recruitment agency for foreigners?
For an Ausbildung, yes. Placement must be free for you by law, because the employer pays. “Free” should not make you suspicious in this case; it is simply how placement works in Germany. What should make you suspicious is the opposite: an agency that calls itself free and then charges for “registration”, “document checks” or “priority processing”.
Warning signs of a bad agency
- Money before a contract. You are asked to pay large amounts before you have a signed training contract with a company.
- Guarantees. A guaranteed training place, guaranteed visa or guaranteed departure date. Only German authorities decide about visas.
- No contact with the employer. You never have an interview with the company that is supposed to train you.
- Debts and penalties. You are asked to sign a loan agreement, a promissory note or a penalty for leaving early.
- Compulsory packages. You may only apply if you buy the agency's own language course or an expensive package.
- Pressure. “Only two places left, pay today.” Serious companies do not work like this.
- Nothing in writing. Everything happens by chat, and you cannot get costs, services or the company's details in a document.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What exactly will I pay, to whom and when? Can I have that in writing?
- Will I have an interview with the company before I sign the training contract?
- Who signs the training contract? (It should be you and the company, not the agency.)
- Which vocational school will I attend, and which chamber holds the exam?
- What happens if my visa is refused? Do I get any money back?
- Who helps me after I arrive, and for how long?
- Can I speak to apprentices you have placed before?
- What is the agency's full company name and registered address?
A serious agency will answer all of these calmly and in writing. If an agency becomes vague or irritated, you have learned something important.
How to check an agency
- Legal notice: German companies must publish an Impressum on their website with the company name, address, managing directors and register number.
- Commercial register: you can look up German companies in the official commercial register.
- The employer: look up the company that will train you. Does it exist, and does it really offer the profession?
- The contract: the training contract is between you and the employer and is registered with the chamber. You can ask the chamber whether it exists.
- Other apprentices: reviews online can be fake. A conversation with someone who went through the process is more reliable.
How Acaluna works
Since we are asking you to check agencies carefully, here is how we work, so you can check us too.
- Acaluna GmbH is a registered company in Ulm, Germany. Our legal notice lists all company details.
- We currently place candidates from Indonesia only, with our own team there. We do not place candidates from other countries at the moment.
- The companies pay us for the placement. We do not charge candidates a placement fee. If candidates use optional administrative services during the visa process, the cost is stated in writing before they decide.
- Every candidate has interviews with the company before signing a training contract.
- We stay in contact with our apprentices after they arrive and throughout their training, and we organise meetings between apprentices from different companies.
- Over three years, we have organised more than 320 apprenticeships. 98 percent of the apprentices we placed were kept on by their company after the training.
More about the people behind Acaluna: About us.
If something went wrong
If you are already in Germany and have problems with pay, working conditions or debts to an agency, the counselling service Faire Integration advises third-country nationals free of charge and in several languages. If you have been defrauded, report it to the police, in your home country or in Germany.
Questions about agencies
No. You can apply directly to companies. An agency can help with selection, preparation and paperwork, but it is not required by law.
Under German law, payment for the placement of an apprentice may only come from the employer. Agencies abroad are bound by their own country's law, but a placement fee paid by the apprentice is not how placement is meant to work in Germany.
No. Only the German embassy or consulate decides on your visa. An agency can make sure your application is complete and correct, which improves your chances, but it cannot promise the result.
Currently only from Indonesia. We are preparing an online course for applicants from other countries.
Sources: German Social Code, Book III (Sections 296 and 296a), Make it in Germany, Faire Integration. As of September 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.
How we write these guides: we check every legal statement against official German sources such as the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Employment Agency, Make it in Germany and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), and we add what we have learned from more than 320 apprenticeships we have organised. We do not accept payment for mentioning companies or services. This information is general and is not legal advice.
More guides
Ausbildung in Germany: the complete guide
How the system works, who can apply from abroad and where most applicants go wrong.
Requirements and checklist
School certificate, German level, age, money and visa, with official sources.
Can you do an Ausbildung in English?
The honest answer, the rare exceptions and how long B1 really takes.
Professions with real chances
Where the open training places are and which fields suit applicants from abroad.
Salary and living costs
Training pay by year, net income, a sample budget and pay after the Ausbildung.
The Ausbildung visa
Requirements, approval, steps at the embassy and the first appointments after arrival.
How to apply from abroad
Where to find places, the German CV and cover letter, and the interview.
Costs and scams
What you really pay, what you should never pay and how to check an offer.
After the Ausbildung
Staying on, the job search permit, permanent residence and salary.
Planning your Ausbildung on your own?
We are preparing a step-by-step online course based on the process we use with our own candidates. There is no start date yet. Join the waitlist and we will let you know.