Planner
What will it cost me, and when could I go?
Not a brochure figure for somebody else. Your trade, your country, the number of people travelling with you and the language you actually speak today — and the total split into the money you lose and the money that is still yours. Every figure comes from an official source, linked next to it, with the date we checked it.
- No sign-up, no email, no fee. We never charge you anything.
- Nothing to submit. The numbers move as you tap.
- If the honest answer is that this is years away, this page says so. That is the point of it.
Your situation
Every tap recalculates the whole plan straight away. There is nothing to submit and nothing to sign up for.
Germany is the only destination where we have verified every figure for all three tracks. The rest are in research, and we will not guess at them.
Proof of funds and official fees are counted for each person. Your course and your qualification assessment are counted once.
Euro figures are the published ones. Nothing is converted.
Be honest with yourself rather than hopeful. An optimistic number here just moves the disappointment later.
Our data marks the course as sometimes employer-funded. If somebody else is paying, we take it out of your total.
Your plan, as it stands
Electrician in Germany
Trades track · applying from your country · None at all today
- Money gone for good
- 2,075 to EUR 6,575
- Your own money, returned
- EUR 13,092
- Needed before you travel
- 15,167 to EUR 19,667
- Language study left
- 9 to 18 months
- Recognition, admission and visa
- 3 to 12 months
- Month to plan around
- May 2029
Money is not what is holding you back. Time is.
At EUR 10,000 a month, and counting 2 years 6 months of language study and paperwork, the realistic window is November 2027 to May 2029. Starting the language course earlier moves that date. Saving more does not.
Prepared November 2026 from published official figures, each linked and dated on this page. Guidance only, not immigration advice, and not a quotation. Confirm every figure with the embassy before you move money.
What it costs, split into the two kinds of money
Agents quote you one big number because one big number is frightening and frightening sells. Part of this money is gone forever. Part of it is still yours. That difference changes what you should do next, so we never add them up without showing you both.
Money you spend and never see again
2,075 to EUR 6,575
Courses, assessments and official fees. Once this is paid it is paid.
National visa fee
Official fee
EUR 75
The same EUR 75 whichever route you apply on. Minors pay half. The residence permit issued after you arrive costs up to EUR 100 more.
Source: Federal Foreign Office — visa fees (checked 2026-11-03)
German language course to B1
Language course
1,500 to EUR 5,000
The single largest cost and the one most people underestimate. Employer-funded in some recruitment programmes.
Source: Make it in Germany — Opportunity Card (Federal Government portal) (checked 2026-11-03)
Qualification recognition procedure
Getting your qualification recognised
500 to EUR 1,500
Fees vary by federal state and by the body assessing your trade.
Source: Anerkennung in Deutschland — recognition statistics 2024 (checked 2026-11-03)
Money that stays yours and comes back
EUR 13,092
You must have this in cash before the visa, but it is still your own money and it is paid back to you month by month after you arrive. It is not a fee. Nobody keeps it.
Blocked account (proof of funds)
Money you must show
EUR 13,092
Your own money, returned to you monthly after arrival. Not a fee. EUR 1,091 x 12 at the 2026 rate.
Source: Make it in Germany — Opportunity Card (Federal Government portal) (checked 2026-11-03)
What you need in hand before you travel
15,167 to EUR 19,667
Both halves added together, because the bank needs to see all of it before anyone stamps anything.
How long it takes, and which part is slow
- 1
Language study, from nothing to B1
9 to 18 months
3 levels to climb · Course, then the exam
- 2
Recognition, admission and the visa
3 to 12 months
Qualification recognition · Documents and attestation · Visa appointment · Decision
Language is the longest part of this, not the paperwork. About 60 per cent of the wait is you learning the language. Offices are not what is slowing you down. Every month you start the course earlier is a month off the whole plan.
B1 is the practical working minimum. Some employers accept A2 on arrival if you commit to B1 within months, but recognition bodies and safety-critical work push this higher.
Earliest you could leave, if everything goes right
November 2027
1 year from now
The month to actually plan around
May 2029
2 years 6 months from now · set by the process
The visa itself is a matter of weeks. Reaching B1 from zero typically takes 9 to 18 months of consistent study, and recognition runs in parallel but can take several months longer. Anyone promising you Germany in three months is selling something.
Route source for this timeline: Make it in Germany — Opportunity Card (Federal Government portal) (checked 2026-11-03)
Can you afford it, and when
Money is not what is holding you back. Time is.
At this rate you reach the amount before the paperwork and the language are finished, so your departure date is set by the process, not by your savings. Keep saving anyway: the early figures are the low end of a published range, and the first months after arrival cost more than people plan for.
Saving each month
EUR 10,000
Months of saving needed
2 months
What is holding you back
Time
The process finishes after your money does.
Remember what this money is: EUR 13,092 of the amount above is your own savings held in a blocked account and paid back to you after you arrive. You still have to raise it in cash first, which is why it is counted here in full — but you are saving towards your own balance, not towards somebody’s fee.
What we assumed
Every money figure above comes from an official source, linked next to it. The figures below are not published anywhere: we worked them out from the published ones. Here is each one and what it is based on, so you can disagree with us.
Assumption One CEFR level takes 3 to 6 months of study.
Derived from this destination's own published timeline note, which states that reaching B1 from zero typically takes 9 to 18 months of consistent study. Zero to B1 is three levels, so one level is 3 to 6 months. We apply the same step to every level.
Assumption Studying intensively puts you at the fast end of that range, not faster than it.
We do not shorten the published range for an intensive course. Choosing your pace only decides which end of the 3-to-6-month range we highlight. The full range stays on screen.
Assumption Recognition, admission and the visa appointment together take the destination's published end-to-end time, minus the language study that time assumes.
Our data publishes one end-to-end range per track and does not break it into steps. We subtract the language months implied for a complete beginner to leave the paperwork time. For a complete beginner, adding our two figures back together reproduces the published range exactly.
Assumption Language study and paperwork are added together, not overlapped.
In practice recognition often runs while you are still studying. Adding them gives the later, safer date. Treat the early end of the range as the version where you start your paperwork before your course finishes.
Assumption Each person travelling needs their own proof of funds and their own visa fee. Language and recognition are counted once, for the person taking the job or the study place.
Our data publishes the main applicant's figures only. It does not publish the maintenance requirement for a spouse or a child, which is set differently. Multiplying the main applicant's figure is an approximation and is likely to be wrong for children. Confirm family figures with the embassy.
Assumption A blocked account is counted as your own money coming back to you, not as a cost.
Our data marks this item as your own money, released to you monthly after arrival. Every other published item is money that leaves and does not return. You still need the full amount in cash before the visa, which is why the affordability figure below uses the whole total.
Assumption Currency figures use one indicative rate per currency, fixed as of November 2026.
Rates are rounded to whole units on purpose, so no figure here looks like a bank quote. Your real cost is set on the day your bank or transfer service moves the money. Euro figures are the published ones and are not converted.
What this page is not
This is guidance, not a quotation and not immigration advice. The published figures below each line are the official ones on the date shown next to them, and they change — Germany’s proof-of-funds amount and Blue Card threshold both rise most years. Check the figure with the embassy before you move money.
We are free, we take nothing from you, and we are not a recruitment agency. If anyone quotes you a total that does not separate your blocked account from their fees, that is worth asking about — here is how to check an agent.
Every figure on this page: Federal Foreign Office — visa fees (checked 2026-11-03) · Make it in Germany — Opportunity Card (Federal Government portal) (checked 2026-11-03) · Anerkennung in Deutschland — recognition statistics 2024 (checked 2026-11-03)