Your spouse can work in Germany

Your spouse can work in Germany after family reunification. Their visa or residence permit must allow employment before they start a job.

For a doctor moving from outside the EU, this matters early. One family application affects your housing, bank balance, health insurance and start date.

When can your spouse work?

Your spouse can work after they receive a residence permit for family reunification (Familiennachzug). German law says this permit allows employment.

Look at the sticker in the passport or the residence card. It should say that employment is allowed, usually with the words “Erwerbstätigkeit gestattet.”

A spouse should not start a hospital job, shop job or remote job before this note appears. The local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) prints the residence card.

Which papers will the office ask for?

The immigration office normally wants to see that the family can pay for daily life. Your hospital contract is the first paper they read.

Bring recent payslips if you already work. If you have not started, bring your signed contract with salary and start date.

• Your passport and your spouse’s passport
• Marriage certificate, with the required German translation
• Hospital contract or recent payslips
• Rental contract showing the apartment size and monthly rent
• Health insurance letters for both family members

The office also checks your apartment. A one-room flat may be accepted for one person, but rejected for a couple with children.

Do you need a high salary?

You need enough money for rent, food and health insurance. The office compares your income with your family’s monthly costs.

A doctor with a signed junior doctor contract usually has clearer income papers than someone still studying German. Your spouse’s future salary does not replace your own income papers before they have permission to work.

There are exceptions for some residence permits and family situations. The immigration office makes the decision from your contract, rent contract and insurance letters.

What changes for doctors?

Your medical licence and your spouse’s work right are separate issues. You need your full doctor licence (Approbation) or a temporary work permit before you work as a doctor.

Your spouse can apply for jobs in another field once employment is allowed. They do not need a medical licence unless they also want to work as a doctor.

What to do before moving

1. Ask the German embassy which family visa form your spouse needs.
2. Put your marriage certificate, passports and translations in one folder.
3. Ask your future hospital for a signed contract showing salary and start date.
4. Take your rental contract and health insurance letters to the immigration office.
5. Read the employment note on your spouse’s visa or residence card before their first workday.

The short answer is yes. Your spouse can work in Germany after family reunification, once the permit allows employment.

Stand: 2026-10-15. This is a guide, not legal advice. Every German state has its own rules, and rules change. Check with your state's [medical chamber (Landesärztekammer)](https://www.bundesaerztekammer.de/aerztekammern) before you act.