Assignments abroad: Successfully working and living abroad

Posting of employees from third countries

Employees from third countries who are posted from one country to another within the EU require a so-called Vander Elst visa. What exactly is this? Who does the visa apply to? Where and when must it be applied for?

As part of the freedom to provide services within the EU, employees can be posted to another EU country for a temporary assignment. The Vander Elst visa requirement must be observed for so-called third-country nationals.

Who needs a Vander Elst visa?

If third-country nationals (citizens of a non-EU country) who are regularly employed in an EU or European Economic Area (EEA) country are posted to another EU country (for example to Germany) to provide labour or services there for a limited period of time, they require a so-called Vander Elst visa. This visa authorises them to work in the country to which they are posted. A separate residence or work permit is therefore not required for the country to which the third-country nationals are temporarily posted.

The Vander Elst visa can therefore be used:

if third-country nationals are properly employed in the posting country (EU or EEA Member State),
the Posting is temporary and takes place while retaining the labour law obligations of the posting employer, and
the activity performed is a temporary service.

Under the following conditions, employees from third countries who provide temporary services in Germany are exempt from the requirement for a Vander Elst visa:

if they have the legal status of a long-term resident in another EU country ("permanent resident" status),
are duly employed by the sending employer and
if the temporary employment in Germany does not exceed 3 months (within a period of 12 months).

Please note: If a third-country national with long-term residence authorisation is to be employed in Germany for a period of more than 3 months within a 12-month period, it is still necessary to apply for a Vander Elst visa.

When is a Vander Elst visa not required?

A Vander Elst visa is not required for temporary assignments at a branch or subsidiary of the company based in the EU or EEA (intra-company assignment).

Where must the visa be applied for

The Vander Elst visa is issued by the responsible Foreign representation issued. It must be there before entering the country be applied for. You can find out which documents must be submitted for the visa to be issued from the respective diplomatic mission abroad. The Vander Elst visa is issued without the approval of the Federal Employment Agency.

The Vander Elst visa goes back to a judgement by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the 1990s. The starting point was a complaint by Belgian entrepreneur Raymond Vander Elst. He had sent Moroccan citizens employed by him, who had a residence and work permit in Belgium, to France for temporary work. There was now a dispute as to whether or not the Moroccan employees needed a separate work permit for France. Vander Elst invoked the freedom to provide services within the European Community (EC) at the time and was vindicated by the ECJ (ECJ, judgement of 9 August 1994, Ref. C-43/93).

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