Recruitment agencies for nurses in Germany: how to spot the bad ones

Recruitment agencies for nurses in Germany are not all the same: some follow strict legal rules on fees, others break them. Agencies that hold Germany's fair-recruitment seal use the employer-pays principle, so nurses pay no placement fee. Other costs, like the visa or the recognition process, are real fees you may have to pay yourself, and that does not mean the agency is breaking a rule. Treat demands for unexplained payments, retained original documents or a contract you cannot read as warning signs. Before you pay or sign anything, check five points:

• the fee
• your country
• the seal (a quality label for fair recruiters)
• the contract
• the company itself

This guide is for nurses, nursing assistants and people who apply for a nursing Ausbildung (vocational training) through an agency. We do not name companies. We show you how to check any agency yourself.

Read every page before you pay or sign anything.

Two rules in the Social Code, Book III (Sozialgesetzbuch III) set the limits. This is the part of German law that deals with jobs and employment.

For a job, a private placement agency (a company that finds jobs for people) may charge you only under strict conditions:

• the contract must be in writing and state the fee
• the fee may not be more than 2,000 euros, including VAT (sales tax)
• you pay only if the agency's work led to a signed employment contract
• the agency may not ask for or take money in advance

For an Ausbildung, the rule is stricter. Only the employer may pay for the placement. This also covers "services" linked to the placement, like checking your skills or career advice. Does an agency ask you for money to find you a training place in Germany? That is a clear warning sign.

Not every fee is illegal. The rules above cap or ban only the placement fee: what you pay the agency for matching you to a job. Agencies that hold the fair-recruitment seal (see below) go further than this legal minimum. They promise the employer-pays principle, so the nurse pays no placement fee at all.

Official costs are different. The visa and the recognition process have real fees. An embassy, a recognition office or another official body charges these, not the agency, and someone has to pay them. Certified translations have real fees too, but a sworn translator charges these, not an official body. A separately contracted service, like a language course, can also be a legal fee. This is true if it is a real, agreed service, not a placement fee in disguise.

The red flag is not the word "fee". It is paying an agency for the job or the placement itself, or paying a fee that the official body does not charge. Some agencies ask for a "registration fee", "processing fee" or "visa fee" before you have a contract. If that fee is really for the placement, it is money in advance, and it is not allowed. Ask exactly what each fee is for, and what happens to your money if no job comes.

Germany protects countries that have too few health workers of their own. The Employment Regulation (Beschäftigungsverordnung) has a list of 55 countries in its annex (an attachment to the rules). The list is based on the World Health Organization (WHO) list of countries with a serious lack of health workers. It includes, among others, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

In these countries, only the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA) may recruit health and care workers. Private agencies and German employers may not. Officials in Bavaria explain the details on an official form:

• The ban also covers Ausbildung in companies.
• It also covers adaptation measures for recognition that take place mainly at work. These are trainings that close gaps in your qualification.
• What counts is where you live, not your passport.
• A tip from family or friends does not count as recruitment.
• Unlawful recruitment can be fined up to 30,000 euros.

You can still apply on your own. If you find a job yourself, you and the employer sign a form. It says that no agency was involved. Say you live in Lagos or Accra, and an agency offers to "place" you in a German hospital. Then the agency is breaking German rules. False answers on that form can also cause problems with your visa.

The Federal Ministry of Health (Bundesgesundheitsministerium) owns a seal for fair recruitment of nurses. It is called "Faire Anwerbung Pflege Deutschland" (Fair Recruitment Care Germany). A registered association called GAPA gives out the seal. Its full name is Gütegemeinschaft Anwerbung und Vermittlung von Pflegekräften aus dem Ausland (Quality Association for Recruiting and Placing Nurses from Abroad). Independent auditors (outside inspectors) check that holders follow the rules. The main rules for nurses are:

• recruitment is free for the nurse (the employer-pays principle)
• you get written information about your rights and duties in a language you understand
• the process and your contact persons are transparent (clear and known to you)

The seal's website, faire-anwerbung-pflege-deutschland.de, lists the agencies and employers that hold it. An agency without the seal is not automatically bad. Ask it why it does not have one. Also ask how it meets the same rules.

• You must pay in advance for the placement itself (placement fee): Why it matters: Advance payment for the placement itself (placement fee) is not allowed. Placement for an Ausbildung must be free for you; What to do: Do not pay. Ask for the fee rules in writing
• The agency is active in a WHO-list country: Why it matters: Only the BA may recruit there; What to do: Apply directly to employers or through the BA
• The agency wants to keep your original passport or diplomas: Why it matters: Nobody needs your originals for a job application; What to do: Give certified copies (copies officially stamped as true). Keep the originals
• The contract is only in German and nobody explains it: Why it matters: The fair recruitment seal requires information in a language you understand; What to do: Ask for a translation before you sign
• "Guaranteed visa" or "guaranteed recognition": Why it matters: Only German offices decide on the visa: the embassy and the foreigners' office (local immigration office). Only the recognition office of the state decides on recognition; What to do: Treat the promise as false
• You cannot find out which employer you will work for: Why it matters: You cannot check pay, place or conditions; What to do: Ask for the employer's name and a written offer
• High repayment amounts if you leave early: Why it matters: You may be stuck in a job you want to leave; What to do: Get the clause checked before signing

Ask which costs you must repay, and when, before you sign.

Some contracts for international nurses say you must pay back costs if you leave early. These can be costs for the language course, the flight, recognition fees or the adaptation course.

German labour courts check such clauses closely when the employer used standard terms. These are pre-written contract rules used for many workers. In October 2025 the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) decided a case about a care home. The care home had a further training contract with an elderly care nurse.

• The clause set the full repayment at 14,955.20 euros. This was the course and exam fees plus her pay for 81 training days.
• The amount went down for each month she stayed after the course. So the employer sued her for 9,347 euros.
• The clause said she had to repay if the job ended "for reasons she was responsible for". The court found this wording unclear.

Unclear standard terms count against the employer. So the clause was invalid, and the employer lost (see Sources).

Whether a clause is valid depends on its exact wording. Before you sign, ask:

• Which costs are covered, and how much is each one?
• In which situations must you repay?
• Does the amount go down the longer you stay?

If anything is unclear, have the clause checked by an advice centre before you sign.

1. Read the Impressum (legal notice). By law, German business websites must have one. It must show a name and a full address. It must also show the legal form (for example GmbH, a limited company), the person who represents the company, and the register number if there is one.
2. Search for the company in the Handelsregister (commercial register) at handelsregister.de. Check that the name, address and managing director match the Impressum.
3. Check the seal list on faire-anwerbung-pflege-deutschland.de.
4. Contact the employer yourself. Find the hospital's or care home's own website. Ask its HR team if they work with this agency.
5. Look for the job on the BA's job board (Jobsuche) or in the Make it in Germany job listings.

If you are still looking for a job, apply directly to employers. Or use Triple Win if you live in a partner country. Triple Win is a state recruitment programme run by the BA and the German development agency (GIZ). Placement, preparation and integration help are free for nurses. In Indonesia, candidates still pay some processing fees to the Indonesian authority BP2MI, for example for a psychological test. Nobody can sell you a place in Triple Win. You apply through the programme in your country, for example through NORKA Roots in Kerala. Our nurses page and nursing assistants page have more on each profession.

Your home country may also license recruitment agencies. In several countries the names of these offices have changed. So check the current name on a government website.

• Philippines: The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) licenses and controls recruitment agencies. It replaced the old POEA. The law that created it was signed on 30 December 2021. Ask the agency for its DMW licence. Check it with the DMW before you pay or sign.
• Indonesia: Placement companies are called P3MI. The Triple Win page still names BP2MI as the partner. Since then, Indonesia has set up a ministry for the protection of migrant workers (Kementerian P2MI). Check the list of licensed P3MI with whichever office is current.
• India: India's Emigration Act of 1983 says nobody may work as a Recruiting Agent without a valid certificate. This certificate rule covers recruitment for any country, including Germany, not only the ECR countries. The certificate comes from the Ministry of External Affairs. The eMigrate portal (emigrate.gov.in) publishes names of illegal agents and lists registered ones. Emigration clearance (ECR) is a separate rule: it depends on your passport category and your destination country. Germany is not one of the ECR countries, so no emigration clearance is needed to go there. Ask the agency for its certificate anyway, and check it on emigrate.gov.in before you pay or sign.
• Vietnam: DOLAB (Department of Overseas Labour) is in charge of companies that send workers abroad. It publishes a list of licensed companies. Since March 2025 it belongs to the Ministry of Home Affairs, not the former labour ministry (MOLISA). Check the current list before you sign.

Free counselling services can answer questions about your job.

Faire Integration is a free and anonymous advice service for workers from outside the EU. The Federal Ministry of Labour pays for it. It gives advice on pay, working hours, holidays, dismissal, health insurance and other questions about your job. It does not give advice on recognition. For recognition, use the official portal anerkennung-in-deutschland.de. Faire Integration has advice centres across Germany. Its website lists them.

Faire Mobilität is run by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). It gives similar free advice. But it is set up for workers from Central and Eastern Europe.

• Stop paying. Do not pay more money to "fix" a problem the agency created.
• Keep everything: contract, receipts, bank transfers, chat messages and emails.
• Do not sign new papers under pressure, even if you are told it is urgent.
• Are you already in Germany? Then contact Faire Integration before you quit or sign an agreement to end your job. Some residence permits (documents that let you live in Germany) only allow work for that one employer. One example is the recognition partnership visa, where you finish recognition while you already work. So a job change can affect your right to stay.
• Are you still at home? Then report the agency to the office in your country that controls agencies (see the section above).

You can get a free personalised roadmap for your own case at get2germany.com.