Lost your job in Germany? How unemployment benefit works

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Arbeitslosengeld is an insurance benefit. You have paid for it with every salary. It is not social welfare. It gives you time to find a new job, and the employment agency also pays your health insurance during that time.

If your residence permit is tied to your job, a job loss also concerns the immigration office. See the notes at the end.

Rules, amounts and deadlines change. Check the official source named at the end before you act, and ask the office in your city, because procedures differ from town to town.

Step by step

1. Register as looking for work, early

   As soon as you know that your job will end, report to the Agentur für Arbeit as a job-seeker (arbeitsuchend). The rule is three months before the end, or within three days if you learn of it later. You can do it online on arbeitsagentur.de. Late registration can cost you a week of benefit.

   Done

2. Register as unemployed

   On the first day without work at the latest, register as unemployed (arbeitslos), online with your electronic ID or in person at the agency.

   Done

3. Check the 12-month rule

   You qualify if you were in insured employment for at least 12 months in the 30 months before. You must also be able and willing to work at least 15 hours a week and take part in the search.

   Done

4. Apply for the benefit

   Fill in the application for Arbeitslosengeld online. The agency asks your last employer for a certificate of employment (Arbeitsbescheinigung).

   Done

5. Know the amount

   The benefit is 60 percent of your average net pay of the last year, worked out as a daily rate. With at least one child it is 67 percent.

   Done

6. Know the duration

   It depends on how long you were insured: 12 months of contributions give 6 months of benefit, 24 months give 12 months. From the age of 50 the maximum rises in steps to 24 months.

   Done

Good to know

If you resign yourself or sign a termination agreement without an important reason, the agency imposes a blocking period (Sperrzeit) of up to 12 weeks without benefit. Get advice before you sign anything.

If your residence permit depends on your job, as with the EU Blue Card and the permits for skilled workers, you must tell the immigration office about the job loss within two weeks. It normally gives you a period to find new work. Receiving Arbeitslosengeld for a limited time does not by itself end your permit.

When Arbeitslosengeld runs out, or if you do not meet the 12-month rule, the Jobcentre is responsible for basic income support. That can affect a residence permit, so ask a migration advice service first.

Keep your papers in order for the next employer: tax return in Germany explains the documents you get at the end of a job.

In short: Register as job-seeking at once and as unemployed on day one. 12 months insured in the last 30. 60 or 67 percent of net pay for 6 to 12 months.