Can a dependent of a Blue Card holder work in Germany?

From an immigration perspective, assignees coming to Germany on a Blue Card are usually also entiteled to also bring their family members. Depending on the circumstances, the dependents would then either get a dependency or a familiy reunion visa.

If an employee is coming to Germany for work purposes for a longer period of time, than the assignee's family members are usually also entitled to a German residence visa.

Should the applications be filed in parallel, then the visa applications are considered to be processed as dependency visa. Should there be a gap of 6 months or more between the assignee's application and the dependent's applications, then the category to be chosen is family reunion visa. A difference is that in case of a family reunion visa additional background checks could be processed by the consulate.

An advantage of teh Blue Card is that dependents of Blue Card holders are typically excempted from the obligation to participate in a German language or integration course before travelling.

Also, since a chance in German Immigration Law at the beginning of 2021, dependents of Blue Card card holders can now also work in Germany without needing an additional work permit approval (§ 27 Abs. 5 AufenthG). This will be confirmed by getting "Erwerbstätigkeit erlaubt" stamped in the visa and residence permit.