Do Mandatory Internships Count Towards Your 140-Day Visa Limit?

The 140-Day Paradox

Your German student visa allows you to work exactly 140 full days per year.

However, many Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Fachhochschulen (Universities of Applied Sciences) have a strict graduation requirement: You must complete a 6-month full-time internship (Pflichtpraktikum).

Let's do the math:

6 months of full-time work = roughly 130 working days.

If you do the internship, you burn 130 days. You only have 10 days left for the rest of the year. This means you have to quit your weekend Minijob, and you will have zero income for the remaining 6 months of the year.

Is this actually how it works?

The Golden Exception: The Pflichtpraktikum

Breathe easy. The German government recognizes this mathematical paradox.

According to the German Residence Act, a Mandatory Internship (Pflichtpraktikum) does NOT count towards your 140-day limit.

Because the internship is a mandatory academic requirement outlined in your university's official Study Regulations (Studienordnung), it is legally classified as "studying," not "working."

The Result: You can work full-time at BMW for 6 months for your mandatory internship, AND you still have your full 140 days to work a weekend Minijob at a café to pay your rent.

The Voluntary Internship Trap (Freiwilliges Praktikum)

What if your university does not require an internship, but you want to do a 3-month summer internship at SAP anyway to boost your resume?

This is called a Voluntary Internship (Freiwilliges Praktikum).

Voluntary internships DO count towards your 140-day limit.

If you do a 3-month full-time voluntary internship, you will burn roughly 65 of your 140 days. Furthermore, German minimum wage laws strictly apply to voluntary internships lasting longer than 3 months, meaning companies are legally required to pay you at least €12.41 an hour (whereas mandatory internships can legally pay you absolutely nothing).

How to Prove it to HR

When you apply for an internship, HR will ask to see your visa. When they see the 140-day limit, they might panic and refuse to hire you.

You must provide them with a Pflichtpraktikumsbescheinigung (Mandatory Internship Certificate). You request this document from your university's examination office. It officially proves to the company and the immigration office that this internship is required for your degree and exempt from the visa limit.

Track your legal working days carefully. Use our Minijob Calculator to ensure your side-hustles aren't eating into your 140-day allowance.