Western Balkans Regulation
The Western Balkans Regulation: how employers hire from the region
The Western Balkans Regulation (§ 26 (2) BeschV) lets employers in Germany hire workers from the six Western Balkan countries without formal recognition of qualifications — a binding job offer and approval from the Federal Employment Agency are enough.
What you can do on the platform
Candidate databaseSearch candidate profiles Post jobs and collect applications Manage the hiring pipeline Message candidates directly Message candidates in their language (auto-translated) Schedule and run interviews Track status from first contact to start
Why the regulation matters for employers
DistributionFor skilled-trade and industrial roles, formal recognition of foreign qualifications is often the slowest part of international hiring. The Western Balkans Regulation removes exactly that step: what counts is your job offer, not a certificate equivalence procedure. That makes it the fastest legal route to experienced welders, drivers, construction and production workers from the region.
What to prepare as an employer
ApplicationsThe approval request is based on a binding offer with standard local wages and hours. Have the draft contract ready before the embassy appointment search starts.
How hiring from the Western Balkans works
HiringSearch candidate profiles by profession, experience and language level – or publish a job ad and collect applications.
Contact and interview Work permit and visa Arrival and first day
Roles
The regulation at a glance
50,000 approvals per year
All six Western Balkan countries
Any job subject to social insurance
Registered on regional portals
Workers create their profiles on connected Western Balkan job portals, not scraped from elsewhere.
Complete profiles only
Candidates appear once their profile reaches the required completeness, so the data is usable.
Experience and qualifications
Work history, language level, driving licences and certificates are visible on each profile.
Work permit
The Western Balkans Regulation: the simplest route to a work permit
The Western Balkans Regulation (§ 26 (2) BeschV) opens the German labour market to citizens of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania for any job – no formal recognition of qualifications required. What is needed is a concrete job offer and approval from the Federal Employment Agency; currently 50,000 approvals are available per year.
As the employer you provide the job offer and the employment contract; the candidate applies for the visa at the German embassy in their country. For professions with recognised qualifications, the skilled-worker visa or the EU Blue Card are alternatives. You can run the visa process yourself – or hand it over to our partner Balkan Recruiters.
See visa process supportFAQ
Common questions
A rule in German employment law (§ 26 (2) of the Employment Ordinance): nationals of the six Western Balkan states get access to the German labour market for any job subject to social insurance — without proving a formal qualification. The rule is now permanent, and the quota was doubled to 50,000 approvals per year in June 2024.
Managed recruitment
Want the whole thing handled?
From finding candidates to testing, documentation and the visa, Balkan Recruiters runs the full service. CandidateForce stays the platform; they do the hands-on work.
Talk to Balkan Recruiters
Start hiring from the Western Balkans.
Search candidates and post your job on CandidateForce, free to start.