From job profile to first day at work
10–12 weeks is realistic. Anyone promising you four hasn't done the authority part yet.
No wishful arithmetic
The timeframe
A large share of the duration goes on procedures nobody can accelerate – but everybody can prepare properly.
The six steps
1. Define the job profile
Occupation, number of roles, timeframe, location. Sounds trivial, but it decides everything after it – without a concrete job offer no procedure starts, neither at the agency nor at the authorities.
3. Selection and interview
A video interview is enough in many cases. For practitioner occupations – welders, electricians, vehicle mechanics – a casting with a practical test on site pays off: you watch the person work before you commit. It costs around six weeks, but it prevents the most expensive mistake in the process.
4. Employment contract
The offer must contain working conditions that match those of domestic employees – that is exactly what the Federal Employment Agency checks. For workers over 45 for whom an approval is obtained for the first time, the salary threshold of €55,770 (2026) applies on top, or proof of adequate pension provision.
5. Approval and visa
The longest stretch – and the only one you can actively shorten. If everything runs through the embassy you do nothing, but wait longer. With the advance approval you request the Federal Employment Agency's approval upfront and save weeks. The worker then files the visa application at the mission abroad.
6. Entry and starting work
Travel, registration, residence title, first accommodation, onboarding. For professional drivers this is where the conversion of the driving licence and, where applicable, the professional driver qualification come in – that belongs in the plan, not in the surprises.
The three places where time is lost
It isn't the search that costs the weeks – the procedure does.
1. The quota
The annual quota under the Western Balkans Regulation is 50,000 approvals and was exhausted on 2 December in 2025. Rejected applications do not roll into the following year. The quota is also split across months and nationalities. If you start in the fourth quarter, you are effectively planning for next year.
Source: Federal Employment Agency. As of July 2026 – please verify.2. Going through the embassy instead of the advance approval
Convenient, because you as the employer don't have to do anything – but it costs weeks. The advance approval is the only lever with which you can influence the duration yourself.
3. Incomplete documents
The least spectacular and most common reason. Every request for missing paperwork costs a round, and a round costs weeks. That is the part the agency takes off your hands – and the part that stays with you on the platform. The platform takes the search off your hands, not the visa.
Who does which step?
| Step | Agency | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Job profile | Together | You |
| 2. Find candidates | Agency | Your team |
| 3. Screening & interview | Agency (incl. casting) | Your team |
| 4. Employment contract | You, with support | You |
| 5. Approval & visa | Agency | Your team |
| 6. Entry & onboarding | Together | You |
How long does it take to hire a worker from the Western Balkans?
The honest answer is 10 to 12 weeks for a typical placement via the agency – plus around six weeks if a casting with a practical test takes place on site. Anyone promising shorter timelines isn't counting the authority part. Because the big block isn't the search: it's the approval of the Federal Employment Agency and the visa procedure that follows.
Three factors regularly stretch the process: an exhausted quota (in 2025 it was empty on 2 December, and rejected applications don't roll over), skipping the advance approval, and simply incomplete documents, where each request for missing paperwork costs another round. For planning that means: start early in the year and use the advance approval.
How much of this process sits with you depends on the route. The agency handles steps 2, 3 and 5 entirely – the laborious ones. Via the platform you get access to the candidate market at a flat fee, but run the process yourself. Which is cheaper in your situation is shown by the calculator; the numbers are on the pricing page.