Description
Where?
By phone or video. Sometimes, you can book phone/video appointments online when you’re registering as “Arbeitssuchend” (searching for a job). Other times, your case worker will schedule an appointment for you and notify you by email or post.
How long?
A typical phone or video meeting takes 30-50 minutes, but how long it takes exactly depends on how much there is to discuss! You book for minimum 1 hour (including a sound/connectivity check 5-10 minutes beforehand) and only in the rarest of cases will it take longer than that.
Good to know
There are unemployment benefits (ALG I) and then there’s welfare (now called Bürgergeld). These two types of payments are handled by different organisations. ALG I is like an unemployment insurance that you can claim from the Agentur für Arbeit if you’ve been employed for long enough in Germany. ALG II (Bürgergeld) is handled by the Job Center.
This phone/video interpreting is offered at a reduced rate.