How many hours a week can I work as a student in Germany?

Short answer: with a student residence permit (§ 16b AufenthG) there is no weekly hours cap under residence law – the limit is 140 working days per year (Arbeitstagekonto). The often-quoted "20 hours a week" comes from the Werkstudent social-insurance rule, not from your permit.

#How the 140 days are counted

The 140-day account has applied since 1 March 2024 (BGBl. 2023 I No. 217, Art. 2 no. 6 and Art. 12 (1); checked 15.10.2026). Half days already existed under the previous rule (120 full or 240 half days); since then the law itself defines a half day as a day with up to 4 hours and adds the weekly 2.5-day option (Bundestag document 20/6500, p. 78).

• A day with up to 4 hours counts as half a day; a longer day counts as a full day.
• During the lecture period, a week with up to 20 hours can count as 2.5 working days.
• Outside the lecture period, each week can count as 2.5 working days, however the hours are distributed.
• Whichever calculation is more favourable applies, week by week. The old 120/240-day rule ended on 29 February 2024.
• HiWi jobs (studentische Nebentätigkeit) and mandatory internships do not count; voluntary internships usually do.

#Where do the 20 hours come from?

As a Werkstudent, if you regularly work no more than 20 hours a week during the lecture period (across all employers), you stay exempt from health, long-term care and unemployment insurance. You may exceed 20 hours for up to 26 weeks a year if the work is in the evening, at night, at weekends or during semester breaks. Break this rule and you lose the insurance advantage – the 140-day count runs separately either way.

#Minijob

Up to 603 € per month in 2026. There is no statutory weekly-hours cap; at the 13.90 € minimum wage this is roughly 10 hours a week (calculation only). Minijobs also count towards the 140 days.

#Other residence permits

• Language course (§ 16f, not preparing for studies): up to 20 hours of work per week (§ 16f AufenthG).
• Preparatory language course linked to a conditional admission, or Studienkolleg: covered by § 16b, so the 140-day rule applies.
• On any other permit, check the conditions noted on your residence card or ask the Ausländerbehörde.

Keep track of your working days yourself and keep your contracts and payslips. More: Student work rules and the 140 days