How to call the German Arbeitsagentur and Familienkasse from abroad

The agency's contact page lists freephone 0800 numbers, including 0800 4 555500 for private individuals and 0800 4 555530 for the Familienkasse. Below them, under "Aus dem Ausland" (from abroad), it gives +49 911 12031010. For the Familienkasse, that number is marked as chargeable.

BayernPortal, on its page for the Nuremberg job agency, says the numbers 0800 4 5555 00 and 0800 4 5555 20 cannot be reached from abroad "for technical reasons". Callers on foreign networks reach the job agencies on +49 911 1203 1010, which is the same number.

According to the agency, the lines are open Monday to Thursday from 8am to 6pm and Friday from 8am to 2pm, German time.

We did not time the wait for a person after that. We did not try option 1 in the first menu, or options 2, 4 and 8 in the second. On one call we pressed nothing in the child benefit menu, and after about a minute the Familienkasse picked up anyway.

The number also answers at night: at 11.56 pm on 13 October 2026 it started with the same first menu, with no message about opening hours. We went no further at night.

The Familienkasse asks you to have your child benefit number (Kindergeldnummer) ready, if you have one. You can find it, for example, in the payment reference of your child benefit transfer.

Many things can be done without a call: notices and applications to the Familienkasse can be sent online through the agency's eServices, with an online account at the Bundesagentur für Arbeit that you can set up with your BundID.

For technical support with its online services, the agency gives a separate number for callers abroad, +49 911 178 1780. When we called it at night, we heard that we were calling outside opening hours. For the Central Office for International and Specialist Placement (ZAV), the same page gives 0228 713-1313, which is +49 228 713 1313 in international form, open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 4pm and Friday from 9am to 12 noon. We have not called that number.

Employers reach the employer service in Germany on 0800 4 555520. According to BayernPortal, that number cannot be reached from abroad. The first menu on +49 911 12031010 does have option 1 for employers with questions about finding workers.

Browzerphone dials +49 911 12031010 from a browser tab and charges per minute at a published rate for German landlines. There is no SIM card and nothing to install. You press the menu keys on the keypad in the tab.