Check your agent — in seven questions.
Somebody is offering you work in Germany and you do not know whether to trust them. Answer seven questions and you will see what to watch out for.
The seven questions
Think of the person or company offering you the work. Answer honestly — nobody but you sees your answers.
🟢 No warning signs
Nothing stood out across these seven questions. That is a good sign — but not a clean bill of health. Check two things yourself anyway: the commercial register entry, and whether the contract you are asked to sign really contains what you were told verbally.
And the one rule that always holds: you never pay for a job. Anyone working honestly is paid by the employer.
🟠 Caution — something is not right
Some of these points should not occur with a serious provider. That does not necessarily mean fraud, but it does mean: do not sign and do not pay until this is cleared up.
What you can do now:
• Get everything in writing — including what you were promised by phone.
• Ask for the company address and register number and look both up.
• Take the documents to the free migration advice service —
it is independent and costs you nothing.
🔴 Clear warning signs — please do not pay
Several points suggest this offer is not honest. Do not hand over money, do not give up your passport and do not sign anything until this is cleared up.
• Never give up your passport permanently. Your documents belong to you.
• Never pay cash without a receipt and never into a private account.
• Get a second opinion from the free migration advice service
or a lawyer for migration law.
• If someone asked you for money in our name:
tell us — anonymously if you prefer.
This assessment is orientation, not a verdict on any particular person or company — and it is not legal advice.
Why these seven questions
They are not invented. Each one stands for a pattern that shows up again and again in dishonest offers.
Money from the candidate
This is the single most important sign. Anyone recruiting fairly across borders is paid by the employer. Fees charged to the candidate are exactly the business model we want to end.
Guarantees
Visas and recognition are decided by authorities. Nobody outside the authority can guarantee the outcome — we cannot either. Anyone who guarantees is selling you a certainty he does not have.
The passport
A retained passport is leverage. There is no legitimate reason for an agent to keep your passport — copies are enough for any application.
No contract
What is not in writing does not count. And what you are not allowed to take away and read in your own time, you should not sign.
No verifiable company
A real company has an address, a register number and an imprint. Ours: Go West Global Recruitment GmbH, Amtsgericht Aachen, HRB 27524 — in our imprint.
No authority named
The agent lives off what you do not know. Anyone who names the responsible authority takes away his own power over you. That is precisely why we do it on every page.
Time pressure and cash
"Only today", "the last place", "cash and quickly" — pressure exists to stop you thinking or asking someone. An honest offer survives a night's reflection.
And if someone uses our name?
Go West takes no money from candidates — not for a job, not for documents, not for "processing". If someone demands money in our name, it is not Go West.