Work permit info for spouse of expat in Germany

A friend of mine (American) was just offered a great job in Germany. Her company will provide a work and residency permit for her, but the question is, will her (American) husband be able to get a work permit without sponsorship of his own?
Are there any rules providing for automatic granting of work permits for spouses, or will he have to go through the whole long process on his own of finding a company who will sponsor him?

How difficult would it be to get a permit to work freelance?

Did a search but couldn't find any threads touching this particular issue.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I don't think "sponsoring" is important -- just someone who'll give him a job. Once you have a job it takes 6 weeks for a work permit to go through, unless the company calls the offices and bugs them about it like mine did. My company didn't have to prove that a German couldn't do the job either. I was over on a student visa at the time, so a tourist visa (automatic of three months) should be fine too. Did anyone else reply with a pm with any useful info on this? More official maybe and not just anecdotal?

So am I understanding this right?:

My husband's employer relocated us here, arranged all the paperwork, residency permits, etc... He has a work permit, but I can't work off his permit? However, if a company is offering me employement - said company will arrange my very own work permit?

no yandi, you cannot work on his work permit. if you want a job in germany you will need your own work permit. do a little searching here to find more info on that subject. but depending on your qualifications & size of company, chances are you will have to arrange the work permit yourself.

Thanks, Elfen - I did do a search, I'm mudlling my way through all of them now. Thought I would post a quick question on an existing thread for a little clarification.

The reason I ask is because an international school is doing job fairs in three U.S. cities. I presume that if they are looking to hire from the U.S. they are planning on arranging residence and work permits for the new hires as part of relocation. However, I am already here, have residency, and qualified for the job - I just don't have a work permit.

I'll keep reading...

If the school in question wishes to hire you then it should be able to apply for a permit for you, no? (Please note that I'm not an expert on the subject, so my opinion doesn't really count.)

Edit: What I do know for a fact (from a number of people I've spoken to) is that people relocating to Europe often try to negotiate a job (or at least assistance in finding one) for the spouse as part of their relocation package.

ah, i see. okay, then if you get the job, then you should arrange with them to arrange a work permit for you. if they would arrange it for peeps in the U.S.to come here, then they'll have an easier time of it since you are here. it's no guarantee you'll get it, however. but if you have a contract, then get the process started. it could take 3 months.

Probably the company that hires you will do some of the work towards getting your permit, but you will have to do some legwork, too.

The hiring company can't hire you until they can show that they need a native English speaker to do the job. The Arbeitsamt (I think that's who does it) will look through their records to see that no Germans or EU citizens currently registered as unemployed would be qualified. This is routine and usually no problem for language training jobs. Then, you will probably still have to do the legwork of actually getting the work permit in your passport after the company has the go-ahead to hire you. Some companies will do that for you if you give them your passport for a day, but that's usually for posher jobs than language training.

Great - thanks