How to Apply for a German Freelance Visa
This page details how, where and when to apply for a German Freelance Visa at an immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany. In our guide, we lay out the complete visa process and requirements to help ensure you have a successful application.
Who is this guide for?
👨💼 In Germany, there are different forms of self-employment. This guide is only for freelancers that are classified as ‘Freiberufler’ in Germany. ‘Freiberufler’ are freelancers that work in a ‘liberal profession’, which includes:
Creative work (e.g. journalists, translators, photographers, artists, etc.)
Advisory work (e.g. accountants, lawyers, etc.)
Teaching work (e.g. school teachers, language instructors, etc.)
Medical work (eg. vets, doctors, psychologists)
Technical work (e.g. architects, engineers)
If you are uncertain whether your freelance work falls into one of these categories, we recommend that you contact your local tax office (Finanzamt) – you can find your local tax office using this search tool. They will be able to clarify whether you are a Freiberufler and thereby eligible for a German Freelance Visa.
If your self-employed work does not fall into one of the Freiberufler categories listed above, then you will instead be classified as self-employed (Selbständiger) in Germany. This guide is not for you.
🌎 Only citizens from certain countries are permitted to apply for the German Freelance Visa at an immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) after their arrival in Germany. If you are from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, or the United States, you can enter Germany without a visa for 90 days. During this 90-day period, you can apply for a German Freelance Visa. This guide is for you.
🛑 Citizens from all other countries must apply for the German Freelance Visa before arriving in Germany. This must be done at a German consulate or embassy outside of Germany. We recommend that you get in touch with your local German embassy or consulate to find out the application process and requirements.
German Freelance Visa: Application Process
1️⃣ Move to Germany. Enter Germany without a visa and complete your Anmeldung (address registration).
2️⃣ Book a German Freelance Visa appointment at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
3️⃣ Apply for the German Freelance Visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
We have expanded on each of these steps below.
1️⃣ Move to Germany and complete your Anmeldung
If you are from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, or the United States, you can enter Germany without a visa for 90 days. You then have 90 days to apply for the German Freelance Visa.
🏠 Important! In order to apply for a visa at an immigration office in Germany, you must first officially register at an address in Germany. The process of registering at an address is called Anmeldung. Without Anmeldung, you will not be permitted to apply for a visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde).
If you are having trouble finding accommodation in Germany where you can complete your Anmeldung, then here are some good places to look:
Smartments (see our review for more details)
ImmoScout24 (see our guide for more details)
For further information on how to find an apartment in Germany, see our German Apartment Hunting Guide.
Once you have successfully registered at an address in Germany, you will be issued an Anmeldung certificate, which you will be required to show at your German Freelance Visa appointment. You can now move on to step 2 below.
2️⃣ Book a German Freelance Visa appointment at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
You must apply for the German Freelance Visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany. To find your local immigration office in Germany, enter your postcode into this tool.
Once you have located your local immigration office, you need to then arrange a visa appointment directly with the office. For immigration offices in larger cities (e.g. Berlin), you will find an online appointment booking platform on their official websites. For smaller immigration offices, you may need to email or call them in order to arrange a suitable visa appointment.
📅 Top tip! Visa appointment slots often fill up months in advance. Therefore, it is important to be prepared. Contact your local immigration office as early as possible in your relocation to ensure that you secure an appointment date within your 90-day visa-free period.
Once you have secured a suitable visa appointment, you will likely receive an email detailing the time, date and location for your appointment. You can now start preparing the relevant paperwork for step 3; applying for your German Freelance Visa.
3️⃣ Apply for the German Freelance Visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
❗ Note: Individual immigration offices in Germany often have different application requirements. Different caseworkers prioritise different documents. The documents listed below are the standard application documents required for the German Freelance Visa. It is likely that not all of these documents will be checked, but it pays to be prepared. Prior to your appointment, we recommend that you double-check with your local immigration office to see if they have any additional requirements on top of what is listed below.
There are a lot of application documents for the German Freelance Visa. For clarity, we have split these into the following sections:
Standard documents
A passport
A passport photo
Health insurance confirmation
Proof of address + rental contract
Visa application form
Visa application fee
Professional credentials
CV
Qualifications
Cover letter
Recommendation letters
Portfolio
Professional permit (if required)
Freelance business documents
Freelance contracts or letters of intent
Bank statements
Financing plan
Revenue forecast
Pension plan (if required)
We have expanded on each of the application documents for the German Freelance Visa below:
Standard Application Documents: German Freelance Visa
✅ A passport
Your passport must:
Have at least 2 free pages.
Be valid for 3 months longer than the intended visa duration.
Have been issued within the last 10 years.
✅ A passport photo
Guidelines for taking compliant biometric passport photos can be found here. Some immigration offices will request multiple photos so we recommend taking at least 3 identical passport photos to your appointment.
✅ Health insurance confirmation
You must have suitable health insurance in order to apply for the German Freelance Visa. Without adequate health insurance, your application will not be approved. The following health insurance policy is accepted by German immigration offices:
Depending on your circumstances, you may not be eligible for the private German health insurance policy listed above. If this is the case, you can use Feather’s expat health insurance policy. This expat policy is generally accepted for initial German Freelance Visa applications.
You should take a health insurance confirmation letter to your appointment, or policy documents showing that you are enrolled.
✅ Proof of address + rental contract
To apply for the German Freelance Visa, you must show proof of your official registered address in Germany. To do this, you should show your Anmeldung certificate – you will have received this certificate when you completed your Anmeldung in Germany (see step 1 above).
The immigration office will sometimes also request to see a rental contract. This helps them to assess that you can sustain your life in Germany based on your freelance work.
For further information on how to find an apartment in Germany, see our German Apartment Hunting Guide.
✅ Visa application form
You must complete and submit a visa application form. You can obtain this form from your local immigration office in Germany – check your local immigration office’s website to see if there is a downloadable version of the form.
✅ Visa application fee
The fee for the visa varies depending on where you apply. However, you can expect to pay no more than €100 (the current fee charged in Berlin).
Professional credentials: German Freelance Visa
✅ CV
You should submit a professional CV. This should focus on professional experience, qualifications and credentials that are relevant to your freelance work.
✅ Qualifications
You should submit original copies of any degrees, diplomas or certificates that are relevant to your freelance work. These help to demonstrate that you have the prerequisite skills for your freelance work. It is not a necessity that you have relevant qualifications, although these can help bolster your application.
✅ Cover letter
A cover letter is a great way to highlight the key aspects of your application. Useful things to detail include:
A description of your freelance work.
An overview of your current and potential future clients.
An estimate of your monthly earnings and expenses.
A summary of why you wish to freelance in Germany and how your work can benefit the German economy.
✅ Recommendation letters
Recommendation letters can help strengthen your application. These can be from former employers or clients and should focus on your skills and suitability for the freelance work you undertake.
✅ Portfolio
A portfolio is beneficial to include if you work in a creative profession (e.g. illustrator, writer, etc.). These can be prints of your work, photographs from exhibitions, screengrabs from your website, etc.
✅ Professional permit (if required)
Some freelance professions require that you have additional permits. If your profession requires this (e.g. medicine), then you must also submit the relevant permits at your visa appointment.
Freelance business documents: German Freelance Visa
✅ Freelance contracts or letters of intent
Letters of intent to hire are a crucial part of your application. These letters demonstrate to the immigration office that there is demand for your freelance services.
The letters are a non-binding commitment from clients that they plan to work with you once your visa is granted. The letters should include:
The client’s details (name and address).
Your name and freelance job title.
The expected hours that you will be working for the client.
The hourly rate you will charge the client for your freelance services.
Details of why the client is specifically needing your freelance services.
For a reasonable chance of approval, we suggest having 2–3 letters of intent from clients based in Germany. If possible, the expected income stated in your letters of intent should add up to a decent salary for the area where you are living.
Alternatively, you can submit freelance contracts if you have already secured these with clients prior to applying for your German Freelance Visa.
✅ Bank statements
To improve your chances of approval, you need to demonstrate that you have sufficient savings to live off while you establish your freelance business in Germany. The best way to do this is by providing a recent bank statement showing:
Your name
The account balance
The date of the balance (if possible, the bank statement should be no older than 5 days old at the time of your visa appointment)
With regards to the amount of savings you should show, there is no set figure for this – however, the more the merrier. If possible, we suggest showing at least €3000 in savings.
✅ Financing plan
Your financing plan should paint a picture of your financial position. The information should demonstrate that you are financially self-sufficient and can support yourself while getting established in Germany. Things to include can be liquid funds (cash), tangible assets (property), outside capital (loans), etc.
Some immigration offices will have their own template forms for this – prior to your appointment, check whether they would like you to complete a specific template form for your financing plan or if you can create your own.
✅ Revenue forecast
Your revenue forecast is an estimate of the expected income and expenses from your freelance business over the coming years. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that your expected freelance activity will allow you to sustain your life in Germany.
The best way to present this information is in a spreadsheet that clearly shows the different income and business expenses you expect to arise from your freelance work.
✅ Pension plan (if required)
If you are over 45 years old, then you must prove that you have sufficient plans in place for your retirement. Before applying for your visa, ask your local immigration office what form of proof they would need to see as this can vary. In general, this will be proof of membership in a suitable private pension plan or a high level of personal assets.
Additional info
👍 Translate documents into German
Where possible, the application documents for the German Freelance Visa should be prepared in German or translated into German before your appointment. This will greatly help your case and will allow the caseworker to fully understand the nature and scope of your freelance work.
For having your documents translated, check out lingoking for a professional and competitively priced service.
👍 Take a German speaker to your appointment
Not all immigration office workers will speak English. When applying for your visa, it is important that you can communicate clearly. Therefore, we suggest that you attend your appointment with a German interpreter or a German-speaking friend.
🎉 Congratulations! You have now completed all the steps for applying for a German Freelance Visa at an immigration office in Germany! Once approved, you will be issued the visa and can start your freelance work in Germany!