Germany Visas, Taxes and Money for Digital Nomads

Germany is in the Schengen Area. Citizens of the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries can visit without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, counted across all Schengen countries together. Time in France, the Netherlands or Austria uses up the same allowance. Your passport must have been issued within the last 10 years and be valid for at least three months after you leave the Schengen Area.

• EES: the EU’s Entry/Exit System has been fully running since April 2026. Non-EU visitors register fingerprints and a photo at their first Schengen border crossing, and entries and exits are recorded digitally, so the 90/180 count is tracked automatically.
• ETIAS: a pre-travel authorisation for visa-free visitors, with no confirmed start date yet.
• Border checks: Germany has temporary controls at its land borders, and officers may ask for an onward ticket and proof of funds.
• Visa nationals: citizens of countries such as India, China, the Philippines and South Africa need a Schengen visa to visit, and a national (D) visa from a German embassy for any long stay.

German law doesn’t directly address remote work for a foreign employer during a visa-free stay. A Schengen visit is meant for tourism, family visits and business meetings, and working for German clients or companies isn’t allowed. Answering emails or working for your foreign employer for a few weeks is a grey area that’s rarely enforced, but it isn’t formally permitted, and a long stay of steady remote work is exactly what a residence permit is for.

Under §41 of the Residence Ordinance, citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK and the US can enter Germany visa-free and apply for any residence permit at the local foreigners’ office, within 90 days of arrival. They don’t need to go home for a visa first. Everyone else needs a national (D) visa from a German embassy before moving, and a Schengen tourist visa can’t be converted.

Book your appointment as early as possible. Offices in Berlin, Munich and other big cities are overloaded, and waits of weeks or months are common. Applying in time usually keeps your stay legal while the office decides, but check what confirmation your office issues.

The freelance permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis zur freiberuflichen Tätigkeit, §21(5) of the Residence Act) is for the liberal professions listed in German tax law: writers, journalists, artists, designers, translators, teachers, engineers, IT consultants, architects, doctors and similar. It’s the closest thing Germany has to a nomad visa, and clients can be in Germany or abroad.

• Income: there’s no fixed threshold. You must show that you can support yourself from your work, with an income forecast (Ertragsvorschau) and a realistic budget.
• Clients: Berlin’s office asks for client contracts or at least two letters of intent describing the work and its scope. Letters from German clients help, and many offices expect them.
• Health insurance: German statutory insurance or comparable private cover. Travel or expat insurance generally isn’t accepted.
• Pension provision if you’re over 45: you must show adequate provision for old age. Berlin’s figure, set in July 2025, is a pension of about €1,610 a month from age 67 or assets of about €232,000. A few nationalities are exempt.
• Other documents: passport, CV, proof of qualifications, a lease and proof of rent, and any professional licence your work needs.
• Fee: €100 for the electronic residence card in Berlin.
• Length: usually one to three years at first, renewable if the work is going well and covers your living costs.
• Settlement: freelancers can apply for a permanent settlement permit after five years.

In Berlin, applications are made online and the office invites you to an appointment if they look complete. The card takes about four to six weeks to arrive.

• Self-employed permit (§21(1)): for trade businesses (Gewerbe) such as agencies, e-commerce or consultancies that aren’t a liberal profession. The office judges the business plan, financing and economic interest, often with the local chamber of commerce. Successful applicants can get a settlement permit after three years.
• Working holiday: Germany has agreements with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and Uruguay, plus youth mobility with Andorra and Canada. Applicants are generally 18 to 30; Canadians can apply up to 35 and South Koreans up to 34. It lasts up to a year, and some nationalities, including Australians, Canadians, Israelis, Japanese and New Zealanders, can apply after arriving. The UK isn’t on the list.
• Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte): a one-year permit for qualified people looking for a job in Germany, using a points system for qualifications, language, experience and age. It allows part-time work and trial work for German employers, and needs proof of funds, usually through a blocked account. It’s built for job-seekers, not remote workers.
• Employment: a German employment contract opens the EU Blue Card or a skilled worker permit.
• Students on a German degree course get a residence permit and can work part-time.

Germany has no retirement visa. People with independent means sometimes get a discretionary residence permit, but it isn’t a standard route.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens don’t need a visa and can live and work in Germany freely. You only need to register your address (Anmeldung) like everyone else.

Anyone who moves into a home in Germany must register at the local citizens’ office (Bürgeramt) within two weeks. Visitors who keep a home abroad and stay no longer than three months don’t have to. You need your passport and a landlord’s confirmation (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung). The registration certificate, and the tax ID that’s posted to you afterwards, are needed for a bank account, a phone contract, health insurance and your residence permit. Many short-term furnished flats and sublets don’t allow registration, so check before you sign.

Health insurance is compulsory for anyone living in Germany. Self-employed people choose between statutory insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung), where contributions are a share of income with a monthly minimum, and private insurance, priced on age and health. Statutory funds don’t have to accept every newcomer, especially older people, so ask an insurer or broker early. Foreign travel policies are fine for a visitor stay but rarely accepted for a permit.

Overstaying your Schengen allowance can lead to fines, removal and an entry ban for the whole Schengen Area of up to several years, and the EES now flags overstays automatically. In Germany, staying without a valid permit is also a criminal offence. Apply for a permit, or leave, before your 90 days run out.

This is a general guide, not tax advice. Germany taxes residents on their worldwide income.

• Tax residence: you become a German tax resident if you have a home (Wohnsitz) in Germany that you can use, or if your habitual abode is there, which is presumed after more than six months of continuous presence. A registered flat you live in can make you resident from day one.
• Rates: in 2026 the first €12,348 of taxable income is tax-free, then rates rise from 14% to 42% (from €69,879) and 45% above €277,826. A solidarity surcharge applies only to high earners, and registered church members pay church tax.
• Freelancers register with the tax office (Finanzamt) through the ELSTER online portal, get a tax number, and file an annual return, usually with quarterly advance payments. Freelancers in the liberal professions don’t pay trade tax; Gewerbe businesses do.
• VAT: the standard rate is 19%. Small businesses with turnover under €25,000 in the previous year and €100,000 in the current one can opt out as a Kleinunternehmer.
• No special regime: Germany has no tax break for remote workers or new arrivals.

Germany has tax treaties with most countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, to avoid double taxation. US citizens still file US returns. Our taxes for digital nomads guide explains the general principles.

Germany uses the euro. Cards and contactless payment are now accepted in most shops, supermarkets and restaurants, but some bakeries, bars, kiosks and market stalls still take cash only, so carry some. ATMs are everywhere; use your own bank’s partner or a big bank’s machine, and always decline the machine’s currency conversion and pay in euros.

Big banks such as Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, local Sparkassen, and online banks such as N26 open accounts for residents, usually with a passport and Anmeldung certificate. A German IBAN helps with rent, health insurance and utilities, and landlords often ask for a SCHUFA credit report, which you only build once you have a German account and address. Many nomads use Wise or Revolut while they wait.