Skip to content
voymo
EN
Menu

Countries

Germany: visas, tax & cost of living

Move to Germany the calm way. Real talk on the freelancer permit, who may apply from inside Germany, tax residency and the cost of living.

Germany: visas, tax & cost of living
Your passport

United KingdomGermany

Your move to Germany on a United Kingdom passport

  • VisitEasyVisa-free entry
  • NomadMediumNo nomad visa, other route
  • RelocateMediumResidence with conditions

Visiting

Visa-free for up to 90 days. Travel on a passport valid for your whole stay, with a return or onward ticket and proof you can support yourself.

Passport validity: Valid at least 3 months beyond planned departure from Schengen, issued within the last 10 years, with at least 2 blank pages; many travellers aim for 6 months validity.

Heads-up: EU Entry/Exit System (EES) began 12 October 2025 with full operation at all Schengen borders by April 2026, replacing passport stamps with biometric entry/exit logging; ETIAS online authorisation (about 20 euros) expected in the last quarter of 2026, mandatory after a transition period around 2027.

At the border: Border police can ask for proof of onward or return travel, sufficient funds, travel insurance and bookings, carried in hand luggage; Germany uses no arrival or landing cards for air travellers.

Working remotely

No dedicated nomad visa; the usual route is a standard residence permit.

Tax and residency

Two separate triggers, and neither is a calendar-year day count. A Wohnsitz (Section 8 AO) is a home you keep in circumstances indicating you will keep and use it, which is a forecast about your intentions, not simply a flat that stands available. A gewoehnlicher Aufenthalt (Section 9 AO) is a continuous stay of more than six months, counted from the first day and with short interruptions disregarded, so it can run across a year end. Either one makes you liable on worldwide income, progressive to 45%. (estimate)

The UK decides residence with its Statutory Residence Test (days in the UK plus your ties). As a non-resident you are usually taxed only on UK income; where one exists, a double-tax treaty with the destination decides who taxes what.

Double-tax treaty: yes, in force since 2010

Practical

Currency: EUR. Cost of living: mid.

Healthcare: Foreigners staying long-term must hold German statutory cover through a Krankenkasse, or private cover of comparable scope, and it is a legal condition of the residence permit. Berlin's immigration office states plainly that foreign health insurance is not sufficient, which rules out most travel and nomad policies.

Healthcare agreement: A UK GHIC or still-valid EHIC gives access to medically necessary state healthcare on short visits under the post-Brexit reciprocal arrangement.

Driving: Foreign licences are generally accepted for about six months after taking up residence, after which a German licence is required; an International Driving Permit or certified translation can be needed depending on the issuing country.

Sources: AufenthG Section 21: residence permit for self-employment. Absatz 5 covers freelance work and applies 'abweichend von Absatz 1'; its fourth sentence reads 'Absatz 4 ist nicht anzuwenden'. Absatz 3 carries the over-45 old-age provision test · AufenthV Section 41: the eight states whose nationals may enter visa-free for a long stay and obtain the permit inside Germany, the narrower Absatz 2 list conditioned on not taking up Erwerbstaetigkeit, and the 90-day filing deadline in Absatz 3 · AufenthG Section 2(2): Erwerbstaetigkeit expressly includes selbstaendige Taetigkeit, so freelancing is caught by the Absatz 2 condition in AufenthV Section 41 · EStG Section 18(1) no. 1: the catalogue of liberal professions that makes you a Freiberufler rather than a trader · Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF): self-employed and freelance activity under Section 21 AufenthG · Berlin Immigration Office: residence permit for self-employment, the rule that foreign health insurance is not sufficient, and Berlin's over-45 pension and assets figures · AO Section 9: gewoehnlicher Aufenthalt, a continuous stay of more than six months counted 'stets und von Beginn an', short interruptions disregarded · AO Section 8: Wohnsitz, a home held in circumstances indicating you 'beibehalten und benutzen wird' · EStG Section 1(1): unlimited income tax liability for anyone with a Wohnsitz or gewoehnlicher Aufenthalt in Germany · GOV.UK: tax on foreign income · HMRC: double-taxation treaties

Estimates, not advice. Confirm with the official sources before you act.

Should you move to Germany?

Germany is the steady, dependable base in the middle of Europe. The job market runs deep, the trains and internet work, healthcare is strong, and cities like Berlin, Munich and Hamburg are properly international. The trade-off is honest: more paperwork than the sunny south, and a quieter, more rule-bound rhythm. If you like things that just function, you will feel at home. If you want spontaneity, this is not that country.

The Germany digital nomad visa and entry routes

There is no German digital nomad visa, and Berlin has shown no sign of building one. What people use instead is the residence permit for freelance work, the Freiberufler permit under section 21(5) of the Residence Act. Before anything else, check which door you are allowed to use, because this is where most plans quietly fall apart. Only nationals of Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, the UK and the United States may enter without a visa for a long stay and file inside Germany, and they have 90 days from arrival to do it. That list is section 41 of the Residence Ordinance, and it really is that short. Everyone else applies for a national D visa at a German mission before travelling. Flying in as a tourist and converting once you are here is not a route, and the Schengen 90 days in any 180 is for visits, not for settling in.

The second gate is what you actually do for a living. Freiberufler is a defined legal category, not a general word for freelancer. Section 18 of the Income Tax Act lists doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, journalists, interpreters and translators, alongside scientific, artistic, writing and teaching work. Designers, developers and consultants sit right on the border and are often treated as a trade instead, which means registering a Gewerbe, paying trade tax and joining the chamber of commerce. Worth settling before you file, because it decides which route you are on.

No income figure is written into law, and no authority publishes one. The immigration office judges case by case whether the work covers your living costs, so you bring contracts or letters of intent, invoices, bank statements and a profit projection. Health cover has to be German statutory insurance or private cover of comparable scope: Berlin says outright that foreign health insurance is not sufficient, which rules out most travel and nomad policies. If you are over 45 there is one more test, adequate old-age provision. Berlin’s benchmark is a pension of 1,612.53 euros a month for at least 12 years from the age of 67, or 232,204 euros in assets, though those are Berlin’s figures and other cities set their own. One thing the permit does not hand you is a shortcut to staying: the three-year fast track to a settlement permit is switched off for freelancers in as many words, so you go the ordinary long route instead. EU and EEA citizens skip all of this and move freely.

Germany tax residency and the 183-day rule

The 183-day rule everyone asks about is not the German test, and assuming it is can leave you on the wrong side of the line. Two things make you tax resident here. The first is a Wohnsitz: a home you hold in circumstances that suggest you will keep it and use it. That is a judgement about what you are actually going to do, not a box that ticks itself because a flat sits there available. The second is a habitual abode, and it means one continuous stay of more than six months, counted from the very first day, with short trips away ignored rather than deducted. Because it runs continuously instead of by calendar year, a stay from October to April crosses the line while never reaching 183 days in either year. Cross either line and Germany taxes your worldwide income on a progressive scale that climbs to 45 percent. The cost of living is moderate by Western European standards, though Munich and central Berlin are not cheap. A realistic single-person budget lands somewhere around 2,000 to 2,800 euros a month once you add rent, insurance and the patient grind of German admin.

Figures are estimates, so always check the official source linked below.

At a glance

Currency
EUR
Cost of living
Moderate
Digital-nomad visa
No

Frequently asked questions

Germany: is there a digital nomad visa?
No dedicated digital nomad visa; most people use a standard residence permit instead.
Germany: when do you become a tax resident?
Two separate triggers, and neither is a calendar-year day count. A Wohnsitz (Section 8 AO) is a home you keep in circumstances indicating you will keep and use it, which is a forecast about your intentions, not simply a flat that stands available. A gewoehnlicher Aufenthalt (Section 9 AO) is a continuous stay of more than six months, counted from the first day and with short interruptions disregarded, so it can run across a year end. Either one makes you liable on worldwide income, progressive to 45%.
Germany: what is the cost of living?
The cost of living is moderate and the local currency is the EUR. Treat any figures as estimates.
Germany: do you need health insurance?
Foreigners staying long-term must hold German statutory cover through a Krankenkasse, or private cover of comparable scope, and it is a legal condition of the residence permit. Berlin's immigration office states plainly that foreign health insurance is not sufficient, which rules out most travel and nomad policies.
Germany: can you drive on a foreign licence?
Foreign licences are generally accepted for about six months after taking up residence, after which a German licence is required; an International Driving Permit or certified translation can be needed depending on the issuing country.

Terms worth knowing

Europe: more countries to explore

Put it to work

← Back to all countries