Germany Start-up Visa

The Residence Act sets no figure, and it substitutes two quite different things for one depending on which stage the applicant is at.

For the main gate, Article 21(1)(3) requires that the financing of implementation be secured, either by own capital or by a credit commitment — the law asks whether the money is certain, not how much of it there is.

The amount of capital deployed is still weighed, but only as one of five qualitative criteria; those five sit in the other costs cell of this table.

For the stage before that, the Act has a separate gate few notice, and it replaces the capital threshold with something that is not the applicant's own money at all.

Article 21(2B) grants a residence permit for a stay for the purpose of founding a company on two conditions: the person is a skilled worker, and, to prepare the founding, is granted a subsistence-securing scholarship by a German business organisation or a German public body out of public funds.

That permit is issued for the duration of the scholarship and for at most eighteen months. At the preparation stage, in other words, what stands in place of a capital threshold is not the applicant's money but a funding decision taken on the German side.

What is granted is a temporary residence permit for self-employment under Section 21 of the Residence Act, not a settlement permit. The path from the temporary permit to settlement is recorded in the processing-time cell of this page.

Subsection 3 sets an age limit: as a general rule, a foreigner older than 45 is to be granted the permit only if they possess adequate provision for old age. This is a condition specific to the self-employment route, and it arises only once the applicant has passed that age.

Subsection 5 opens a door for the liberal professions. A foreigner may be granted a permit for self-employment without meeting the three conditions of subsection 1, provided the required permit to pursue the profession has been issued or confirmation has been given that it will be issued.

On that door, the involvement of the competent bodies under subsection 1 sentence 3 applies accordingly, while subsection 4 does not apply. Both the three-year ceiling and the early settlement path therefore sit outside it.

Subsection 6 adds a further route few notice. A foreigner who will be or has been granted a residence permit for another purpose may be permitted to pursue self-employment while retaining that purpose of residence, if the permits required under other provisions have been issued or the authorities have indicated that they will be.

A residence permit for self-employment is granted for a maximum of three years.

After three years, by way of derogation from section 9(2), a settlement permit may be granted where the foreigner has been self-employed for three years and the activity currently carried on gives reason to expect further sustainable development of the business, in particular in view of its success and its duration.

Two further conditions apply. The livelihood of the foreigner and of the dependants living with them to whom they owe maintenance must be secured by sufficient income, and the condition in section 9(2) sentence 1 no. 4 on public security and order must be met.

For the separate route of preparing to found a company on a scholarship, the permit runs for the duration of the scholarship and for a maximum of 18 months

Beyond the main route, section 21 opens two side doors.

First, a person who has successfully completed studies at a state or state-recognised higher education institution in Germany, or who holds a residence permit as a researcher or an EU Blue Card, shall be granted a self-employment permit by way of derogation from subsection 1.

That is, released from the three conditions of economic interest, expected positive effects and secured financing.

In exchange, the intended self-employment must show a connection with the knowledge acquired in that education or with the work as a researcher.

Second, a person holding a residence permit granted for another purpose may be permitted to carry on a self-employed activity while retaining that original purpose of residence, provided the authorisations required under other provisions have been granted or their grant has been promised

Family reunification in principle requires the sponsor to have adequate living space under section 29(1) no. 2, and requires the incoming spouse to be able to communicate in German at least at a basic level under section 30(1) sentence 1 no. 2.

A holder of a residence permit under section 21 is exempt from both: section 29(5) waives the housing condition and section 30(1) sentence 3 no. 5 waives the German language condition.

The remaining requirement is that both spouses have reached the age of 18. Where the foreigner is simultaneously married to several spouses and lives with one of them in Germany, no further spouse is granted a permit on this basis

The status this programme grants, whether a visa or a residence permit, does not replace the holder's passport. The holder still travels on the passport of their own country, so the figure below belongs to the Germany passport and becomes the holder's only once they are issued a Germany passport.

According to the Passport Index of Prosperous Intelligence, on data dated 30 September 2026, the Germany passport reaches 203 destinations without applying for a consular visa in advance. The figure combines three forms of entry and does not count an e-Visa that must be obtained beforehand:

It is therefore a measure of how easily the holder travels, not a count of visa-free countries in the narrow sense.

For comparison, on the same source and the same method of counting, the Vietnamese passport reaches 44 destinations. The two lists of destinations do not nest inside one another, so the difference is an indication rather than a list of places newly opened.

Prosperous Intelligence dates its data and advises checking with the destination’s official authorities before travelling.

This category and the freelance category sit in the same section 21 of the Residence Act, yet their tax consequences run in opposite directions, and both points of difference are measurable in the texts.

Section 21(1) sentence 1 grants the permit on three conditions: that an economic interest or a regional need exists; that the activity is expected to have a positive effect on the economy; and that its financing is secured by own capital or a loan commitment.

Sentence 3 of the same subsection requires opinions from the competent professional bodies, the competent trade authorities, the public-law professional representations and the licensing authorities.

The Visa Handbook states that the foreigners authority consults the regional trade authorities, the public-law professional representations, and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce or the Chamber of Crafts.

Two institutions that exist only for people in trade, and whose presence is itself the institutional marker separating the two categories.

The first tax consequence: section 15(2) sentence 1 of the Income Tax Act defines a trade or business as an independent, sustained activity undertaken with a view to profit and participating in general economic dealings.

Such an activity is neither agriculture and forestry, nor a liberal profession, nor other self-employed work, and this category falls squarely within it.

The second consequence, and this is the monetary difference from the freelance category: section 2(1) sentence 1 of the Trade Tax Act provides that every permanent trade or business is subject to trade tax in so far as it is operated in Germany, and sentence 3 treats it as so operated where a permanent establishment is maintained there.

With it come that tax own figures: section 11(1) sentence 3(1) allows individuals and partnerships a deduction of EUR 24,500 from the trade income.

Section 11(2) sets the tax base rate at 3.5 per cent; and section 35(1) sentence 1(1) of the Income Tax Act reduces income tax, to the extent it falls on business income, by four times the trade tax base amount determined under section 14 of the Trade Tax Act.

The third consequence, on procedure, also runs a different route: section 138(1) sentence 1 of the Fiscal Code requires a person opening a commercial business or a permanent establishment to notify the municipality on the official form, the municipality then notifying the competent tax office without delay.

Whereas a freelancer notifies the tax office directly under sentence 3 of the same section.

On the permit itself, the surest distinguishing point is section 21(4):

The permit is limited to a maximum of three years, and after three years a settlement permit may be granted where the person has carried on the self-employed activity for three years, the current activity promises sustainable development, and their livelihood and that of their dependants is secured.

That subsection applies to subsection 1 and is excluded from the freelance category by section 21(5) sentence 4; the Foreign Office writes the corresponding sentence only for this category, that a person setting up a manual trade or retail business may apply for a settlement permit after just three years.

Subsection 3 adds that a person over 45 should be granted a permit only where adequate provision for old age exists.

Two procedural points from the Visa Handbook are worth knowing.

First, a one-person business may also apply under subsection 1, but the mission itself examines whether this is bogus self-employment.

Where the person works as an employee would and does not differ from one in their need for social protection, there is no self-employment, and the application may be converted into one for entry to take up employment.

Second, a partner in a general partnership or other body who is appointed to represent it by law, statute or the partnership agreement should be granted a visa under subsection 1.

Read this cell within its scope: the sources cover the conditions of grant, the role of the trade authorities and chambers, and the classification of this category income as a trade or business bringing trade tax with it.

They grant no tax concession by reason of the residence permit, and they cannot give an effective trade tax rate, because that rate depends on each municipality multiplier, which is not in the provisions read

The assessment does not turn on a monetary threshold but on five qualitative criteria: the viability of the underlying business idea, the entrepreneurial experience of the foreigner, the amount of capital deployed, the effects on the employment and training situation, and the contribution to innovation and research.

The law requires that four groups of bodies competent for the intended place of business be involved: the expert corporations, the trade authorities with competence there, the professional representations under public law, and the authorities responsible for admission to the profession.

In addition, a person over 45 should be granted the permit only if they have adequate old-age provision — a condition on personal finances rather than on the venture