{"id":3025,"date":"2018-02-14T13:59:43","date_gmt":"2018-02-14T12:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/migration-law\/residence-permit-for-self-employed-persons-freelancers-and-artists\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T07:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T05:49:24","slug":"residence-permit-for-self-employed-persons-freelancers-and-artists","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/migration-law\/residence-permit-for-self-employed-persons-freelancers-and-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"Residence permit for self-employed persons, freelancers and artists"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Residence permit<br \/>\nfor self-employed persons, freelancers and artists&#8221; google_fonts=&#8221;font_family:Lora%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p>Self-employed persons and freelancers can obtain a residence permit to establish and run a company in Germany in accordance with <strong>\u00a7 21 AufenthG<\/strong>. This also applies to legal representatives (e.g. managing directors) of legal entities (e.g. GmbH, AG) if they are involved in the entrepreneurial risk of the company. <\/p>\n<h3>Self-employment (\u00a7 21 AufenthG)<\/h3>\n<p>The law requires a residence permit for self-employment to be issued:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>an economic interest or a regional need,<\/li>\n<li>positive effects of the activity on the economy <em>and<\/em><\/li>\n<li>securing financing through equity or a loan commitment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Minimum investment sums or a certain number of jobs <strong>do not<\/strong> have to be proven. The decisive factors are a convincing <strong>business idea<\/strong> and a viable business plan. A good qualification of the entrepreneur, positive effects on the labor market as well as contributions to innovation and research have a positive effect. Entrepreneurs over the age of 45 must also provide evidence of an adequate <strong>pension plan<\/strong>.   <\/p>\n<p>The Immigration Office involves the local economic authorities (e.g. Chamber of Industry and Commerce or Ministry of Economic Affairs) to assess the business plan. These draw up an expert opinion as to whether there is an economic interest in setting up the business. Unfortunately, the assessment procedure is often lengthy &#8211; thorough preparation of the <strong>business and financial plan<\/strong> is therefore particularly important.  <\/p>\n<p><em>Please note: We do not accept mandates for self-employment with a focus on company formation \/ preparation of business plans. We are happy to recommend a specialized law firm for this area. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">If the company was successful after 3 years, it may, at its discretion<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/migration-law\/settlement-permit-and-eu-permanent-residence-permit\/\">Settlement permit<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">be granted. After 5 years there is a <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> <\/span><strong style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Legal claim<\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Freelancers and artists in Berlin<\/h3>\n<p>The Berlin state government has declared a special economic interest for <strong>artists and other freelancers<\/strong>. This has significantly simplified the application process. In addition to proof of freelance or artistic activity, the main requirement is proof of anticipated engagements or sufficient financial means to secure a livelihood.  <\/p>\n<p><a style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; gap: 10px; padding: 13px 28px; background: transparent; border: 1.5px solid #8b2020; border-radius: 2px; color: #8b2020; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.06em; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/contact-form\/\">Request a consultation now<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Residence permit for self-employed persons, freelancers and artists&#8221; google_fonts=&#8221;font_family:Lora%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Self-employed persons and freelancers can obtain a residence permit to establish and run a company in Germany in accordance with \u00a7 21 AufenthG. This also applies to legal representatives (e.g. managing directors) of legal entities (e.g. GmbH, AG) if they are involved in the entrepreneurial &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/migration-law\/residence-permit-for-self-employed-persons-freelancers-and-artists\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Residence permit for self-employed persons, freelancers and artists&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3027,"parent":2831,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3025","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3025"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3624,"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3025\/revisions\/3624"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jurati.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}