Can You Start a Business in Germany on Your Residence Permit?
For eight years my residence permit carried a line that made my own business illegal. I have registered twice since, once as a Freiberufler and once with a Gewerbe. This guide covers:
- Which permits allow it, and which need permission
- The five business forms, and which fits you
- Registering: the deadlines and the fees
AUFENTHALTSTITEL · ANMERKUNGEN
Selbständige Tätigkeit nicht gestattet
Erwerbstätigkeit erlaubt
The one line on your card that decides it (§ 4a Abs. 3 AufenthG). The first is what mine said.
18 mo
job-search permit after graduating, self-employment allowed, no extension
€25,000
GmbH share capital; a UG starts from €1
1 month
to file the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung after starting
€24,500
Gewerbesteuer allowance for sole traders and partnerships
Some permits allow a business. Most need permission first.
Allowed outright: the 18-month job-search permit after graduating (§ 20) and the Niederlassungserlaubnis (§ 9).
Permission first: a study permit, a skilled-worker permit, the Blue Card and the Chancenkarte (§ 21 Abs. 6).
Which residence title do you hold?
Permission first
Not on its own. The study permit covers jobs, not a business.
§ 16b Abs. 3 AufenthG lets a study permit cover Beschäftigungen only, up to 140 full working days a year. Self-employment is a different category of Erwerbstätigkeit and sits outside that account entirely. § 21 Abs. 6 is the route: the Ausländerbehörde can permit a self-employed activity alongside your studies.
What to do
Write one page on what you will do, for whom, roughly how many hours a week, and what it should earn. The authority wants to see that your main purpose (the job, the degree) stays the main purpose.
Apply at your Ausländerbehörde for permission under § 21 Abs. 6 AufenthG. Regulated professions need their licence first; the permission cannot be granted without it.
Register with the Finanzamt or the Gewerbeamt only once the permission is in your hands. Working before it is a breach of the permit, not a formality.
Abdullah: This is the process I meant when I said it is not the easiest one. It is a discretionary decision, and the degree has to stay the main purpose.
Read the statute yourself:§ 16b AufenthG · not legal advice; the Ausländerbehörde decides your case
How the rule works
- Since 2020 the rule is written the friendly way round: § 4a Abs. 1 AufenthG lets anyone with a residence title take up an Erwerbstätigkeit, self-employment included, unless a law forbids or limits it.
- The permits most people hold do exactly that. A study permit covers jobs and nothing else (§ 16b Abs. 3). A skilled-worker permit or Blue Card was issued for one named employment, and § 4a Abs. 3 forbids any other work until the authority permits it. That is the line I lived with.
- The way round it is § 21 Abs. 6: the Ausländerbehörde can permit a self-employed activity alongside your existing purpose, while you stay a student or an employee. It is discretionary, it wants a description of the business, and you cannot register anything until it is granted.
- A few other permits allow it too: a family-reunion permit, a citizenship, and the § 21 self-employment permit itself, which is real but a project in its own right.
- In practice the easiest path to your own business is permanent residence or the job-search window.
Five ways to register, and one split decides most of it
Freiberufler
A liberal profession under § 18 EStG: engineers, teachers, translators, doctors, architects, journalists, artists, writers and similar work. One form to the Finanzamt, no Gewerbeamt, no Gewerbesteuer, no IHK. The Finanzamt decides whether you qualify.
Everything else is a Gewerbe
It needs a Gewerbeanmeldung. Alone, you are an Einzelunternehmen; with partners, a GbR. Simple bookkeeping, and the liability is yours personally, for everything.
When liability must stop at the company
You found a UG, which starts from €1, or a GmbH, which needs €25,000. Both mean a notary, a register entry and a balance sheet from day one.
| Form | Who it fits | Liability | Capital | Registration | Books | Gewerbesteuer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreiberuflerA liberal profession, registered with the Finanzamt only | One person in a § 18 EStG profession: doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, journalists, translators, teachers, artists, writers, and work "similar" to those | Personal and unlimited | None | Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung, nothing else | Einnahmen-Überschuss-Rechnung, no balance sheet | None, at any profit |
| EinzelunternehmenA sole trader with a Gewerbe | One person doing anything the Finanzamt does not accept as freiberuflich: selling goods, e-commerce, an agency, a shop, most consulting | Personal and unlimited | None | Gewerbeanmeldung, then the Fragebogen | EÜR until €800,000 turnover or €80,000 profit | On profit above €24,500 |
| GbRTwo or more people, one agreement, everyone liable | Partners who trust each other and want to start without a notary | Each partner personally, for the whole debt | None | Gewerbeanmeldung per partner (freelance GbRs skip it), then the Fragebogen; the Gesellschaftsregister is optional | EÜR, same thresholds as a sole trader | On profit above €24,500 |
| UG (haftungsbeschränkt)The limited company that starts with €1 | Founders who need the liability shield before they have €25,000 | Limited to the company's assets | From €1, paid in full before registration; no non-cash contributions | Notary, Handelsregister, Gewerbeanmeldung, Fragebogen, Transparenzregister | Double-entry and a balance sheet from day one | On every euro of profit |
| GmbHThe standard German limited company | Founders with €25,000 who want the form banks, investors and large clients expect | Limited to the company's assets | €25,000, at least €12,500 paid in before registration | Notary, Handelsregister, Gewerbeanmeldung, Fragebogen, Transparenzregister | Double-entry and a balance sheet from day one | On every euro of profit |
Capital and bookkeeping rules from § 5, § 5a and § 7 GmbHG and § 141 AO; the Gewerbesteuer allowance from § 11 GewStG. Read in September 2026.
Four questions, one form, and the steps to register it
- Describe your situation; the answer is what I would register, not a menu.
- The steps underneath are for that form only, in the order the offices want them.
What is the work?
Who founds it?
If it goes wrong, who pays?
What I would register
Freiberufler
A liberal profession, registered with the Finanzamt only
One founder in a liberal profession: one form to the Finanzamt, no Gewerbeamt, no Gewerbesteuer, no IHK. The form I registered first.
How to register a Freiberufler, in order
Confirm your permit allows it
The permit checker above. The Gewerbeamt checks the card; the Finanzamt does not, which is how people end up registered and in breach at the same time.
Open a Mein ELSTER account now
The activation code arrives by post and takes days. Everything after this step is filed through it.
File the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung within one month
Electronically, through ELSTER (§ 138 AO; paper has not counted since 2021). It asks what you do, what you expect to earn, and whether you take the Kleinunternehmerregelung: no VAT on invoices while turnover stayed under €25,000 last year and stays under €100,000 this year (§ 19 UStG).
Wait for the Steuernummer, then invoice
It comes by letter. Mine took a few weeks both times. An invoice without it is not a valid German invoice.
Sort health insurance and, for some, pension
Nobody pays half any more: you carry the full statutory contribution as a voluntary member, or go private. Self-employed teachers, and anyone working almost only for one client, pay into the state pension by law (§ 2 SGB VI).
I expected the registration to be the hard part. It was two forms.
As a Freiberufler
What I did the first time.
Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung
What you will do, what you expect to earn, and whether you take the Kleinunternehmerregelung.
Sent through ELSTER
Since 2021 nothing else counts; open the account first, the activation code comes by post.
Steuernummer by post
A few weeks later. Then you can invoice.
For the Gewerbe
What I did the second time.
Gewerbeanmeldung with your city
Search Gewerbeanmeldung plus your city, fill in the online form, upload your residence permit, pay the fee.
The same Fragebogen
The Gewerbeamt tells the Finanzamt, which then wants the form above.
The letters arrive
Steuernummer from the Finanzamt, membership from the IHK, a note from the Berufsgenossenschaft.
UG or GmbH: one stage in front of all of this. A notary certifies the articles and files the Handelsregister entry; the company exists once the court enters it, and only then does the Gewerbeanmeldung follow.
1 month
Fragebogen to the Finanzamt, electronically (§ 138 AO)
Same day
Gewerbeanmeldung, at the latest when you start (§ 14 GewO)
No reminder
Neither office chases you. The fine arrives later.
What the registration costs
€0
Freiberufler, any city
€15
Gewerbe, Berlin, online
€26
Gewerbe, Berlin, in person, per person
€31
Gewerbe, Berlin, UG or GmbH
€50–60
Gewerbe, Munich, by legal form
Register only what the card allows
The Gewerbeamt reads your residence permit before it accepts the form. The Finanzamt does not read it at all. So a Freiberufler on the wrong permit can end up fully registered and fully in breach at the same time. Check the permit first.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Starting before the permit says you can
A first invoice on a study or employee permit without § 21 Abs. 6 permission is a breach of the permit, and it surfaces at the next extension. Get the wording changed first, then register.
Calling yourself a freelancer and assuming you are a Freiberufler
The English word is a job description; the German one is a § 18 EStG tax category the Finanzamt assigns. Software, consulting and coaching sit on the line, and the wrong assumption means a missed Gewerbeanmeldung.
Missing the one-month Fragebogen deadline
The Finanzamt does not remind you. § 138 AO gives you one month from the start of the activity, electronically through ELSTER, and the ELSTER activation code itself takes days by post. Open the account first.
Letting the 18 months run out
The job-search permit cannot be extended. If the business is working, apply for the § 21 Abs. 2a self-employment permit months before the end, with the business plan and the numbers the Ausländerbehörde will ask for.
Guessing the profit on the Fragebogen
The expected-profit box sets your income-tax and trade-tax prepayments for the year. A brave estimate means quarterly bills for money you have not earned; a cautious one means one large payment later. Neither is wrong, but pick on purpose.
Wrapping a freelance practice in a UG for the name
A UG or GmbH is a Gewerbe by its legal form. The freelance advantages (no Gewerbesteuer, no IHK, no balance sheet) disappear the day the notary files it. Only worth it when the liability genuinely needs the shield.
Forgetting that nobody pays half of anything now
Health insurance is on you in full, voluntary statutory or private. Self-employed teachers, and anyone working almost only for one client, are compulsorily in the state pension (§ 2 SGB VI); the Rentenversicherung finds them at the first audit.
Guide by
Abdullah
Creator of Ankommo · Based in Germany
I moved to Germany and built Ankommo to help others navigate the same process I went through. We offer 1-on-1 video consultations on visas, Ausbildung applications, citizenship requirements and settling in.
Book a 1-on-1 consultationFrequently asked questions
- Can I be self-employed in Germany on a student visa?
- Not without permission. § 16b Abs. 3 AufenthG lets a study permit cover employment only, up to 140 full working days a year, and self-employment is a different category of work that the permit does not touch. § 21 Abs. 6 lets the Ausländerbehörde permit a self-employed activity alongside your studies. It is a discretionary decision: the degree has to remain the main purpose, and you register with the Finanzamt only once the permission is in your hands.
- Does the 18-month job-search permit after graduation allow self-employment?
- Yes. § 20 AufenthG issues it for the search for an Erwerbstätigkeit and attaches no restriction, and § 2 Abs. 2 defines Erwerbstätigkeit as self-employment, employment and civil service. The catch is the clock: the permit runs up to 18 months and § 20 Abs. 2 rules out any extension. Graduates of a German university have a claim to a § 21 Abs. 2a self-employment permit when the business relates to their degree, so apply for that well before the 18 months end.
- Can I freelance on the side with a Blue Card or a skilled-worker permit?
- Only with permission. Those titles are issued for one specific employment, and § 4a Abs. 3 Satz 4 AufenthG forbids any other Erwerbstätigkeit until the authority allows it. § 21 Abs. 6 is the route: the Ausländerbehörde can permit a self-employed side activity while you keep the job. Blue Card holders may change employers without asking after the first year (§ 18g Abs. 4), but that rule is about employment and does not extend to a business.
- What is the difference between a freelancer and a Freiberufler?
- The English word covers anyone working for clients; the German one is a tax category. § 18 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 EStG lists the liberal professions (doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, journalists, translators, teachers, artists, writers and "similar" work), and only those register with the Finanzamt alone, pay no Gewerbesteuer and skip the IHK. Everything else is a Gewerbe, whatever you call yourself. The Finanzamt decides on your Fragebogen, and a later audit can overturn it.
- How much does it cost to register a business in Germany?
- A Freiberufler pays nothing: the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung is free. A Gewerbeanmeldung is a municipal fee that varies by city: Berlin charges €15 online and €26 in person per person, or €31 for a legal entity; Munich charges €50 to €60 depending on the legal form. A UG or GmbH adds the notary and the Handelsregister court fee on top, and the GmbH needs €25,000 in share capital with at least €12,500 paid in before registration.
- How long does it take to get a Steuernummer?
- There is no statutory deadline for the Finanzamt; in my two registrations the letter came after a few weeks. What has a deadline is you: the Fragebogen must reach the Finanzamt electronically within one month of starting (§ 138 AO). File it the day you start, and set up the Mein ELSTER account before that, because its activation code comes by post.
- Do I need a Gewerbeanmeldung as a Freiberufler?
- No. Freie Berufe fall outside the Gewerbeordnung, so there is no Gewerbeamt, no IHK membership and no Gewerbesteuer. The whole registration is the Fragebogen to the Finanzamt. The only exception is a freelancer who wraps the practice in a UG or GmbH: a corporation is a Gewerbe by its legal form and registers like one.
Statutes read on gesetze-im-internet.de in September 2026; fees read off the Berlin and Munich city portals the same month. This is a guide from experience, not legal advice: the Ausländerbehörde decides permits and the Finanzamt decides tax status, case by case.
Sources
Every figure and rule on this page comes from one of these. Open the ones that matter to your case; a statute link lands on the paragraph itself.
Statutes, read on gesetze-im-internet.de
- § 2 AufenthGErwerbstätigkeit includes self-employment
- § 4a AufenthGwork allowed unless restricted; a title for one job forbids other work
- § 9 AufenthGNiederlassungserlaubnis
- § 16b AufenthGstudy permit, 140 working days of employment
- § 18g AufenthGBlue Card
- § 20 AufenthG18-month job-search permit
- § 20a AufenthGChancenkarte
- § 21 AufenthGself-employment permit, graduates, permission alongside another permit
- § 18 EStGthe catalogue of liberal professions
- § 14 GewOa trade is notified when it starts
- § 138 AOFragebogen within one month, electronically
- § 141 AObookkeeping thresholds
- § 19 UStGKleinunternehmer thresholds
- § 11 GewStG€24,500 Gewerbesteuer allowance
- §§ 2, 5, 5a, 7 GmbHGnotary, share capital, the UG, payment before registration
- § 707 BGBthe optional Gesellschaftsregister for a GbR
- § 20 GwGTransparenzregister
- § 2 SGB VIcompulsory pension for self-employed teachers and one-client freelancers
Official pages the fees and procedures were read from
- Berlin: Gewerbe anmeldenfees €15 online, €26 per person, €31 legal entity
- Berlin: residence permit for self-employmentrequirements, documents and fees for a § 21 application
- Berlin immigration office: self-employed and freelancewhich permit wording lets you start without applying
- Munich: Gewerbeanmeldungfee €50 to €60 by legal form, residence permit required
- Landesamt für Steuern Niedersachsenthe Fragebogen is electronic-only since 1 January 2021
- IHK Region Stuttgartself-employment by third-country nationals, updated October 2025
- BMWK GründerZeiten 17Freie Berufe: who decides, catalogue and similar professions
Related guides
PR & Citizenship Timeline
Your own date for the permit that allows everything.
Working in Germany
Contracts, tax classes and a payslip decoder for the job you keep meanwhile.
Germany Visa Checker
Not here yet? Find the route that fits your profile.
Freelance & Business Walkthrough
An hour on screen share through your own Fragebogen or Gewerbeanmeldung.
Every one of these forms is in German
The Fragebogen, the Gewerbeamt, the letter from the IHK. B1 gets you through them, and B1 is also what permanent residence asks for.
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