天美麻豆

The English word "freelancer" and the German "Freiberufler" are NOT the same - although they are often (wrongly) used interchangeably in translations.

"Freiberufler" applies onlyto a small number of professions, as listed on this page (in German only):

Marketing consultants and similar professions are NOT among them.

All other professions must, if they want to be self-employed, register a business. This is mainly a difference in level of administration and taxation, but also possible.

What all this means for visa purposes is a good question. If you find out more, please post it here, for the benefit of all readers!

However, one warning: Being self-employed (whether freelance or not) in Germany involves a lot of buerocracy, carried out in difficult German language, and errors are penalized heavily.

If you are not fluent in German, you are likely to have to engage professional services for business registration, accountancy and taxation. The associated fees unfortunately make most such ideas unattractive in financial terms. In addition, good German is required for networking and generating business leads. For that reason, there are very few non-EU self-employed people coming here.

Like Beppi mentioned, the German Freiber眉fler does NOT mean freelancer, although many but not all Freiber眉fler are freelancers. Freiber眉fler are specific jobs that are allowed without requiring a commercial license; artists, journalists etc. A marketing consultant will almost certainly not be considered a Freiber眉fler but聽 need a trade license or 鈥淕ewerbeschein鈥�.

Usually one immigrates through getting a job with an employer willing to take the extra risk, cost and effort to recruit someone; only going to happen if they have highly demanded skills and this usually includes a high level of German language.

Being a freelancer basically means starting your own service business. They will want to see a business plan indicating a good chance of success. One should have proper capitalization to acquire any needed office space , equipment, budget for tax and legal services and cover operating expenses 鈥� all of which are usually are more than the initial income in the first couple of years.

But a very high percentage of self-employed or small business owners fail 鈥� and those are locals who speak the language. For a foreigner it is much harder. Do you not only know the business field well but the local conditions and workings? Do you have a command of German and have business connections already? If you think you can show up and do such a business in English then you are mistaken. Having good English and/or other languages is a plus but only in addition, not as an alternative to German. There is no legal requirement to the level of German in marketing as there is in say medical or legal related fields but for all practical purposes one has no chance without it.

And who should your clients be? Most companies needing marketing services have their own marketing departments - or go to big firms with a well-known reputation. They don鈥檛 likely hire a small operation especially one run by a newly arrived foreigner.

Most people hoping to work in this field would first find a job with a marketing firm and possibly after some years of really getting to know the local markets try to go out on their own with a start-up.

Hi there,

I am also interested in applying for the residence permit as a freelancer (technically not a visa), and have read through all the requirements, supporting documentation and official FAQs. I believe I would qualify as a freelancer artist/writer, ie, not self-employed and not requiring registration with a governing body.

My issue is that even though I have requested an appointment with the LEA in Berlin twice, I have never heard anything from them, not even an automated confirmation of receipt. I have now spent 70 of my 90 visa-free days as a U.S. citizen within the EU Schengen Zone, which means I would need to secure an appointment within the remaining 20 days.

I am okay with being given an appointment months in the future - that is not a problem. However, I would need to have an appointment to be granted a Fiktionsbescheinigung to be able to stay on past the 90 days.

My question is (apologies to OP for any hijacking here, but this post seems to have concluded), is there any other way I can secure an appointment than just emailing the general address? If anyone with any experience with this can offer any insights, that would be so incredibly helpful.

Thank you!

A quick Google search showed that the "LEA Berlin" is the local name for the foreigner authority ("Ausl盲nderamt") there.

Foreigner authorities, especially in big cities where many foreigners live, are often understaffed, overworked and generally inefficient. But there is unfortunately no way around them.

Sometimes you have to show up (preferably early in the morning, to have a chance to be seved that day) to get a queue number. But mostly you need an appointment months on advance, which might be given only by phone, or email, or a web-based booking system. There have been cases of scalpers collecting appointments and selling them to desperate foreigners like you, but this is of course illegal.

Also, a "Fiktionsbescheinigung" is a temporary extension of one's residence permit until the applied for new one is granted. A Schengen visa (which you seem to be holding now) is not extendable in this way.

I believe 20 days is anyway not sufficient to get an appointment AND process the permit you need - even in small, rural towns with almost not foreigners (which is where you could try again during your next visit, to have a better chance of success).

I think Beppi overlooked that Americans like citizens from Canada, Australia, New Zealand,聽 the UK, Japan, S. Korea and a few other economically advanced countries don鈥檛 get a Schengen visas for tourism; they have the same 90 day limit but without needing a visa.

Expecting to get an appointment and such a decision in such a short time is likely wishful thinking. Such civil servants are overworked and such things take time. One needs to prove that they are such a writer or artist and successful enough with a strategy to make a living in Germany. Being a world famous actor, choreographer, dancer, comedian etc. that is in demand has a decent chance. If one is not well known or established then it can be trickier. As a writer, at least passively understanding German if not writing in it will likely be expected. They really want to be convinced one has a pathway to make a living.

One is then required to join the K眉nstlersozialkasse; something that should be googled. If successful, one is usually then given a conditional 3 year residence. When it is up; if one is making what they consider a good living then an unlimited residency can be given. If one is below the poverty level then they will likely be given no further residency and have to leave. If somewhere in between these two one might be allowed to stay but be given another temporary permit.聽

You mentioned the Fiktionsbescheinigung. Once you鈥檝e submitted a complete application for the residence permit, you can usually apply for this temporary certificate to stay legally while the process runs, even if your 90鈥慸ay visa鈥慺ree stay is about to expire. The crucial point is that the application must be lodged *before* your visa鈥慺ree period ends; otherwise you鈥檇 need to leave and re鈥慳pply from abroad.

@Ternrise While what you wrote about the "Fiktionsbescheinigung" is theoretically correct, the practice is different (Have you actually been here?): It is very often (also retroactively, and no matter when you submit) used to cover the inefficiency and ineptitude of the German foreigners' authorities ("Ausl盲nderamt"), where you usually can't even get an appointment to submit an application within your 90-days-period. But this is up to the officer's discretion - so you cannot depend on it or even claim your rights.

And while you are on "Fiktionsbescheinigung" you have no right to work or do anything other than stay here. In most cases, you also cannot travel (or you lose the "Fiktion" and the application is covers).

Dealing with German foreigners' authorities requires enormous patience and frustration tolerance!