If you want to quit your job to start a business or become a freelancer, you might need a different residence permit. Usually, you must apply for a freelance visa.
This guide shows you how to go from employee to freelancer. It’s based on my personal experience.
Side business with a work visa
If you can, start your business before you quit your job. It gives you time to register your business, find clients, and prepare for the transition. You need at least a few weeks to register your business and apply for the freelance visa.
How to start a business in Germany
Does your residence permit allow it?
If you need a residence permit to live in Germany, check if it allows self-employment. Check your Zusatzblatt.
Residence permits for self-employment
Some residence permits allow part time self-employment. You must keep your job, and it must be your main source of income. To be self-employed full time, you might need to apply for a freelance visa.
Does your employer let you freelance?
You do not need permission from your employer to have a side business,1 but there are exceptions:
- If you are a civil servant, soldier or judge, you need permission from their employer.
- If your work contract prevents you from having a side business.1 Each work contract is different.
Apply for the freelance visa
Next, you must apply for the freelance visa. This can take many weeks.
The freelance visa will replace your current residence permit. You can’t have both at the same time. As soon as you get the freelance visa, your old residence permit will become invalid. You must stop working for your employer as soon as you get the freelance visa, but you don’t know when you will get the freelance visa. This can be hard to synchronise.
Tell your health insurer
When you are an employee, your employer pays half of your health insurance. When you are self-employed, you pay the full amount yourself. This means that your health insurance will be twice as expensive.
Let's find the right health insurance. What is your occupation?
Tell us a bit more about you…
It helps us calculate prices and recommend the right health insurance.
Free health insurance
You can get free
Public health insurance
You make less than
If you can't get free health insurance, it costs
You must choose an insurer. There are dozens of options, but their cost and coverage are almost the same.
Cost explanation
You pay the {{ tarifName }} tarif.
Your health insurance costs a percentage of your income. Your employer pays half of it.
Your health insurance costs a percentage of your income.
Your health insurance has a fixed price.
You pay the
Base cost
You have a minijob, so you pay the
Insurer surcharge
Insurers can charge more for better services. Each insurer has a different surcharge. The average surcharge is {{ formatPercent(healthInsurance.avgZusatzbeitrag * 100) }} of your income.
Long-term care insurance
You pay the
Your employer pays
You are self-employed, so you don't get help from an employer.
When you make less than
You are unemployed, so you don't get help from an employer.
When you have a
Your employer pays half of your health insurance.
Your employer pays part of your health insurance.
You pay /month
This is what you pay for public health insurance.
You make more than
Private health insurance
You can't choose
If you are young and well-paid,
You can get
You can choose
Other options
You can switch to private health insurance. It can be better and cheaper than public health insurance. I switched, and I save around €600 per month. It’s a complex decision. Ask my insurance expert if it makes sense for you.
How to choose German health insurance
When you are an employee, health insurance is taken from your paycheck. When you are self-employed, you pay by bank transfer every month. The cost of public health insurance is based on your estimated income. It’s adjusted every year when you prove your real income.
Need help?
Where to ask immigration questions
Where to ask business questions