and 66 more
- service.berlin.de
- mth-partner.de
- auswaertiges-amt.de
- ihk.de
- germany.info
- mth-partner.de
- bamf.de
- germany.info
- certifixlivescan.com
- china.diplo.de
- china.diplo.de
- china.diplo.de
- china.diplo.de
- china.diplo.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de
- auswaertiges-amt.de
- hcch.net
- hcch.net
- hcch.net
- deutsche-rentenversicherung.de
- dvka.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de
- bundesfinanzministerium.de
- kairo.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- india.diplo.de
- auswaertiges-amt.de
- digital.diplo.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de
- bmas.de
- deutsche-rentenversicherung.de
- rvrecht.deutsche-rentenversicherung.de
- bundesfinanzministerium.de
- anerkennung-in-deutschland.de
- brasil.diplo.de
- brasil.diplo.de
- brasil.diplo.de
- brasil.diplo.de
- brasil.diplo.de
- brasil.diplo.de
- brasil.diplo.de
- brasil.diplo.de
- auswaertiges-amt.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de
- eur-lex.europa.eu
- home-affairs.ec.europa.eu
- atos.cnj.jus.br
- atos.cnj.jus.br
- cnj.jus.br
- bundesfinanzministerium.de
- bundesfinanzministerium.de
- deutsche-rentenversicherung.de
- deutsche-rentenversicherung.de
- normas.receita.fazenda.gov.br
- gov.br
- gov.br
- gov.br
Freiberufler (Freelance Visa)
Freelance visaGermany doesn't run a dedicated digital nomad visa. The Freiberufler (its freelance residence permit for the “liberal professions” like writing, software, design, and consulting) is the route most remote workers use instead. It predates the nomad-visa wave but does the same job: a proper residence permit you live and work on, with a path to permanent residency. Expect more documentation than a purpose-built nomad visa asks for.
What this visa gets you
Visa
Entry document
Temporary residency
3 years, renewable
Permanent residency
After 5 years
Citizenship
After 5 years of residence
- Income requirement
- No fixed minimum: you must show the freelance work sustainably covers your living costs (applicants over 45 also need adequate pension provision).
- Application fee
- €100
- Family allowed
- Yes
How do Brazilian citizens apply for the Germany Freiberufler?
Can Brazilian citizens apply from inside Germany?
Generally no: most applicants apply from outside Germany before they travel.
The "fly in on a tourist stamp and convert" route is a widespread misconception and does not work for this visa. If you already hold legal residence in Germany on another permit, different rules may apply, so confirm with the authorities.
How long does the Germany Freiberufler really take for Brazilian citizens?
18 weeks (≈ 4 months)
- Police clearance (typical)1w
- Apostille (typical)1w
- Consular appointment (typical)4w
- Processing 12w official12w
- Post-arrival registration (typical)2w
Official processing: 12 weeks. The rest is doc gathering + waiting in a queue, none of which the consulate counts.
Avoid these
What do people get wrong about the Germany Freiberufler?
- The tourist-stamp convert myth. Flying to Germany on a tourist stamp and converting it into the residence visa from inside the country is not possible for Freiberufler. Almost every application story that goes badly starts with this misconception.
- Underestimating timing by a factor of 2–3. The "60-day processing" line is real, but it's only the consulate's processing window. The door-to-door reality includes police clearance, apostille, consular appointment lead, and post-arrival registration, so most applicants land between 4 and 7 months.
- Skipping or mis-formatting the apostille. Apostille is the single most cited rejection reason. Every supporting document from your home country needs an apostille from the right authority, and they expire. Don't apostille more than 4 months before submission.
Documents
What Brazilian applicants typically submit
Documents needing an apostille (Brazilian authorities):
- Hochschulabschluss oder Abschluss der Berufsausbildung: the university degree certificate or vocational qualification. This is the one Brazilian-issued item on the German mission's checklist, and the mission states directly that an apostille is necessary for Brazilian documents to be used, because it confirms to authorities in Germany that the document really was issued by an official Brazilian body.
- Any other Brazilian document relied on in the file, on the same rule. The mission's wording is general ("zur Verwendung brasilianischer Dokumente eine Apostille notwendig") rather than limited to the diploma.
- Brazilian civil-status certidoes (nascimento, casamento) issued by a registro civil cartorio, where a spouse or children are filed under the separate family checklists.
- Not on the checklist and so not apostilled for this route: any criminal record certificate. The mission does not ask for one.
- Note the contrast with the German missions in China, which expressly exempt university and school certificates from the apostille rule. The Brazil post applies the opposite treatment, and the diploma is exactly the document it points the apostille rule at.
Worth knowing: The Brazilian passport sits in an odd middle tier that no other Expatlas source country occupies, and getting it wrong costs the whole application. Brazil is on Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, so there is no Schengen short-stay visa to obtain and a Brazilian can board a plane to Germany tomorrow. But Brazil is in § 41 Absatz 2 AufenthV, not Absatz 1. Absatz 1 (Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, Korea, New Zealand, UK, USA) lets those nationals enter without a visa and pick up any residence title at the Auslanderbehorde afterwards. Absatz 2 (Andorra, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Monaco, San Marino) grants the same in-country route only to someone who will not take up Erwerbstatigkeit. The German mission in Brazil says it plainly: Brazilians may enter visa-free and collect the residence permit in Germany "sofern keine Erwerbstatigkeit beabsichtigt ist", and its examples are study, school exchange, language course, family reunification and marriage. Freelance work is not on that list, and § 2 Absatz 2 AufenthG defines Erwerbstatigkeit as including selbstandige Tatigkeit, so the Freiberufler route falls outside the exemption and the national D visa must be obtained at a mission in Brazil before entry. So the American and British playbook of landing in Berlin and booking an Auslanderbehorde slot does not transfer, even though a Brazilian faces no visa to land. The second Brazil-specific fact is fiscal: Germany terminated the 1975 double taxation treaty on 7 April 2005 with effect from 1 January 2006, and the BMF's registry as at 1 January 2026 still shows Brasilien only under future agreements and ongoing negotiations, marked as a first-ever agreement still at the negotiation stage. A Brazilian freelancer in Germany therefore has no treaty tie-breaker, no treaty permanent-establishment article and no treaty-based relief, which is not true for any other Expatlas source country. The social security side runs the other way: the Germany-Brazil agreement has been in force since 1 May 2013 and allows German and Brazilian periods to be added together to meet qualifying periods, so a Brazilian keeps more of their contribution history than, say, a Chinese applicant, whose agreement is posting-only.
Tax
How is Freiberufler income taxed for Brazilian citizens?
Freelancers become German tax residents and are taxed on worldwide income under progressive income tax (Einkommensteuer, roughly 14% to 45% plus solidarity surcharge where applicable). Freiberufler (liberal professions under § 18 EStG) are exempt from trade tax (Gewerbesteuer), unlike commercial self-employed (Gewerbetreibende). They must register with the local tax office (Finanzamt). There is no special expat or relocation tax regime in Germany; no flat-rate or time-limited reduced-tax scheme applies.
Money, roughly (sourced)
Regime: Ordinary progressive income tax (14%–42%/45%), no special nomad regime, about 25.5% effective tax on €60k/yr.
No expat/nomad flat regime exists in Germany. A Freiberufler resident is taxed on worldwide income at the ordinary progressive scale (2025: 0% to EUR 12,096; 14%–42% to EUR 68,429; 42% to EUR 277,825; 45% above). Solidarity surcharge (5.5% of income tax) only bites at higher incomes; church tax (8–9%) if a member. The big real-world cost driver is self-funded health insurance, not income tax alone.
Capital gains: 25%. Headline 25% flat withholding (Abgeltungsteuer) on financial-investment gains; 26.375% with solidarity surcharge. Real-property gains are tax-free after a 10-year holding period.
Living comfortably to well in Berlin runs about €2,400–€3,350/mo for one person, incl. rent. Roughly 60% more than the same living in São Paulo, which runs about R$8,700/mo (≈ €1,500).
Estimate your take-home in the tax calculator →Worth a specialist's time. A short call before you commit usually pays for itself, especially for US citizens (FEIE/FATCA), existing UK ties, or unwinding SA tax residency.
Recommended for your move
- SafetyWingFlexible monthly cover
Health insurance built for nomads. Monthly subscription.
Get a quote - GenkiEU-regulated, long-term
EU-regulated health insurance for nomads and expats; long-term and resident cover.
See plans - WiseGetting paid abroad
Multi-currency account and low-cost transfers at the mid-market rate.
Open an account - RevolutEveryday spending
Multi-currency card with budgeting and fee-free transfers.
Open an account
FAQ
Germany Freiberufler: common questions
Can Brazilian citizens get the Germany Freiberufler?
Yes. The Freiberufler is open to Brazilian passport holders as non-EU nationals. This route has no fixed minimum income threshold.
Can I apply for the Germany Freiberufler from inside Germany?
Generally no. Brazilian applicants normally apply at the Germany consulate responsible for their region before travelling. Note this is about converting a short tourist stay; if you already hold legal residence in Germany on another permit, different rules may apply, so confirm with the authorities.
How long does the Germany Freiberufler take for Brazilian applicants?
Official processing is 12–12 weeks. Door-to-door, including police clearance, apostille, consular appointment lead time, and post-arrival registration, most Brazilian applicants take about 12–12 weeks (roughly 3–3 months).
Do I need an apostille for the Germany Freiberufler?
Yes. Supporting documents issued in Brazil (such as your police clearance) must be apostilled by the competent Brazil authority before submission. Apostilles can expire, so don't obtain them more than a few months ahead of applying.
How much does the Germany Freiberufler cost?
The government application fee is about €100. The consular fee paid in Brazil is approximately 75 EUR (the fee is set at 75.00 EUR. The Brazil mission states it is payable in Brazilian reais in cash, or in euro by international credit card, Mastercard or Visa only. Euro cash, cheques, debit cards and PIX are expressly not accepted, which is a real trap in a country where PIX is the default way to pay for everything.). Budget separately for police clearance, apostille (if required), translations, and required health insurance.
Does the Germany Freiberufler lead to permanent residency?
Yes. Time on the Freiberufler counts toward permanent residency, for which you can typically apply after 5 years of legal residence.
Can I bring my family on the Germany Freiberufler?
Yes. Spouses and dependent children can generally be included as dependants, usually with a higher combined income requirement and their own supporting documents.
What's next
Keep going
See Germany side-by-side with similar programmes.
Every country ranked by what's left after tax and living costs.
Different answers may surface a programme you didn't consider.
Every dated change we've logged for Germany: income thresholds, fees, consular policy.
Expatlas provides information for orientation only and is not legal advice. Always verify current requirements with official government sources and consult an immigration lawyer for your specific case.