Navigation

Frage

I want to open a restaurant in Germany. I wonder, if this is allowed since I am not from Europe.

Antwort

Regarding your residential status: If you are not a citizen of a country of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland you will need a residence permit for the purpose of self-employment (“Aufenthaltserlaubnis zur Ausübung einer selbständigen Tätigkeit”).

If you are not yet living in Germany, you need to apply for a visa for the purpose of self-employed occupation at the competent German mission in your home country. The corresponding local contact you can find on our “world map”.

General information on visa process are available on “Make it in Germany”.

Please note: Make sure that you apply for the visa that corresponds to the actual purpose of your stay. This is the only way to ensure trouble-free extension or conversion of your visa by the foreign nationals' registration authority of your place of residence in Germany. For example, it is impossible to stay permanently on a visa that was issued only for a temporary stay (for example for a tourist stay).

Please note that there a several criteria which need to be fulfilled in order to obtain the residence permit for the purpose of self-employment. This depends on whether you work as a freelancer (“Freiberufler”) or set up a business as a self-employed entrepreneur (“Gewerbe”). If you would like to set up a business as a self-employed entrepreneur, you will need to apply for a residence permit for the purpose of self-employment. To obtain this permit, you will need to fulfil a number of general criteria and some additional requirements, which you should ideally cover convincingly in your business plan. A Residence permit will cost you a maximum of 140 Euro, while a settlement permit will cost 260 Euro at most. As a rule, the fee for visas is 75 Euro. For further questions regarding the visa process, please contact the German mission in your country of residence - especially for questions concerning the required documents.

For personal advice regarding visa issues, you can also contact the hotline “Working and Living in Germany” under the telephone number +49 30 1815 - 1111.

Besides, there are many public information centers, which will advise you as you set up your own business. On the Startup Portal, under “advice and information”, you will find the contact information of regional and national information centers for entrepreneurs with a migrant background.

Keep in mind, as you are operating in Germany, a good command of German is important. Even as you prepare your business, you will find that many official documents are available in German only. If your German is not good enough yet, you should make sure to take a language course, before you set up your business. Some advanced courses have a special focus on the business world.

For further Information regarding setting up a business in Germany, please visit the Website "Make it in Germany".

We wish you all the best for your future plans.

* Please note:
The information presented here is a general service offering. Only the German missions and the foreigners’ authorities are responsible for the issuance of visa resp. residence permits. For further questions, please contact directly the respective authority.

Source: Justina Alichniewicz
Projekt „Make it in Germany“
Internet: www.make-it-in-germany.com
Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln e.V.
Januar 2019

Tipps der Redaktion:

• BMWi-Existenzgründungsportal: English version