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Frage

I am an English teacher and interpreter and I know German. I want to work in Germany as an interpreter as self-employed or freelancer. Could you kindly help me in this way? I am currently living in Iran.

Antwort

Thank you for your inquiry and your interest in setting up a business in Germany. We will gladly give you more information.

Regarding your residential status: As a citizen of Iran, in order to set up a business in Germany, you will need a residence permit for the purpose of self-employment (“Aufenthaltserlaubnis zur Ausübung einer selbständigen Tätigkeit”).

As you are not yet living in Germany, you need to apply for a visa for the purpose of self-employed occupation at the German mission in your home country. You will find the corresponding local contact on our “world map”. General information on visa processes 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 national's 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 are 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 wish to set up a business as a self-employed entrepreneur (“Gewerbe”). To obtain this permit, you will need to fulfill 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 you 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.

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

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.

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

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