Germany: Extending residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel) after becoming self-employed

Question

I have lived in Germany with job specific Aufenthaltstitel for more than 3 years. I have worked in two companies in this time, and when I got hired for the second job I went to Ausländerbehörde and got a new Aufenthaltstitel with the new job specified as my work place.

My Aufenthaltstitel also includes the following line: “Selbständige Tätigkeit gestattet”

My Aufenthaltstitel expires in half a year.

I am considering joining an American company to work remotely and I'd like to register as a freelancer or self-employed, whatever fits, so I am able to issue invoices and pay tax here in Germany.

I understand that my current status allows me to be self-employed,
but I don't know if I can extend the residence permit being self-employed?

Any direction in terms and maybe sites where I could read about this would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Yes, you can extend your residence permit. From German Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz)

Einem Ausländer kann eine Aufenthaltserlaubnis zur Ausübung einer freiberuflichen Tätigkeit abweichend von Absatz 1 erteilt werden. Eine erforderliche Erlaubnis zur Ausübung des freien Berufes muss erteilt worden oder ihre Erteilung zugesagt sein. Absatz 1 Satz 3 ist entsprechend anzuwenden. Absatz 4 ist nicht anzuwenden.

As I understand it, you can get a resindence permit not only for specified job but also for self employement. As you are already allowed to be self-employed, I see no problem at all to extend your resindce permit.

Answer 2

I have successfully extended my residence permit based on self-employment. I had to bring a bunch of papers (some helpful guidance can be found here, but be sure to consult local Ausländerbehörde (for me it is Berlin).

They gave me the visa based on business plan, recommendation letters and a sheet of profit and loss and a personal statement, and I needed to register with pension and medical insurances and bring confirmations for these too. I only got the extension for 1 year and will need to provide my tax return papers to Ausländerbehörde for the extension.

One thing to note – the mark regarding “Selbständige Tätigkeit gestattet” in my visa did not allow to become self-employed, but rather to have some self-employment along with my main job at a company. I needed ausländerbehörde to specifically allow "Erwerbstätigkeit" (more about that), which I think means any jobs, employed or self-employed, are allowed.