Entry and residence

Every Union citizen has the right to enter the member states of the EU, the European Economic Area (the EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland without a visa.

Union citizens also have the right to live and work in these countries without needing special permission and subject to very few restrictions. They have almost the same rights as citizens of the other country. This is known as freedom of movement. Union citizens do have to have a valid national ID card or passport in order to prove their right to freedom of movement.

A women entering the EasyPass security lane at an airport (Larger version opens in new window) Source: Federal Police

However, Union citizens who stay in another EU member state for more than three months and have lived there less than five years, who are not employed or self-employed there, have no prospects of becoming employed or self-employed and are unable to support themselves and their family members do not have a right to freedom of movement.

In other words, Union citizens have a right to stay in another EU member state for more than three months if they fulfil one of the following conditions:

• they are employed or self-employed in the other EU member state; or
• they are seeking work there. After six months, however, they must demonstrate that they have prospects of finding work; or
• they are not employed or self-employed, students or trainees, but they have sufficient resources and health insurance cover; or
• they have already lived in the other EU member state for five years, in which case they are entitled to permanent residence and no longer need to fulfil further conditions.

Union citizens may lose the right to freedom of movement if they have committed one or more crimes which indicate that their continued residence constitutes a threat.

No permission or German documents needed as proof

Union and EEA citizens who move to Germany do not need to complete any special formalities. Like German citizens who move to a new home, they must register their address with the proper local authorities. They are not issued a temporary residence permit or special identity document. They do not have to show their employer a work permit. Their national ID card or passport is sufficient to prove that they are allowed to work in Germany. Employers do not have to copy or scan these documents as proof, as they do when hiring people who are not citizens of EU or EEA countries (third-country nationals).

Germany does not issue national ID cards for Union or EEA citizens. If they so desire, Union and EEA citizens may apply for a German eID card issued specifically for Union citizens and EEA nationals in order to use its digital functions.

Documents for Swiss citizens

Slightly different rules apply to citizens of Switzerland, because Switzerland does not belong to the EU or the EEA. Like Union and EEA citizens, Swiss citizens are not required to report their residence in Germany to the foreigners authority. However, for practical reasons they may have to prove their right of residence, their right to work or their address in Germany, or they may wish to use the functions of the electronic residence permit so that they can verify their identify online in order to use digital services offered by government agencies and commercial service providers. If they live in Germany for more than three months, they can therefore apply to their local foreigners authority for a card certifying their right of residence. The same fee is charged for issuing this card as for a German national ID card.

Family members who are third-country nationals

People who are not citizens of an EU member state, an EEA member state or Switzerland are called third-country nationals.

Third-country nationals who are spouses, registered life partners or immediate family members of a citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland (reference person) have a right of residence if they live with the reference person in a family household. This only applies to parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren of the reference person who are older than 21 if the reference person pays for their maintenance. If the third-country nationals are not employed or self-employed, their subsistence must be guaranteed, and they must have sufficient health insurance cover. If the reference person is a student, only his or her spouse, life partner and children for whom the student pays maintenance have a right of residence.

In most cases, third-country nationals to whom these rules apply must have the necessary visa to enter Germany for the first time. After they arrive in Germany, they must apply for a residence card at their local foreigners authority in order to prove that they have a right of residence.

Other close relationships

Under certain conditions, and following a thorough examination of the individual case, other third-country nationals who are in a close relationship with a Union citizen living in Germany may be considered the equivalent of family members as referred to above and may receive a right of residence. Such third-country nationals are in particular more distant relatives for whom the Union citizen is a caregiver or permanently paying maintenance, or an unmarried domestic partner whose relationship to the Union citizen is characterised by mutual support and objectively apparent, for example by the presence of children, by common property or by a shared household. A right of residence always requires that the subsistence of the third-country national is guaranteed. Further details are given in no. 3.1.5 and no. 4 of the Guidelines for Implementing the Act on the Current Amendment of the Freedom of Movement Act/EU and of Other Legislation in Line with Union Law.