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I am a US citizen moving to Berlin, Germany at the end of this month, and I'll be employed full-time by a San Francisco Bay Area-based technology startup, helping them to establish a presence in the European market--essentially a head of operations role. I plan to stay in the region for 2-3 years.

My future employer does not currently have a German subsidiary or branch, and I expect to be paid by the US entity, at least in the near-term. When it comes time to build a team in the region (3-6 months down the line), the company will set up a subsidiary or branch as necessary.

I'll be able to provide all of the required residence permit application materials without issue, and my salary will be more than sufficient for living comfortably in Berlin.

My question is this: will it be possible for me to receive a residence permit if my employer has no German subsidiary, and if so, what sort of permit is the best to apply for? I don't believe that the company will be able to formally 'sponsor' me if there's no German entity, though I'll be able to provide proof of employment, salary, etc.

In terms of background, I have worked in San Francisco in technology for 7+ years, but I am not a software engineer--my background is in product management and partnerships. I have a 4-year college degree as well as a certification in data science from a bootcamp-ish organization.

I have reviewed this thread (Moving to Germany, working remotely for company in US. What sort of visa do I need to stay?) which was helpful but not directly relevant, because the asker was soon-to-be-married to an EU citizen.

Another note, not sure if meaningful: my girlfriend is making the move with me and has received a job offer from a German company that will be sponsoring her residence permit.

Danke!

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wints
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    What's your citizenship? – Karlson Sep 03 '15 at 01:58
  • Hi Karlson, I'm a US citizen w/ a passport that meets all residence permit requirements (blank pages, expiration date). – wints Sep 03 '15 at 03:40
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    You may be able to apply for a residence permit according to: http://www.german-way.com/for-expats/living-in-germany/getting-a-residence-permit-for-germany/ But you may want to consult an attorney if the letter of intent from a business without a physical presence in Germany will be sufficient. – Karlson Sep 03 '15 at 12:33
  • In Germany you'd need to be married to get a residence permit associated with your partner's job, assuming she's not German. – Louis Sep 04 '15 at 21:30
  • Thanks Louis, that's helpful. More general update is that I think we've found a good lawyer to help with the process. Will be sure to answer the question once we decide how best to approach my application. – wints Sep 05 '15 at 00:16

1 Answers1

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OK, it took awhile to get through the process, but I have an update. Here's how I handled my situation:

  1. I contacted a public-private organization called Berlin Partner for Business and Technology with my details: https://www.berlin-partner.de/en/our-services/talent-services/.

    Berlin Partner was willing to take on my case (free of charge--they're gov't funded), and they handled all communication with the Ausländerbehörde. It's not uncommon for them to take cases from 'temporary representatives' who will be on projects in Berlin for an extended period of time, working for a company without a Germany entity. This accurately describes my situation.

  2. My employer needed to provide Berlin Partner with a handful of documents verifying my position and my right to represent the company in Berlin. There wasn't really anything out of the ordinary that required special lawyering, though. I did pay a professional translator about $200 USD to translate my US employment contract to German.

  3. After Berlin Partner submitted my case, the Ausländerbehörde was willing to offer me a Blue Card so long as I first enrolled in German private health insurance, as the coverage is more comprehensive than the 'international' plans popular among expats. I ended up working with a broker (strongly recommended), and I am using Allianz to fulfill my insurance requirement. Note that I needed to see a doctor and a dentist for basic exams in order to be accepted by Allianz.

  4. After getting confirmation of insurance coverage from Allianz, I scheduled an appointment with the Ausländerbehörde, and during the appointment, they placed an order for my Blue Card. I received a 3-month temporary work permit in my passport since the Blue Card takes 3-4 weeks to arrive. They're going to email me so I can pick up the Blue Card once it's ready.

As far as I can tell, the process is nearly complete (though, to be clear, I don't quite have my Blue Card in hand yet). From start to finish, it took approximately 60 days to get to this point (20 days in the States, 40 days in Germany).

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  • For the record: I picked the Blue Card itself earlier this week, approximately 4.5 months after I started the application process. I think it's now officially safe to say that the approach described in my answer worked successfully for me. – wints Jan 23 '16 at 09:06
  • Glad it worked out for you. I'm willing to attempt a similar scenario with my case, it would be very helpful to know what percentages you ended up committing for your insurance/taxation expenses for future reference. – Kerem Sep 25 '16 at 09:17
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    Looks like the link has expired, but I suspect it was just moved to here: https://www.berlin-partner.de/en/our-services/talent-services/ – u2622 Jul 07 '17 at 00:23
  • Are you employed as a full time employee in the USA? Does your company withhold tax?

    My American tax advisor told me: As a full time employee, I'll have to pay social security in the USA, and my company will withhold federal, but not state tax.

     – Michael Glass Jan 08 '18 at 12:32
  • @MichaelGlass Yes, you'll very likely owe social security in the USA, but you might not owe it in Germany. This page has detail about the social security agreement between the two countries: https://www.ssa.gov/international/Agreement_Pamphlets/germany.html#intro. I was employed as a full-time employee with the US corp while living in Germany (side note: I'm still in Germany but have changed jobs & now work for a German company), & the US company did withhold both state and federal taxes while I was employed there. In case it helps, the US company was California-based. – wints Jan 09 '18 at 13:05
  • Would you be able to provide more details on what documents your company provided to Ausländerbehörde to help you obtain your blue card and any other costs or hurdles you and/or your company incurred? I work for a small (US) tech startup and am thinking of moving to Germany for fun (Prefer Augsburg or München but Berlin would be ok). My company has no physical presence abroad. I'm a US citizen. Our current clients are all US companies but some have German or other EU-based divisions that use our products. I would estimate that 15-20% of our end-users are in the EU if that is relevant at all. – Daniel Bonnell Oct 14 '18 at 18:32
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    @ACIDSTEALTH Initially, I provided my US employment contract, a copy of my passport, my CV, a couple of applications that Berlin Partner had asked me to fill out, and a letter from my company stating that I was being sent to explore the European market. I also needed to get my Anmeldung (https://www.settle-in-berlin.com/anmeldung/) and proof of private German health insurance--in the German system, not travel insurance or similar. That last one might prove to be tricky if you don't have a contract with a German company / German entity of a US company, but a broker was able to help me out. – wints Oct 16 '18 at 00:17
  • @ispoorbutsexy This is very helpful, thanks you! How long is your blue card valid for? Is it contingent upon your company registering/incorporating in Germany and/or opening a physical office within a certain time period? I could easily get my company to write a letter of intent, but we are a web software startup with no physical office space so it's tough to say if it would ever make sense for us to actually incorporate in another country. I'm interested in moving purely for fun and to be closer to my best friends and to get away from the toxic socio-political climate here in the US. – Daniel Bonnell Oct 16 '18 at 16:48
  • @ACIDSTEALTH my Blue Card was valid for four years from date of issue and had no contingencies other than the standard BC requirements. I’ve actually changed jobs twice on the same card (you need to notify the Ausländerbehörde if you change jobs, but this was easy). I’ll be applying for permanent residency soon, and I expect this to be settled before the BC expires next year. I don’t know if going through Berlin Partner (who I mention in my answer) made it easier for me to obtain a BC, but we did not have any concrete expansion plans either and this wasn’t an issue. – wints Oct 17 '18 at 19:28
  • @ispoorbutsexy That's good to know! We don't have concrete plans yet either but my co-founder is Greek so that would certainly be an asset if we do expand into Europe in the future. Additionally if things don't go well with the business, I have a very competitive skillset in tech that could easily land me a job almost anywhere and I intend to learn German if I make the move. One more question, is your BC valid for residence anywhere in Germany or did you have to move to Berlin? I like Berlin and would consider it seriously, but I'd prefer to be closer to my friends in Augsburg. Thanks again! – Daniel Bonnell Oct 18 '18 at 18:12
  • @ispoorbutsexy 3 more questions, thanks for being so helpful!. 1) Did you need to provide details on your company's financials such as profit/loss statements, tax returns, etc? My company is tiny (3 people, less than $200k ARR) and while we're growing, we're not yet profitable (expect to get there in 6-12 months away still). Not sure how this impacts things. 2) When you changed jobs, did you go with another US company or are you now working for a German company? 3) Roughly what percent of your salary do you pay between Federal/State and German taxes? – Daniel Bonnell Oct 18 '18 at 19:05
  • @ACIDSTEALTH I don't think the BC comes w/ any restrictions on where you can live within Germany by default, but not sure. We did not need to provide financial details about the company. I work for a German co now, and I'm no tax expert and recommend reading an overview or two about taxes for expats then hiring accountants when time to file. As a next step, I'd say just reach out to a lawyer who works with expats and get things underway. Every case is different and there was only so much I could figure out beforehand via online research. I made progress once I started calling and emailing. – wints Oct 20 '18 at 18:17
  • @ispoorbutsexy I contacted Berlin Partner and they told me that a way forward might be to register a representative office (Repräsentanz) and that I might receive a one-year residence permit with possibility of extension (based on past experiences). I'm currently working on compiling some documents to send over but am curious if this resembles the path that you took? Obviously I hope for a BC with a longer validity if possible but don't want to push my luck. – Daniel Bonnell Oct 23 '18 at 19:41
  • @ACIDSTEALTH yes, we'd discussed the same path initially--but after I submitted my documents to Berlin Partner, they responded and said I'd qualify for a Blue Card instead of the "representative" visa. Unfortunately, I was not included on the thread between Berlin Partner and whomever they were interacting with, and I never found out why I was OK'd for the BC (and decided not to ask too many questions ;) ). – wints Oct 25 '18 at 15:14
  • @ispoorbutsexy Gotcha! So they asked me to submit a "posting declaration" (basically a power of attorney to represent and act on behalf of the company) and proof of income, which I said I could send over early next week. Is this similar to what you submitted or did you submit additional/different documents? I haven't submitted these quite yet. They did say that my case isn't explicitly covered under the German Residency Act, which maybe hint that this is a case more suited for a BC? ;) – Daniel Bonnell Oct 25 '18 at 20:09
  • Hey @wints! I know this was ages ago but I'm curious about 2 things - (1) did your employer have to do anything extra on their end, eg pay social insurance taxes to the German government? If not, did you have to handle any additional taxes independently? (2) did you need an employer of record to qualify for the Blue Card, or were you actually employed directly by the US-based startup? Asking as I am exploring co-founding a startup with other Americans while working from Berlin. Thanks! – william_grisaitis Feb 27 '24 at 19:41