EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens

EU citizens can live in Germany to work, look for work or be self-employed without a residence permit. Swiss citizens are also exempt from the permit requirement under the 1999 free-movement agreement. You still need to register your address.

In short

• Start here if you are an EU/EEA citizen, a qualifying family member covered by EU free movement even with a non-EU passport, or a Swiss citizen under the separate agreement. Certain British withdrawal-agreement cases also follow their own protected route. If none of these rights covers you, use the residence-permit overview.
• For work, job search, or self-employment you do not request an Aufenthaltstitel. Job search is covered for up to six months, and after that only while you can show that you are still looking and have a genuine chance of being hired.
• Stopping work does not automatically end worker rights: section 2 (3) preserves them in the illness, involuntary unemployment and training cases below. Economically inactive people relying on section 4 need sufficient health insurance and sufficient means. For a student under that section, the accompanying right covers only the spouse, the life partner, and the children who are maintained.
• Swiss citizens are exempt under section 28 of the Residence Ordinance and the 1999 agreement, not under section 2 of the Free Movement Act. Where that agreement requires a certificate, ask for the chip document. People entitled to a residence permit or cross-border commuter card under the agreement must notify the Ausländerbehörde within three months of entry, separately from address registration.
• A family member who is not a Union citizen may need an Aufenthaltskarte, and section 2 allows that card to be refused. Section 1 does not cover every British passport. For EU/EEA free-movement cases and qualifying family members covered by that Act, section 4a sets the five-year route to permanent residence and its absence rules. Swiss-agreement cases need a separate check with the competent Ausländerbehörde.

What you need to know

The Free Movement Act covers Union citizens, nationals of the other EEA states who are not Union citizens, certain British citizens who have rights under the withdrawal agreement, and family members and close persons of those groups. Section 1 also covers family members of Germans who have exercised free movement. “Union citizen” in this Act means a national of another EU member state, not a German citizen.

Section 2 gives Union citizens a right to enter and stay in order to work or to take vocational training, to seek work, to be established as self-employed, or to provide or receive services. Job search is covered for up to six months, and after that only while the person can show they are still looking and have a genuine chance of being hired.

Economically inactive Union citizens relying on section 4 have that right when they have sufficient health insurance and sufficient means. This is separate from retained worker or self-employed rights under section 2 (3) and from a permanent right under section 4a. If the Union citizen is in Germany as a student, section 4 extends that accompanying right only to the spouse, the life partner, and the children who are maintained.

Section 2 (3) preserves the right of workers and self-employed people during temporary incapacity caused by illness or an accident. It also preserves it after more than one year of activity if unemployment is involuntary and confirmed by the competent Agentur für Arbeit, or if self-employment ends because of circumstances outside the person’s control.

After less than one year of employment, involuntary unemployment confirmed by that Agency preserves the right for six months. Keep the Agency confirmation and evidence of the work and why it ended.

The right also continues when you start vocational training connected to your previous work. That connection is not required if you lost your job involuntarily. These retained rights do not depend on meeting section 4’s separate test for economically inactive people. If work stops, check which ground covers you before assuming you must meet that test.

Swiss citizens are not listed as Union citizens in section 1. Section 28 of the Residence Ordinance exempts Swiss nationals from the residence-title requirement to the extent of the Agreement of 21 June 1999 between the European Community and its member states and the Swiss Confederation on free movement.

Where that agreement says the right of residence is certified by a residence permit, the permit is issued on request as a chip document.

Section 56 (2) of the Residence Ordinance also requires those entitled to a residence permit or cross-border commuter card under the agreement to notify the Ausländerbehörde of their stay within three months of entry. This notification is separate from address registration.

For long-term residence under the Swiss agreement, ask the competent Ausländerbehörde which agreement-specific rules apply; the section 4a route below describes the EU/EEA branch and qualifying family members covered by that Act.

For an ordinary move into a home, you still need to register your address within two weeks under the Federal Registration Act. Section 27 has temporary-stay exceptions; see the registration page for details.

What to do

1. Identify the applicable right, not only your passport. A non-EU spouse joining a qualifying EU worker can come under free movement. The ordinary case of a spouse joining a German who has not exercised the relevant free movement uses the family-reunion route instead. Check Swiss-agreement and British withdrawal-agreement cases separately. If no such right covers you, use the residence-permit overview. Before travel, check the visa requirement for your nationality and family documents with the competent German mission; free-movement family coverage does not by itself mean visa-free entry.
2. If you will work or be self-employed, you do not request an Aufenthaltstitel for that stay. Bring the identity document you will need for the employer and for the Meldebehörde. The employer still has to run payroll, tax, and social insurance. Those are separate from immigration status.
3. If work has stopped, first check retained rights under section 2 (3), including the Agentur für Arbeit confirmation required for involuntary unemployment. If you rely on section 4 as an economically inactive person, check sufficient health insurance and sufficient means. Students using that section should read its narrower family rule. A permanent right under section 4a has its own rules.
4. Register the address when the dwelling and stay fall under the registration duty. The registration page distinguishes ordinary moves, temporary stays and hotel rules. Family members who are not Union citizens may need an Aufenthaltskarte. Section 2 allows that card to be refused or withdrawn in the cases it names, including where the family life is not genuine. This page does not list city appointment rules for that card.
5. For the EU/EEA branch and qualifying family members covered by the Free Movement Act, section 4a provides a permanent right after five years of continuous lawful residence under the conditions it sets for that category. The right no longer depends on the original conditions. Shorter routes exist for workers who stop work because of retirement or incapacity, under the conditions written there. An absence of up to six months in a year does not break continuous residence. A single absence of up to twelve consecutive months can be allowed for an important reason, such as pregnancy, serious illness, study, vocational training, or a posting. A non-temporary absence of more than two consecutive years ends the permanent right.

Common mistakes

• Treating a Swiss passport as if section 2 of the Free Movement Act were the Swiss statute. The Swiss exemption is section 28 of the Residence Ordinance, and it follows the 1999 agreement. Where that agreement requires a certificate, ask for the chip document rather than assuming no paper exists.
• Assuming a non-EU spouse needs no residence document. Family members are inside the Act, and the card that certifies a non-EU family member’s stay can be refused. Read section 2 and the family rules before you travel.
• Counting a short holiday as the start of the five-year permanent right. For EU/EEA free-movement cases and qualifying family members covered by the Act, section 4a requires five years of continuous lawful residence, with the absence rules above. A tourist trip does not start that clock; Swiss-agreement cases require a separate check.
• Assuming every British citizen has withdrawal-agreement rights. Section 1 covers certain British citizens, but not everyone with a British passport. If those rights do not cover you, use the residence-permit overview.