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Comment by zerr | Hacker News Reader

Regarding Freelance visas, some countries (e.g. Germany [1]) require you to have local clients. So not an option for self-employed/indies. Would be nice to have similar info about countries that doesn't require you to work for someone else.

EDIT: 1. https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/how-to-get-a-german-freela....

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Actually, Germany only requires non-binding letters of intent from potential clients, upon which they extrapolate your income, which they want to be above the poverty line (1500 EUR a month in Germany, IIRC).

Sources: Many friends getting freelance visas, a visa lawyer.

I wrote the guide linked above. You are right, but when it's time to renew your visa, they aren't so lenient. You can also get a shorter visa if your case isn't compelling enough.

The Germany Freelance Visa link lists you having an address in Germany as one of the requirements, though. I'm not sure if that's an existing address or just a general "you have to stay somewhere and not be homeless".

I don't know about that exact rule (most of my clients are not German). Honestly in my experience of living here and freelancing on this visa a lot of these requirements seem to be up to the discretion of the person doing the interview / checking your documents.

Edit: See here https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_aufenthg/englisc...

(1) A foreigner may be granted a temporary residence permit for the purpose of self-employment if

1. an economic interest or a regional need applies,

2. the activity is expected to have positive effects on the economy and

3. personal capital on the part of the foreigner or a loan undertaking is available to realise the business idea.

I can confirm. I wrote the guide above and spend a lot of time dealing with the immigration office. They're a real box of chocolates, and some are filled with raisins.

Thanks for that resource, it was extremely helpful when renewing my visa.

I always love reading such comments. I'm glad it was useful to you!

This is to the best of my knowledge incorrect. I know more than one person that came to Germany as self employed without having customers prior to immigration.

That's a valid point. I need to adjust that. Thanks!

I'm sure a lot of people look up their home countries or countries which they are familiar with. You may want to consider a simple form where people can issue corrections that get emailed to you. Essentially crowdsource data.

Thats a good idea!

Give that linked guide a good read. You can actually get the visa without local clients, but you can't get it renewed.

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