Privileged Countries are those countries that enjoy a closer relationship with Germany and whose status allows its citizens to enter Germany without the need for a visa for up to 90 days.

Only citizens of the following countries can enter Germany without a visa and apply for a residence/work permit at the local “Ausländerbehörde” (immigration office) after arriving in Germany:

💡 However, even if you are a citizen of one of these countries, we always recommend applying for a visa in your country of origin / country of residence anyway (except in the case of Brazilian spouses/children).

The processing time of your work permit application at the immigration office in Germany can take several months and during that time you are not allowed to start working, which can lead to a lot of frustration.

On top of that, while waiting for your work permit application to be processed, you might run out of the 90 days that you are allowed to stay in the country/in Schengen. You will still be allowed to stay in the country afterward when the residence permit application has already been submitted, but you would not be able to travel outside of Germany anymore until you have your residence permit card in hand.

The following table shows those nationalities that enjoy privileged status when entering Germany as a tourist and do not require a visa to do so (updated in Sept 2022). However, only citizens of the 9 countries mentioned above can also directly apply for a residence permit in Germany; the others have to apply for a national visa in their home country / country of residence: