Germany for investor
Germany has no investor visa. Anyone selling you one is selling nothing.
This is the shortest page on the site, and the most useful. Germany has no investor visa, no golden visa, and no residence or citizenship by investment. The Residence Act's economic section runs from paragraph 18 to paragraph 21 and ends at self-employment; no paragraph in the whole Act is headed investor or investment. The Federal Government's own portal sets out the routes for coming to Germany to work for yourself, and it lists exactly two: founding a business, and working as a freelancer. There is no third. Search for a German golden visa and you will find brokers and law firms, and no government page, because there is no government page to find. Capital still matters here — but only as evidence inside the self-employment route, where it helps show your financing is secured. It does not buy residence on its own, and an agency charging you to apply for a route that does not exist is the clearest fraud signal in this whole field.
Where you stand
Make this page about you
0 paths are named in Germany's official demand list, ranked below.
What Germany wants, in its own order
This order is the official shortage analysis, not our opinion. The source is linked under the list.
The routes
Each route below is a separate permit with its own hard requirements. Failing any one requirement means that route is closed to you, however strong the rest of your case is.
Investor residence
ClosedNo such route exists in German law.
You must have every one of these
- There is nothing to meet. If you want to bring capital to Germany, the route is self-employment under § 21, where your investment is treated as evidence that your financing is secured.
Source: § 21 AufenthG — self-employment (Federal Office of Justice) (checked 2026-11-03) · Make it in Germany — self-employment (Federal Government portal) (checked 2026-11-03)
What it actually costs
Where a blocked account appears above, that is your own money and it comes back to you monthly after arrival. It is not a fee to anyone. No agent needs to hold it for you.
How long it really takes
0 months
If you are being quoted a timeline for a German investor visa, you are being quoted a timeline for something that does not exist.
Is this route real? The numbers
Published flow figures, so you can see the route is used and not just written down.
Does not exist
Germany's investor visa
Source: Make it in Germany — self-employment (Federal Government portal) (checked 2026-11-03)
None, of 107
Paragraphs of the Residence Act headed 'investor'
Source: § 21 AufenthG — self-employment (Federal Office of Justice) (checked 2026-11-03)