• British citizens as well as,

• other British nationals i.e. holders of other British nationalities such as British Nationals Overseas, British Overseas Territories Citizens, British Overseas Citizens, British Protected Persons, British Subjects and holders of British passports issued on behalf of Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Montserrat, St. Helena, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands
  

  do not require visas for the European Union’s Schengen Member States, provided that the duration of their stay does not exceed 90 days within any 180 day period. Please note that you may not take up any employment or pursue any economic activity in Germany unless such employment is explicitly authorised by a visa or a residence permit issued by the local immigration office (“Ausländerbehörde”) in Germany.
  

British citizens and the aforementioned British nationals require a D visa and/or residence permit for any stay of over 90 days within any 180-day period or involving any economic activity (“Erwerbstätigkeit”). Some exemptions apply; please click here.

British citizens – and only British citizens - may apply for their residence permits with the local immigration office (“Ausländerbehörde”) after arrival in Germany and without having obtained a visa prior to travelling to Germany.

Please note that you need to register your new residence (“Anmeldung”) with the authorities (“Meldebehörde”) within 2 weeks of having moved in and apply to the local immigration office (“Ausländerbehörde”) for your residence permit within the first 90 days of your stay in Germany. It is also important to note that you may only take up employment or pursue any other economic activity once you have been issued a residence permit explicitly authorising such employment or activity.

All other British nationals listed above and intending to stay longer than 90 days within any 180-day period or pursue any activity classed as gainful employment need to apply for a visa prior to travel.

Holders of the following British travel documents (irrespective of their nationality)

• Convention Travel Documents for Refugees (1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, dark blue), issued by the United Kingdom,
• Stateless Person’s Travel Documents (1954 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, red), issued by the United Kingdom,

do not require a visa for travel to Germany provided that the duration of their stay does not exceed 90 days within any 180 day period. Please note that you may not take up any employment or pursue any gainful economic activity in Germany unless such employment is explicitly authorised by a visa or a residence permit issued by the local immigration office (“Ausländerbehörde”) in Germany.

Holders of British Certificates of Travel (black) require visas for any kind of stay.

Please note the following does not apply to family members of German citizens.

There are no visa requirements at all for individuals entitled to freedom of movement such as Union citizens and/or nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (EFTA member states) as well as Switzerland.
Third-country family members holding an Article 10 or Article 20 residence card may enter Germany without a visa provided that they travel together with the Union citizen.
With the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, British Article 10 and Article 20 residence cards have ceased to be valid for visa-free travel.
Article 10 and Article 20 residence cards are documents issued under EU law (‘the Free Movement Directive’) by an EU or EFTA member state or Switzerland to third-country family members of EU/EFTA/Swiss nationals who are exercising free movement rights in a member state other than that of their nationality.

Holders of the following passports do not require visas for travel to Germany provided that the duration of their stay does not exceed 90 days within any 180-day period:

Diplomatic or Service or Official or Special Passports issued by Bolivia, Chad, Colombia, Ghana, the Philippines, Thailand and Turkey.

Diplomatic Passports issued by Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, Georgia, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Peru, Russian Federation, Serbia, South Africa, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

Special Passports issued by United Arab Emirates.

Service Passports issued by Ecuador.

Biometric Service Passports issued by Moldova and Ukraine.

Biometric Diplomatic Passports issued by Gabon, Kuwait and Mongolia.

Biometric Service, Official or Special Passports issued by Oman and Qatar.

Biometric Special Passports issued by Kuwait.