British citizens may apply to the local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) 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. This privilege is also extended to citizens of Andorra, Australia, Brazil, Canada, El Salvador, Honduras, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Korea (Republic), Monaco, San Marino and the United States of America. We strongly recommend contacting the local immigration office as soon as possible after your arrival in Germany in order to secure a timely appointment. It is important to note that you may only take up employment once you have been issued a residence permit explicitly authorising such employment.

All other nationalities require a visa prior to travelling to Germany.

Applications for visas for Family purposes should now be submitted via the Consular Services Portal online. Please read the instructions in the following articles carefully.

In addition, please choose the competent Visa Section in the UK carefully:

Applicants residing in Scotland have to submit their application in the portal to the Consulate General in Edinburgh. Applicants residing in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, the British Channel Islands, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) have to submit their application to the Embassy in London. Please refer to the correct visa department in the online portal. Incorrectly submitted applications cannot be processed.

Important other information:

In the case of expat families relocating together for employment and where one family member is applying through a Visa Application Centre, operated by our external service provider, TLScontact, all applications including those for the family members will be accepted by TLScontact if they will be submitted on the same occasion.

Should you wish to join any other family member than those listed below, please contact the German mission responsible for information.