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.

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 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.

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.