🇨🇦 Canada vs 🇩🇪 Germany: Digital Nomad Visa Compared

Canada has no visa officially called a "digital nomad visa". Germany has no visa officially called a "digital nomad visa". Every figure below comes from each country's own sourced, dated fiche - compare income, duration, tax, family rules, fees and processing time before you decide. Germany's initial visa period runs longer than Canada's: 24 months versus 6.

🇨🇦 Canada🇩🇪 Germany

Minimum income

TBD

Canada has no digital nomad visa and visitor status carries no published minimum income - officers require proof of 'sufficient funds' for the trip plus evidence you will leave (ties to your home country), assessed case by case rather than against a fixed threshold.

TBD

Germany has no digital nomad visa and the Freelance permit has NO fixed income minimum - you must show financial viability. IMPORTANT: it requires German/EU clients (economic integration); it is NOT open to people working full-time for a foreign employer. Not a pure remote-employee route.

Visa duration

6 months

Most visitors are authorized up to 6 months per entry at the border officer's discretion (sometimes less, occasionally more); the day you must leave by is stamped in your passport or shown in your eTA/visa record. Staying longer requires applying to extend visitor status from inside Canada before the authorized period ends - not a renewal in the country-hopping sense.

source · verified 2026-07-25

24 months, renewable

Issued 1-3 years (typically 2 for first-timers), renewable; permanent settlement possible after 5 years with B1 German and pension contributions.

source · verified 2026-07-08

Tax regime

Under 183 days in Canada in a calendar year, without significant residential ties, keeps you a non-resident for tax purposes - taxed only on Canadian-source income, not your foreign remote salary. Reaching 183 days in the year makes you a deemed resident, taxed on worldwide income.

source · verified 2026-07-25

Living in Germany more than 183 days generally makes you a German tax resident, taxed on worldwide income. Freelancers register with the Finanzamt and receive a Steuernummer.

source · verified 2026-07-08

Family (spouse / children)

Spouse + children admitted

Spouse and children can accompany you as visitors, but each family member generally needs their own visitor visa or eTA and must independently show sufficient funds and ties.

source · verified 2026-07-25

Spouse + children admitted

source · verified 2026-07-08

Application fees

100 CAD

CAD 100 visitor-visa (TRV) fee applies to nationals who need a visa, plus a CAD 85 biometrics fee (CAD 185 total). Nationals of visa-exempt countries arriving by air instead need only the eTA, CAD 7. Which route applies depends on nationality - confirm on the IRCC eTA/visa-exempt country list.

source · verified 2026-07-25

100 EUR

Residence-permit fee reported around EUR 100; confirm with the local Auslanderbehorde.

source · verified 2026-07-08

Health insurance

Not required

source · verified 2026-07-25

Required - Comprehensive private expat health insurance required; travel or basic 'nomad' insurance is routinely rejected by the Auslanderbehorde.

source · verified 2026-07-08

Processing time

eTA (visa-exempt nationalities): typically minutes, occasionally up to a few days. Visitor visa/TRV (other nationalities): reported roughly 4-12 weeks, varying widely by country of application

IRCC publishes current country-specific TRV processing times on its own processing-times tool; the range above is a general reported guide, not a guarantee.

source · verified 2026-07-25

Varies by city; reported 8 weeks to 7 months in 2026 sources (Berlin moved fully online from March 2026)

source · verified 2026-07-12

Figures marked TBD are not yet verified and are never shown as facts. Last full review: Canada 2026-07-25, Germany 2026-08-06.