🇩🇪 Germany vs 🇬🇷 Greece: Digital Nomad Visa Compared
Germany has no visa officially called a "digital nomad visa". Greece offers Digital Nomad Visa (Type D) + Residence Permit (Type I.8) - Law 5038/2023, amended by Law 5275/2026. 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 Greece's: 24 months versus 12.
- Minimum income
- TBD
- 3,500 EUR / month
- Visa duration
- 24 months, renewable
- 12 months, renewable
- Tax regime
- 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.
- New tax residents may access a 50% income-tax exemption for up to 7 years (Art. 5C), but it is NOT automatic and generally does NOT apply to pure foreign-source remote income. Staying >183 days makes you a Greek tax resident, taxed on worldwide income at standard rates.
- Family (spouse / children)
- Application fees
- 100 EUR
- 75 EUR
- Health insurance
- Required - Comprehensive private expat health insurance required; travel or basic 'nomad' insurance is routinely rejected by the Auslanderbehorde.
- Required - Mandatory private health insurance covering care/hospitalization in Greece for applicant + family; minimum coverage amount not stated officially.
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.
Attributed to the official mfa.gr page (403 on direct fetch) and corroborated by multiple specialist sources, though at least one 2026 secondary guide states this figure as GROSS rather than NET - the net/gross distinction could not be independently re-confirmed on the official page this pass and should be treated as unresolved. Family uplift: +20% spouse, +15% per child. RE-VERIFIED 2026-09-05: multiple independent 2026 guides (remoteworkeurope.eu, globalcitizensolutions.com, lexidy.com, nomadsembassy.com) state the required bank-statement history proving this income rose from 3 to 6 consecutive months, effective 27 January 2026 - corroborated across 4 independent secondary sources but no primary decree/circular citation found, so this is added as a documentation-requirement detail, not a change to the EUR 3,500 figure itself.
source · verified 2026-09-05
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
Type D visa: up to 12 months. Then Type I.8 residence permit: 2 years, renewable for successive 2-year periods. LAW 5275/2026 (~5 Feb 2026): the in-country conversion route was ABOLISHED - you must now obtain the Type D visa at a Greek consulate abroad BEFORE entering. RE-CHECKED 2026-07-31: the same reform also closed a second loophole - applicants who entered on a Type C (Schengen) visa or a visa-waiver could previously obtain the Type I.8 permit by showing a housing lease or property-purchase contract instead of the full consulate-first D-visa route; two independent legal-advisory sources (Bernitsas Law, siopi-law.gr) now describe this route as closed, consistent with the same law's abolition of in-country conversion. Reported/corroborated via search-indexed content, not a fetched primary source (mfa.gr/migration.gov.gr still 403).
source · verified 2026-07-05
source · verified 2026-07-08
Art. 5C (AADE) requires 5-of-6-years prior non-residence AND historically Greek-source income; specialist tax sources flag that a nomad working purely for foreign clients may not qualify. Do NOT present the 50% cut as an automatic benefit.
source · verified 2026-07-05
Residence-permit fee reported around EUR 100; confirm with the local Auslanderbehorde.
source · verified 2026-07-08
This EUR 75 is the Type D VISA fee (+ EUR 150 per accompanying family member). SEPARATE and much larger: the Type I.8 RESIDENCE PERMIT fee, ~EUR 1,000 (+ EUR 150/family member) pre-2026 - re-verify post-Law 5275/2026 with migration.gov.gr. Guides routinely conflate the two stages.
source · verified 2026-07-05
source · verified 2026-07-08
source · verified 2026-07-05
Frequently asked questions
Which lasts longer, the Germany or Greece digital nomad visa?
The Germany visa's initial period is longer: 24 months versus 12 months for Greece.
Which has the cheaper application fee, Germany or Greece?
Greece's application fee is lower: 75 EUR versus 100 EUR for Germany.
How long does it take to process a digital nomad visa for Germany vs Greece?
Germany's stated processing time is Varies by city; reported 8 weeks to 7 months in 2026 sources (Berlin moved fully online from March 2026); Greece's is ~10 days consular decision target (2-6 weeks in practice; longer since the 2026 consulate-only route), per each country's own sourced fiche. Actual processing time varies by consulate and caseload.
Related comparisons
Figures marked TBD are not yet verified and are never shown as facts. Last full review: Germany 2026-09-05, Greece 2026-09-05.