🇩🇪 Germany vs 🇮🇹 Italy: Digital Nomad Visa Compared
Germany has no visa officially called a "digital nomad visa". Italy offers Digital Nomad / Remote Worker Visa - Decree Law No. 79/2024. 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.
- Minimum income
- TBD
- 24,789 EUR / year
- 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.
- If you become an Italian tax resident (183+ days), income is taxable under IRPEF. Two optional favorable regimes (cannot be combined): Regime Forfettario (5% flat for self-employed under EUR 85k, first 5 years, 15% after) or Regime Impatriati (50% of qualifying income exempt for 5 years). Employees kept on a foreign contract may be taxed under treaty rules.
- Family (spouse / children)
- Application fees
- 100 EUR
- 116 EUR
- Health insurance
- Required - Comprehensive private expat health insurance required; travel or basic 'nomad' insurance is routinely rejected by the Auslanderbehorde.
- Required - Min EUR 30,000 (or USD 50,000) covering medical care, hospitalization and repatriation. Cited by the consulate as the number-one cause of visa rejection.
- Processing time
- Varies by city; reported 8 weeks to 7 months in 2026 sources (Berlin moved fully online from March 2026)
- Reported 30-60 days for remote employees, 90-120 days for freelancers/self-employed, plus consulate appointment backlog
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.
Some consulates round up to ~EUR 28,000 - confirm with your consulate. Income must derive from the remote work; passive income (pensions, rent, stocks) is excluded. Eligibility also needs a degree OR 5 years' experience (3 for ICT) + 6 months remote-work experience. RE-CHECKED 2026-07-23: the ~EUR 28,000 figure some 2026 guide sites cite does not trace to any 2026 Gazzetta Ufficiale decree - the operative decree is still the original 2024-02-29 one (GU Serie Generale n. 79); ~EUR 28,000 looks like consulate-level rounding of the same formula, not a sourced threshold rise. EUR 24,789 remains the better-sourced figure.
source · verified 2026-07-23
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
National visa then a 1-year residence permit (permesso di soggiorno), obtained within 8 working days of arrival and renewable locally at the Questura.
source · verified 2026-07-05
source · verified 2026-07-08
Secondary tax sources. Regimes have conditions (e.g. Impatriati needs 3 years' prior non-residence + a 4-year residency commitment; the two regimes cannot be combined). Verify with the Agenzia delle Entrate. UPDATE 2026-07-15: the 2026 Budget Law was enacted as Law No. 199 of 30 Dec 2025 (Gazzetta Ufficiale), extending the Regime Impatriati (D.Lgs. 209/2023 - 50% tax-base reduction, EUR 600,000/year cap, arrival year plus 4 more) to foreign workers who transfer tax residence to Italy from 2026. It is unresolved whether this is the same measure other 2026 sources still describe as a separate, still-undefined 'Digital Nomad Tax Bonus,' or a distinct one - treat the extended Impatriati terms above as the confirmed baseline and re-check for a dedicated DNV-specific bonus once a primary text (Gazzetta Ufficiale or an Agenzia delle Entrate circolare) is read directly.
source · verified 2026-07-15
Residence-permit fee reported around EUR 100; confirm with the local Auslanderbehorde.
source · verified 2026-07-08
EUR 116 visa application fee (non-refundable). Plus ~EUR 116 for the residence permit on arrival (contributo EUR 40 + electronic permit EUR 30.46 + stamp EUR 16 + postal kit EUR 30). The consular visa fee varies quarterly by the EUR/USD rate.
source · verified 2026-07-05
source · verified 2026-07-08
source · verified 2026-07-05
source · verified 2026-07-12
No single official government figure exists; range is a consulate-guidance consensus across independent 2026 immigration-guide publishers, with freelancers/self-employed applicants taking longer due to more document scrutiny. Consulate appointment-booking backlogs (New York, London, Los Angeles) add further weeks-to-months on top of processing itself. Confirm with your specific consulate.
source · verified 2026-07-25
Figures marked TBD are not yet verified and are never shown as facts. Last full review: Germany 2026-07-12, Italy 2026-07-25.