Where can German citizens move to?
Ranked by what the move actually takes on a German passport specifically, not in general. Every rating below comes from the same verified data as the full guide it links to.
You keep your German passport if you naturalise in 9 of these 12. Naturalising in Japan, the Netherlands and Spain would mean giving it up.
Open to you in Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand. Usually age-capped, so it closes quietly.
Easiest to keep driving on in Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain and Thailand. Each guide has the exact terms. Elsewhere expect more steps, often a full local test.
An apostille is accepted in 11 of these 12. Thailand still needs the full consular legalisation chain, so start earlier.
Straightforward 11 of 12
- AustraliaGermans arrive heavily through the 417 working-holiday visa, alongside skilled visas in engineering, trades, and healthcare.Straightforward
- CanadaGermans arrive largely through IEC and study permits; the community is long-established rather than fast-growing.Straightforward
- Costa RicaGermans relocate mainly as Pensionado or Rentista residents, or on the Digital Nomad visa; Guanacaste and the Southern Zone have long-standing German expat pockets in tourism and hospitality.Straightforward
- IrelandGermans move to Ireland entirely outside the permit system as EU citizens — multinational-employer transfers (tech, pharma, aircraft leasing) and study are the two dominant routes.Straightforward
- ItalyGerman citizens move to Italy under full EU/EEA free-movement rules — no visa, work permit or residence permit is required before arrival; the only formality is registering residency (iscrizione anagrafica) at the local comune after three months.Straightforward
- JapanGermans commonly move through corporate transfers in automotive and manufacturing, the Working Holiday visa, or the Highly Skilled Professional visa in engineering.Straightforward
- NetherlandsGermans move under full EU free movement — one of the largest foreign-born groups in the Netherlands (behind Turkey and Morocco), driven by geographic proximity, border-region commuting and easy registration.Straightforward
- New ZealandGermans arrive mainly on working holiday visas that convert into Accredited Employer Work Visas (trades, hospitality, engineering), or directly via the Skilled Migrant Category.Straightforward
- PortugalGerman citizens simply move and register under EU free movement — no visa or work permit needed; register locally for a NIF and residence registration after arriving.Straightforward
- SpainAs EU citizens, Germans simply relocate under freedom of movement — no visa needed, just registration on arrival; a well-known retiree community drives this in the Balearics and Costa del Sol especially.Straightforward
- United StatesL-1 intracompany transfers and H-1B are common given large German multinational presence (autos, industrials, pharma), alongside E-2 treaty investors and a steady F-1 student pipeline; no severe backlog issue.Straightforward
Moderate 1 of 12
Ratings weigh entry class, working-holiday access, licence exchange, dual citizenship and document legalisation. Each is checked against the issuing government. Open any destination for the full guide written for German citizens.