I receive many mails asking me about the status and possibilities of Blue Card holders spouses. Here I give you some information about this topic.

Do not ask me why.. but a spouse of a Blue Card holder has a much better status as the workpermit holder himself.

The Federal Office for Migration says..

Do spouses who subsequently immigrate to Germany enjoy free access to the German employment market?

Yes, spouses immediately enjoy unrestricted access to dependent and independent employment (Section 27, subsection 5 of the German Residence Act).

This means a spouse can take any kind of job from MacDonalds to the Director of a Company or start any kind of selfdependent business without any problem or additional permission!

There are some points which you should have in mind before you start.

As a family member the spouse is insured by the insurance of the Blue Card holder, without additional costs. As soon as she or he earns mor than 450,- € per month they have to tell the insurance and pay more. The same with the tax class. If just one member of the family works he gets tax class III which means less salary taxes ( a single worker gets tax class I ) as soon as both spouses work they will get different tax classes. Please ask your tax adviser before you do anything, because you have to calculate if the additional income will be ‚eaten‘ by the higher taxes.

In case a spouse will start a business, that’s easy. As long as the business do not need an approval like for Doctors, Lawyers, Taxconsultants, you can just go to the local trade office and register your business. The fee is about 15,- € and in most of the German cities you can do it online. ‚Google‘ for ‚Gewerbeanmeldung‘.

Of course you have to tell the Finance Office about your activities and as long as it is just a kind of try you can tell them that you do it as ‚Nebenerwerb‘ and that you don ot expect high income at the beginning.

I strongly recommend to ask a taxconsultant before you do anything! It might cost some Euro, but if you do something wrong it can be much more expensive!

You can start your business from your home (ask your landlord). You do not need a separate Bank account.

trust7 offers you the possibilty to tell the community about your business. Write an article about it, your experiences, the ups and downs.

This can help others and maybe you can get some new clients ;-

Good luck

Detlef