Immigration authorities sometimes take the view in practice that minor children can only receive a permanent residence permit upon reaching the age of 16. This blanket statement is legally incorrect. It is based on a confusion between a specific, child-related facilitation provision and the general eligibility criteria for a permanent residence permit, which itself does not specify an age limit. The origin of the "16-year limit" The age limit stems from Section 35 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 of...

Two full-time jobs, both remote, neither employer aware of the other, 60 hours, 80 hours, 100 hours: What is often legal in the US and celebrated as "overemployed" in online communities touches on three different areas of law in Germany. The Working Time Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, ArbZG) limits how much you may work in total. Criminal law asks whether you have deceived an employer about your working time. And for holders of a Blue Card or another work visa (legally: a residence permit) under §§...

Since September 15, 2026, travelers from many countries have only been allowed to stay in Thailand visa-free for 30 days instead of 60. Expats who regularly commute between Bangkok, New York, London, and Berlin are now inevitably asking themselves: Do similar rules apply in Germany? The short answer is: Germany is more generous with the permitted length of stay, but significantly less predictable when it comes to violations. In our consulting practice, we repeatedly see clients transferring...