Visa requirements for German citizens



Visa requirements for German citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Germany.

As of 9 January 2024, German citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 194 countries and territories. Ranking the German passport 1st in terms of travel freedom (tied with the passports of France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain), and tied with the greatest access of all European Union member states along with France, Italy, and Spain, according to the Henley Passport Index.

List of territories, disputed areas or restricted zones
Visa requirements for German citizens for visits to various territories, disputed areas, partially recognized countries and restricted zones:

History
Visa requirements for German citizens were lifted by China (1 December 2023), Zambia (1 October 2022), Oman (9 December 2020, previously visa on arrival), Uzbekistan (15 January 2019), Cape Verde (1 January 2019), Belarus (February 2017), Solomon Islands (October 2016), Tuvalu (July 2016), Marshall Islands (June 2016), Palau (December 2015), Tonga (November 2015), São Tomé and Príncipe (August 2015), Vietnam (July 2015 – June 30, 2021 at least), Indonesia (June 2015), United Arab Emirates, Timor-Leste, Samoa (May 2015), Kazakhstan (July 2014), Mongolia (September 2013) and Kyrgyzstan (July 2012).

German citizens were made eligible for eVisas by Russia (January 2021, suspended during COVID-19 pandemic, previously only Kaliningrad and Far East), Guinea and Malawi (October 2019), Saudi Arabia (September 2019), Suriname and Pakistan (April 2019), Tanzania and Papua New Guinea (November 2018), Angola (March 2018), Djibouti (February 2018), Egypt (December 2017), Azerbaijan (January 2017), Tajikistan (June 2016), India (e-Tourist visa from November 2014) and Myanmar (September 2014).

Vaccination requirements map
Certain countries and territories require travellers arriving from Germany to be vaccinated against specific diseases. This is a map of vaccination requirements for German citizens and residents arriving directly from the Schengen area, excluding those arriving from third countries.



COVID-19 vaccination
Many countries increasingly consider the vaccination status of travellers with regard to quarantine requirements or when deciding to allow them entry at all. This is justified by research that shows that the Pfizer vaccine effect lasts for six months or so.

Passport not required
German identity card is valid for these countries:
 * and Europe (including Gibraltar and except Belarus, Russia, the United Kingdom [for tourism] and Ukraine)
 * (passport type photo is required on arrival)
 * 🇫🇷 French overseas territories (passport needed if the direct flight has a scheduled intermediate landing in a country that requires a passport)
 * (on package holidays)
 * (individuals with pre-settled or settled status or frontier-worker permits can continue using national identity cards
 * (individuals with pre-settled or settled status or frontier-worker permits can continue using national identity cards
 * (individuals with pre-settled or settled status or frontier-worker permits can continue using national identity cards

Passport validity length
Many countries require passports to be valid for at least 6 months upon arrival and one or two blank pages.

Countries requiring passports to be validity at least 6 months on arrival include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Cambodia, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq (except when arriving at Basra – 3 months and Erbil or Sulaimaniyah – on arrival),  Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen.

Turkey usually requires passports to be valid for at least 5 months (150 days) upon entry, but for German citizens Turkish authorities allow to enter even with passport or identity card expired within last year. Countries requiring passport validity of at least 4 months on arrival include Azerbaijan, Micronesia, Zambia.

Countries requiring passport validity of at least 3 months on arrival include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegowina, Honduras, Moldova, Nauru, North Macedonia, Panama, Qatar, Senegal and French territories in the Pacific (i.e. French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna)

Countries requiring passport validity of at least 1 month on arrival include Eritrea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, Maldives, New Zealand, South Africa

Other countries require either a passport valid on arrival or passport valid throughout the period of intended stay.

Medical passport
Many African countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic,  Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire,  Gabon,   Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia,  Niger, Rwanda,  Sierra Leone and Togo,  require  incoming passengers older than nine months to one year to have a current International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis, as does the South American territory of French Guiana.

Right to consular protection in non-EU countries


In a non-EU country where there is no German embassy, German citizens, like all other EU citizens, have the right to get consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country.

See also List of diplomatic missions of Germany.