9/13 – Visa

Since September 2013, foreign seafarers on German-flagged merchant ships no longer need a residence permit (visa) to work on board. Previously, they were required to obtain a visa to work on board a seagoing vessel flying the German Flag. This requirement in Section 4(4) of the Residence Act was repealed by the “Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von international Schutzberechtigten und ausländischen Arbeitnehmern” of 29 August 2013 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 3484).

The legislature justified the abolition of the residence permit requirement for seafarers as follows:

"Pursuant to Article 92 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Germany may exercise jurisdiction over ships flying the German flag, provided they are on the high seas. However, this does not imply that the ship should be regarded as German territory in the sense of a “floating piece of Germany.” […] The international and European legal situation regarding the requirement for a residence permit on seagoing vessels flying the flags of other states is not uniform. Even within the EU, only some member states require seafarers on ships flying their flags to hold a residence permit. Seafarers on foreign-flagged ships calling at German ports therefore, in most cases, do not hold a residence permit valid in Germany. When they disembark, they are subject to immigration checks and are given the opportunity to go ashore or to leave the country via German airports (Section 24(2) of the Residence Ordinance (AufenthV)). Following the implementation of the amendments to the SOLAS Convention and the newly established ISPS Code of 2002 into German and European law […] there is no risk that foreign seafarers will remain within the area covered by the Basic Law in an uncontrolled and unauthorized manner." (Bundestags-Drucksache 17/13022, page 27).