Student in Germany: 20h Werkstudent + short-term freelance NGO work possible?
Hi everyone,
I am an international student in Germany (Munich) and currently working as a Werkstudent officially registered for 20 hours/week.
I have a situation for June–August only and I am trying to understand what would be legally possible.
An NGO I previously worked with received funding from the City of Munich and they need to hire someone during June–August for a social work project. Because I already work 20h/week as a Werkstudent, a normal Minijob would likely exceed the student working limit.
We are exploring whether I could instead work with them as a freelancer (Freiberufler / selbständige Tätigkeit) for this limited period.
The confusing part is:
- My current Zusatzblatt still says “selbständige Tätigkeit nicht erlaubt”
- However, I previously received a written confirmation from the immigration office stating “selbständige Tätigkeit erlaubt”
- I also heard there were legal changes regarding freelance work for students.
Additional context:
- This would only be for June–August
- From September I will switch to a job-seeking residence permit after graduation, so this is only a short transition issue
- The NGO mentioned they could ask the City of Munich whether freelance hiring would be possible for this funded role
My questions are:
- Has anyone done freelance work while on a student residence permit in Germany?
- If there is written confirmation saying “selbständige Tätigkeit erlaubt”, does that override the wording on the Zusatzblatt?
- Would this kind of short-term NGO freelance work likely be considered acceptable, or could it create issues because I am already a 20h/week Werkstudent?
I will also contact the Munich immigration office, but I wanted to hear if anyone has experience with a similar situation.
Thanks a lot!