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 5 February 2025, German citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 189 countries and territories. Ranking the German passport 3rd in terms of travel freedom (tied with the passports of France, Italy, 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.
Recently visa requirements for German citizens were lifted by China (December 2023), Angola (September 2023), Tajikistan (January 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), Sao Tome and Principe (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 recently by Guinea and Malawi (October 2019), Saudi Arabia (September 2019), Russia (only Kaliningrad Oblast, Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, free of charge), Suriname and Pakistan (April 2019), Tanzania and Papua New Guinea (November 2018), Djibouti (February 2018), Egypt (December 2017), Azerbaijan (January 2017), India (e-Tourist visa from November 2014) and Myanmar (September 2014).
Visa requirements for German citizens for visits to various territories, disputed areas and partially recognized countries:
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).
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.
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.
German identity card is valid for these countries:
Many countries require a minimum number of blank pages to be available in the passport being presented, typically one or two pages. Endorsement pages, which often appear after the visa pages, are not counted as being valid or available.
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 valid 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, Libya, 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.
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 all 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.
Some countries, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand and the United States, routinely deny entry to non-citizens who have a criminal record, while others impose restrictions depending on the type of conviction and the length of the sentence.
The government of a country can declare a diplomat persona non grata, banning them from entering the country or expelling them if they have already entered. In non-diplomatic use, the authorities of a country may also declare a foreigner persona non grata permanently or temporarily, usually because of unlawful activity.
Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, and Yemen do not allow entry to people with passport stamps from Israel or whose passports have either a used or an unused Israeli visa, or where there is evidence of previous travel to Israel such as entry or exit stamps from neighbouring border posts in transit countries such as Jordan and Egypt.
To circumvent this Arab League boycott of Israel, the Israeli immigration services have now mostly ceased to stamp foreign nationals' passports on either entry to or exit from Israel (unless the entry is for some work-related purposes). Since 15 January 2013, Israel no longer stamps foreign passports at Ben Gurion Airport. Passports are still (as of 22 June 2017) stamped at Erez when passing into and out of Gaza.
Iran refuses admission to holders of passports containing an Israeli visa or stamp that is less than 12 months old.
Several countries mandate that all travellers, or all foreign travellers, be fingerprinted on arrival and will refuse admission to or even arrest travellers who refuse to comply. In some countries, such as the United States, this may apply even to transit passengers who merely wish to change planes rather than go landside.
Fingerprinting countries/regions include Afghanistan, Argentina, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Japan, Kenya (both fingerprints and a photo are taken), Malaysia upon entry and departure, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
Many countries also require a photo be taken of people entering the country. The United States, which does not fully implement exit control formalities at its land frontiers (although long mandated by its own legislation), intends to implement facial recognition for passengers departing from international airports to identify people who overstay their visa.
Together with fingerprint and face recognition, iris scanning is one of three biometric identification technologies internationally standardised since 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for use in e-passports and the United Arab Emirates conducts iris scanning on visitors who need to apply for a visa. The United States Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to greatly increase the biometric data it collects at US borders. In 2018, Singapore began trials of iris scanning at three land and maritime immigration checkpoints.
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.