Third-country national in Germany for Ausbildung- what happens if I make money from writing?
I am a US citizen in Germany for an Ausbildung in a technical profession. Currently I have a 1-year §16A Visa, I don't have my residence permit yet but it should be under the same section of the Aufenthaltsgesetz and valid until early 2028. I have always liked to write as a hobby and have always wanted to get something published. This is purely hypothetical, but what are the implications for my residence status if I somehow made a little money through my writing? Either through a traditional publisher or if I self-published online? Working as a freelance writing for clients obviously violates the conditions of my residence since that's clearly selbstständige Erwerbstätigkeit but if I put an ebook on Amazon for 5€ and someone buys it or if I write on a fanfiction site and have a Patreon someone subscribes to or if a publisher likes my idea and gives me 1000€ or 10% royalties or something, would these all also violate the conditions of my residence? Would forming an LLC back in the US change anything?
Thanks in advance- kind of a complicated question but would like to know the answer since this is something I am very interested in and it would be nice if I didn't have to wait until I'm a German citizen before I can make some money from writing on the side :)
Dear @shosha thank you for reaching out to us.
I'm glad to hear that you enjoy writing! It is also absolutely understandable that you are thinking about making more of it than just a hobby.
Unfortunately, a residence permit as a trainee in Germany is only intended for this reason. You will also see this noted in your residence permit, that it is only intended for your vocational training.
Please note that any further work requires the approval of the foreigners department! Further work is only permitted with the approval of the foreigners department.
You can also obtain additional information from a migration counseling. Here you can enter your zip code and find counseling centers in your area.
There are also special support centers for ways into self-employment: https://www.wir-gruenden-in-deutschland.de/beratungsstellen-finder
They might have another idea for you.
Please let me know if you have more questions.