From Auswärtiges Amt

Deutschland-Einreise/Aufenthalt/Zuwanderungsrecht
The Immigration Act


The Immigration Act entered into force on 1 January 2005 and contains provisions on the entry of foreigners into Germany, their residence in the country, various residence purposes, the termination of residence and asylum procedures. It will hereinafter be referred to as the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz).

Amendments to the Act took effect on 28 August 2007. These amendments include provisions to implement eleven EU directives on residence and asylum rules, to prevent sham or forced marriages, to enhance internal security, to implement decisions of the German Conference of Interior Ministers on nationality law, to facilitate the immigration of company founders and, above all, provisions to foster the integration of legal immigrants.

Residence permits

The Residence Act stipulates for the first time ever that a visa is of itself a kind of residence permit. This provision is of significance for short stays. A visa now expressly permits the holder
to reside in Germany for its duration; under the old Foreigners Act only residence permits acquired after entry into Germany entitled the holder to stay in the country.
In the case of longer stays, the only distinction that is still made is between (temporary) residence permits and (permanent) settlement permits. First-time entry into the country still requires a visa for Germany (national visa), which is then converted into a residence or settlement permit once the holder has arrived in the country. Temporary residence permits are issued for the purposes specified in the Act (education or training, gainful employment, international-law, humanitarian, political or family reasons). Permanent settlement permits are issued if a foreigner has possessed a residence permit for five years and meets the additional requirements (secure income, no criminal record, adequate command of the German language, etc).
The amended Immigration Act also introduced the "EC long-term residence permit" as a separate residence permit. It is very similar to the settlement permit.


Residence for the purpose of education or training

A renewable residence permit may be issued to foreigners for the purpose of applying to and studying at a state or state-recognized higher education institution or comparable training establishment. After graduating, they may have their residence permit extended for up to one year for the purpose of seeking employment relevant to their field of study, if the job can be held by a foreigner.
Residence permits may be issued on a case-by-case basis to foreigners wishing to go to school or participate in language courses without thereafter going on to university. If the Federal Employment Agency gives its approval, residence permits may also be issued for the purpose of completing in-company initial and continuing training. Graduates of German schools abroad who wish to complete a qualified in-company training course for a state-recognized or similarly accredited training occupation may be granted a residence permit without the approval of the Federal Employment Agency.

Labour migration

A new kind of residence permit that also grants access to the labour market was introduced on 1 January 2005, replacing the previous system of separate residence and work permits. Foreigners will thus now only have to deal with one authority. Abroad this will be the German foreign missions (embassy and consulate visa sections), in Germany the foreigners authorities. The labour authorities will be contacted as required by the missions or foreigners authorities themselves.

The Act provides for highly qualified persons to be granted permanent residence from the outset. They may obtain a settlement permit immediately. Their family members who come to Germany with them or join them at a later date are entitled to take up gainful employment.

Attracting self-employed persons: As a rule, self-employed persons receive a residence permit if they invest at least 250,000 euro and create a minimum of five jobs. If these requirements are not met, each case is examined on its own merits to determine whether there is an overriding economic or specific regional interest, to assess the impact on the economy and to check the business's financial basis.

Students are entitled to remain in Germany for up to one year after successfully completing their studies for the purpose of seeking employment.

The general ban on recruitment remains in place, though exceptions may be made for individual occupation categories by ordinance, for instance for experts with an academic educational background. In addition, approval may be granted in justified instances if there is a public interest in an individual taking up employment (Residence Act, section 18 (4)).

A residence permit may only be issued once a concrete job offer has been made. Approval by the authorities is generally dependent on the needs of Germany as a business location, with due consideration to the situation on the labour market.

A simpler immigration process for researchers

Residence permits will be granted to people intending to do research at a research facility in Germany recognized by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, provided a valid "admission agreement" has been concluded by the foreigner and the research facility.

Immigration on humanitarian, political and similar grounds – asylum

In line with the EU Asylum Qualification Directive, refugee status is also granted under the Residence Act in the case of non-state persecution. In addition, gender-specific persecution is now also recognized, i.e. a threat to a person's life or threatened bodily harm also constitutes persecution if it takes place solely on account of their gender.

Subsequent immigration of family members and children

A foreigner must have a settlement or residence permit and sufficient living space before his/her family is allowed to join him/her. Further requirements must also be fulfilled, depending on the status of the foreigner resident in Germany.

As regards the subsequent immigration of spouses, the amended Immigration Act introduced the rule that both spouses must be 18 years or older and that the person arriving in Germany to join their spouse must in principle have at least a basic knowledge of German.

As regards the subsequent immigration of children, the upper age limit of 16 years has been retained. Young people between the ages of 16 and 18 may be granted a residence permit in cases of hardship or if their prospects of integration are good. Where a parent with sole custody of a child under 16 immigrates to Germany, the child is entitled to the necessary residence permit.
Fostering integration

Under the Residence Act immigrants are legally entitled to attend an integration course. This right is granted to new immigrants who are to take up permanent residence in Germany and have received their first residence or settlement permit on humanitarian grounds. In return, immigrants are under a duty to participate in such a course if they do not have simple oral language skills.


Grounds for expulsion

There are various grounds for expulsion:

Obligatory expulsion ("must") is ordered if a foreigner is sentenced to prison or youth custody for at least three years for committing one or more offences with an element of intent, if he/she is convicted of an offence under the Narcotics Act with an element of intent, if he/she is given a non-suspended prison or youth custody sentence of at least two years for civil disorder or rioting, or if he/she is given a non-suspended prison sentence for smuggling people into the country.


Regular expulsion ("should") is ordered if there is reason to believe that the foreigner belongs to or supports a terrorist organization or poses a risk to the free democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany, publicly instigates violence, threatens to use violence or is the leader of an incontestably banned organization which has violated criminal law or the free democratic basic order.

Discretionary expulsion ("can") may be ordered in the case of hate mongers, i.e. those who disseminate ideas which condone war crimes or terrorism in a manner conducive to breaching the peace, or who instigate violence or hate against sections of the population or attack the human dignity of others by insulting, denigrating or slandering sections of the population.

In addition, a foreigner may be subjected to discretionary expulsion if, for example, false or incomplete information is provided in the visa application process or if he/she forces another person into marriage.

Special protection from expulsion generally also does not apply where human traffickers are obligatorily expelled. Nor does it apply to members of terrorist organizations, or in cases where the free democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany is threatened, or to leaders of incontestably banned organizations which have violated criminal law or the free democratic basic order.

The new Residence Act provides for the supreme Land authorities (or the Federal Ministry of the Interior) to issue an immediately enforceable deportation order without prior notice or warning in order to avert a specific threat to the security of the Federal Republic of Germany or a terrorist threat for which there is evidence. The foreigner, however, is entitled to seek an injunction against such an order within seven days of its issuance.


Institutional reform

The former Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees has become the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees with effect from the date of entry into force of the Residence Act. Its tasks include coordinating information on labour migration between foreigners authorities, labour authorities and the German missions abroad, as well as developing and running integration courses, managing the Central Register of Foreigners, implementing measures to encourage voluntary repatriation and, since 28 August 2007, formally recognizing research facilities for the purposes of section 20 of the new Residence Act.
Last updated 16.06.2009