Getting permanent residency in Germany

Just wondering if anyone knows where I can get information about obtaining permanant residency in Germany. I am non EU and have been here 5 years now and understand that I now qualify for permanant residency status, but have no idea how to go about doing it.

If anyone knows anything about this process I would love to hear from them.

Cheers
Paul

Interesting. I am a non-Eu cit as well and had to wait 8 years to get it. Don't know about this new law. Would have expected the new government to make it more difficult and not easier for us. Anyway, whether 5 years or 8 years, you will have to go to the Ausländeramt at Friedrich-Kraus-Ufer(I used to live in Berlin before moving to Munich), take your passport, Meldezettel, rental contract etc. with you and simply tell them you want it. If it has been that long, they will check their records and give it to you immediately. I got it the same day, had to pay something like €40 and had to have some photos made. That's about it.

Head on down to your local KVR or Auslanderamt. When your current permit expires, apply for the unlimited one. You will need a police backround check, proof of sustainable income, and proof of a place to stay. The requirements may change, but those are the basic. Oh and basic German communication Verbal and written. They might test you on this, or they might not.

I was told that after 5 years you can get permanent residency, and then after 8 you can apply for a passport.

AFAIK, you can apply for permanent residency if you have been paying Tax ie. working for the last 60 months (5 years), study doesn't count, except if you get more than specific amount of income during your study. But I have heard that if you are out of the country for more than 3 months, your permanent residence will be taken away, is this true?

Thanks for all the info! Helps alot!

You can get Permanant Residency after 5 years and citizenship after 8.

Once you have PR you must inform the authorities if you are going to leave the country for more than 3 months, if you don't the PR will be cancelled upon your return.

Cheers
Paul

Once you have acquired permanent residency, you are allowed to leave the country for trips of 6 months or less. If you are away for longer than 6 months you will lose your PR status. (If you are on good terms with your local Ausländeramt - you could probably negotiate not to lose your PR status if you plan to be away longer than 6 months and you inform them of your wish to return and prove that you have house, bank account, wife, children etc.) It still isn't very satisfactory for us Non-EUers, that we have to ask for permission to retain our PR...

you have to have had a certain type of visa. no student visa. no work placement visa. no visa to study the language.

so basically the key is you have to have paid tax for 5 years. becuase people with jobs have the "highest" level of residence permit. i just know when i came here to do an internship, i had an "aufenthalstbewiligung" not an "aufenthalserlaubnis" so that time did not count towards getting the PR.

I have no idea how or why, but I moved here in November as a non-EU citizen, and was immediately granted a permanent residence permit without even requesting it. I didn't speak German, but had a permanent, good-paying job here. I was surprised since I had heard I would initally only get a residence permit good for ~2 years, but decided not to question it.

For anyone in Berlin, here is the link to all you ever needed to know about getting PR.

http://www.berlin.de/labo/auslaender/diens...ngen/index.html

Info under "D" as in "Daueraufenthalt/Niederlassungserlaubnis"

And the Info is even written in something vaguely similar to normal German...

they have special rules for highly qualified scientist or other specialists. and i mean extremely highly qualified. i'm assume you fall into that category.

for the rest of us normalos, it's 5 years in possesion of an aufenthalserlaubnis or being married to a german.

I would like to add that I too have an aufenthalserlaubnis upon arrival in Germany. I am not married to a German. Mine was "unlimited".

i don't know if you're as a highly qualified scientist as winglette is, but if not, then good for you -- you slipped though the system. standard is dolling out residence permits valid for 2 years, then anotehr 2 years, etc. until you can apply for the PR.

So what is special about PR if it expires when you leave country for more than 6 months? Apart from the fact that you can work for any employer in germany and you don't need to extend its validity every 2 or 3 years, are there any other major advantages by having PR status?

those last 2 things are good enough for me. if i have to leave for more than 6 months under extentuating circumstances (in which cawse you might be able to get an extension) and then come back, then I'm probably willing to leave in the first place if i knew my life back here would sitll be secure.

It's not 6 months, it's 90 days. I came ----><---- that close to losing my residency. Luckily I was officially gone for 88 days and was able to prove it. The cop at the airport who accompanied me waited patiently in line as I, along with 300 other people, stood in line to get our tickets exchanged for a cancelled flight. Had the flight not been cancelled I would've been pulled off the plane. Scared the bejeezus out of me at the airport and had me at the KVR early the next morning before my flight.

If you need to be out of the country for more than 90 days and don't want to put your status at risk you need to go to the KVR. I had to write the letter there on a blank, unlined piece of paper but you can write it in advance. You need to explain why you need to be out of the country for such an extended period and further state that your intention is to remain a German resident, living and working here.

You go in with your passport and give this letter to the Beamtin who will then take the letter for approval. Approval is usually automatic unless you haven't been behaving yourself although they may ask you for more info. You then have the privilege of handing over €5 or 10 and when you return with the Kasse receipt you'll be handed a stamped piece of green paper: Bescheinigung nach §51 Abs. 4 Aufenthaltsgesetz (Aufenthaltserlaubnis erlischt nicht bei Ausreise).

You keep this thing with your passport at all times. It's normally limited to two years. Getting an unlimited version is, I was told, extremely difficult. Mine expires at the end of ths year and I have to go back and get a new one.

Ninety (90) days, people.

woof.

I'm happy to read that you can get it extended to 2 year's though.

I don't know why it is only 3 months in some cases. Intially when I moved along with my family to germany we got residence permit for 5 years.

we had gone back to home country after 10 months and I came back alone after 4 months. But my residence permit is still valid and also my work visa.
When my wife have come back after 8 months German authorities told that she has to apply for new visa.

Did you have permanent residency? If you had permanent residency and leave Germany for a period exceeding 6 months your permanent residency expires. If you had another type of befristet visa then the time you are allowed out of Germany may have been only 90 days (see Baddoggie post).. Whatever visa you had it sounds like your wife exceeded her allowed time outside of Germany.

I believe, and maybe someone else can confirm or correct, that if you have the Niederlassungserlaubnis (PR) as opposed to a limited residency permit, if you lose your job they can't kick you out for being unemployed.

If you have a limited residency permit that was granted to you based on your employment, and you lose your job and don't get another, they can (but they might not) deport you after 90 days' unemployment.

This is why they encourage you to apply for the Niederlassungserlaubnis as soon as you qualify.

Thanks cinzia for clarification. I think if i am unemployed in germany for more than 90 days. then there is no reason to stay here even if they don't deport me.

Hmm, interesting.
So, my residence permit and work permit do not expire until end of Oct 2007 - one year from now BUT I have been living here and working for 5 years (on Nov 1). Can I go now to the KVR and apply for PR or are they gonna say 'get out and don't come back until your residence permit is about to expire'?
I would rather try to get it now than wait for another year.

Hi,

I've been here 2 years, bonded to my employer and renewed on a yearly basis.. so far..
Anyone know if the possibility exists for me to get a visa without a time limit, bonded to my current employer?
(as I'm aware, at 2 years here, the normal 'Niederlassungserlaubnis' is out of the question)

Or what other options I may have to get the right to remain here?

I'm in a relationship with a german citizen since 4 years, but not married.

I got my permanent residency as an EU citizen earlier this year. I just went along to the Ausländeramt with new photos and a few documents and they done it there any then no problem.

The document I have is basically the same as the old one, just with some details crossed out which are relevant for temporay residence only.

Out of interest I was in Germany for 5 years but only employed her for 4, as the first year I had a UK contract but was permanently working and living in Germany.

don't think so.


well then marry your d*mn partner! it's been 4 years. don't you know by now if you want to stay with them? (sorry, a bit bitter)

Actually.. things are a bit rocky right now. But marriage is still an option (we were engaged up until a few months ago).

p.s. I'm a non-EU citizen.. so my options look a fair bit more complicated to obtain an un-limited Residency permit.

There is a possibility. Have a look at pages 11 and 12 in this document (PDF). If you satisfy the conditions, you can give it a try. There is a debate going on regarding the income cap for immediate PR (currently 84K p.a), but no decisions have been taken yet.

@kitkat64
If you have possessed "Aufentshalterlabunis" for 5 years, you can apply for PR (Niederlassungserlaubnis).

Hi,

Has someone successfully stayed outside Germany without losing their Niederlassungserlaubnis� for more than 2 years?

We have a letter allowing us to stay out for 2 years, and we are to return at the end of this period. Now, we would like to extend our stay outside Germany for another 2 years. How can we sort this out? Would the local office give another letter allowing us to stay out for 2 more years?

Any success stories?

Also, someone told us that owning a house in Germany would allow us to leave Germany for more than 6 months without losing Niederlassungserlaubnis�. Is that true?

Thanks

You should read § 51 of the AufenthG (Beendigung der Rechtmäßigkeit des Aufenthalts; Fortgeltung von Beschränkungen). http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg...R195010004.html
In particular:
"(2) 1Die Niederlassungserlaubnis eines Ausländers, der sich mindestens 15 Jahre rechtmäßig im Bundesgebiet aufgehalten hat sowie die Niederlassungserlaubnis seines mit ihm in ehelicher Lebensgemeinschaft lebenden Ehegatten erlöschen nicht nach Absatz 1 Nr. 6 und 7, wenn deren Lebensunterhalt gesichert ist und kein Ausweisungsgrund nach § 54 Nr. 5 bis 7 oder § 55 Abs. 2 Nr. 8 bis 11 vorliegt. 2Die Niederlassungserlaubnis eines mit einem Deutschen in ehelicher Lebensgemeinschaft lebenden Ausländers erlischt nicht nach Absatz 1 Nr. 6 und 7, wenn kein Ausweisungsgrund nach § 54 Nr. 5 bis 7 oder § 55 Abs. 2 Nr. 8 bis 11 vorliegt. 3Zum Nachweis des Fortbestandes der Niederlassungserlaubnis stellt die Ausländerbehörde am Ort des letzten gewöhnlichen Aufenthalts auf Antrag eine Bescheinigung aus"
http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg_2004/__51.html

If you have have been in Germany for at least 15 years, a stay outside of Germany does not invalidate your Niederlassungserlaubnis. In addition, if you are married to a German citizen, leaving Germany for more than six months is not a reason for invalidation.

Otherwise, you need to get approval from the authorities. Two years is not a limit to what sort of extension you could get, but you should have some way of showing them that your absence from Germany isn't permanent.

Ok, so say after 5 years you go in for your PR, any idea on what the German Language requirements are? Is there a test? What kind of level is required?

The language level A2 or B1 should do.