In the first few months after its introduction, around 1,200 foreigners who had been living in Germany on a tolerated basis because their identity was unclear also benefited from the new right of residence. As the federal government reported in response to a written question from MP Alexander Throm (CDU), a total of 17,788 people were recorded in the central register of foreigners as of June 30, who were granted the right of residence introduced at the turn of the year. According to the information, 1,277 people were among them who had previously been registered with a “toleration for persons with unclear identity”. This corresponds to a share of around seven percent.
Subscribe to our free capital city newsletter! The correspondents from the capital city offices of stern and Capital keep an eye on the players in Berlin, talk to experts and analyze current events.
Tolerated people are people who are obliged to leave the country but cannot be deported for certain reasons. This can be because they have no identity documents, are ill or have a minor child who has a residence permit. The tolerance is always limited.
The Opportunity Residence Act came into force on December 31, 2022. It affects people who have been tolerated, permitted or have stayed in Germany with a residence permit for at least five years as of October 1, 2022. They have the opportunity to obtain a kind of probationary residence permit for 18 months together with their relatives, which is more advantageous for them.
Exceptions are criminals and people who “repeatedly intentionally gave false information” about their identity and thereby prevented their deportation. In the instructions for use that the Federal Ministry of the Interior has provided with regard to the right of residence, it says that “repeatedly” means at least two misrepresentations or acts of deception. “In particular, there is repeated action if the person concerned has given false information or deceived to various authorities.”
At the end of the 18 months, anyone who is primarily responsible for their own living, can show sufficient knowledge of German and a clarified identity, or “has taken all necessary and reasonable measures to clarify their identity” should be given a permanent right to stay. The application instructions of the Federal Ministry of the Interior state: “If the identity is clarified during this period of validity and it emerges that the foreigner previously cheated, this knowledge does not lead to the expiry of the opportunity residence permit.” Because the aim of the new law is that the “honesty” should not have a negative effect.
The Union had spoken out in the Bundestag against the right of residence. Throm, who is the parliamentary group’s domestic policy spokesman, criticizes: “The traffic light’s right of residence rewards those who have been behaving illegally in Germany for years.” These are people “who are staying here illegally, so they had to return to their homeland a long time ago.” He added, “And we don’t know who they really are because they consciously hide their identities.”
This sends the fatal signal: “Anyone who ignores the rule of law for long enough will be rewarded by this traffic light in the end.” The domestic politician does not want to accept the counter-argument of the traffic light parties that the law is limited to a certain group of people due to the deadline regulation. Throm says: “If the deadline rule comes after the deadline rule, that quickly acts as an incentive.” After all, other key date regulations have also been extended.
