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Settlement Permit for Refugee or Asylum-Entitled Person — Five-Year Route

GermanyLong-term residence

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

Official link

What exact status does accumulated residence lead to?

A settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis), an open-ended residence title, for holders of a residence permit under section 25(1) or 25(2) first sentence; the same rules apply to holders of a section 23(4) permit unless grounds for withdrawal exist.

See recorded sources

What qualifying residence period is required and when does the period begin?

Five years of holding the residence permit; the period of the asylum procedure that preceded the permit counts towards it.

See recorded sources
  • https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg_2004/BJNR195010004.html
    er die Aufenthaltserlaubnis seit fünf Jahren besitzt, wobei die Aufenthaltszeit des der Erteilung der Aufenthaltserlaubnis vorangegangenen Asylverfahrens abweichend von § 55 Absatz 3 des Asylgesetzes auf die für die Erteilung der Niederlassungserlaubnis erforderliche Zeit des Besitzes einer Aufenthaltserlaubnis angerechnet wird,

Which types of residence count fully, partially or not at all where the official rules specify this?

The period of holding the residence permit counts including the preceding asylum procedure. Section 9(4) crediting rules apply accordingly, so lawful residence for study or vocational training counts at half.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • How section 9(4) credits combine with the refugee-specific period is not spelled out in the sources.

What absence/continuity rules affect accumulation of the qualifying residence period?

Stays abroad that did not end the residence permit count for at most six months each. A recognised refugee's or asylum-entitled person's residence title does not lapse on departure while they hold a valid German-issued refugee travel document; if responsibility for the travel document passes to another state after leaving, there is no claim to a new title.

See recorded sources

What other major conditions apply, how is the status obtained, and what renewal, document-validity, retention or loss rules matter?

Further conditions are that BAMF has not notified that conditions for revocation, withdrawal or deprivation exist; livelihood predominantly secured; sufficient German (BAMF: level A2); and the conditions of section 9(2) sentence 1 nos. 4-6, 8 and 9. The livelihood condition is also waived on reaching the statutory retirement age. The official source does not state the application procedure or renewal, retention or loss rules.

See recorded sources

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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