How to Bring a Daughter to Germany When Paternity Isn't Obvious

Every parent wants their children to achieve

what they themselves could not.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Clients frequently come to us wanting, for various reasons, to move permanently to Germany. What makes this country so attractive for immigration? One reason is that Germany is considered one of the most socially oriented countries in the world. Residents, for instance, receive benefits and compensation, access to free education, subsidized housing construction, and subsidized medical treatment. The state is fairly stable in every respect — financially, legally, and politically. One program that offers such an opportunity is the "Late Resettler" program. Under this program, persons of German nationality who remained in the territory of the former Soviet Union from May 1945 onward, or from March 31, 1952 following their expulsion, along with members of their families, are entitled to seek late resettler status, which allows them to move permanently to Germany. The term "resettler" (German: Aussiedler) first appeared after Germany enacted the Federal Expellees and Refugees Act (Gesetz ueber die Angelegenheiten der Vertriebenen und Fluechtlinge), known for short as the Bundesvertriebengesetz (BVFG), in 1953. This Federal law governs the admission and integration into Germany of forcibly displaced persons and refugees of German nationality who left their places of settlement during and after the Second World War, as well as the admission of ethnic German resettlers from Eastern Europe and the countries of the former USSR. This group of people is entitled to resettle in Germany and to receive social support from the German state. A major advantage of this program is that "late resettlers" do not need to go through naturalization or renounce citizenship of their country of origin. Children of resettlers born in Germany likewise receive dual citizenship — of their country of origin and of Germany. When a late resettler moves to Germany with family members, their spouse and children obtain the corresponding status under Section 7 BVFG, unless they qualify as late resettlers in their own right. In that case, the resettler's spouse must have been in a registered marriage for at least three years and must prove German proficiency at the Start Deutsch A1 level (through an A1 certificate from the Goethe-Institut or by passing a language test). Children who have reached adulthood by the time they move to Germany must likewise prove German proficiency at the Start Deutsch A1 level. Children under 18 and persons with disabilities are fully exempt from the test.

Typical grounds for refusing a resettler application include:

- insufficient evidence of German ancestry;
- poor knowledge of German;
- a criminal record;
- involvement in violent or nationalist activity;
- the applicant's support for the Communist regime during the Soviet era, or having held senior positions (Section 5 BVFG);
- evidence of involvement in a terrorist organization, or actions against Germany's constitutional order and security.

Applicants for resettlement under this program should also bear in mind that Germany enacted amendments in 2013, and it remains possible today to have previously rejected late-resettler applications reconsidered. Anyone planning to move to their homeland under the Late Resettler program should therefore know that a refusal for whatever reason is not necessarily the end of the road. In this article we describe one interesting case from our practice, in which we managed to help our client bring his adult daughter to Germany.

An elderly man — let's call him Alexander — once came to us. He had already been living in Germany for quite some time, having moved there permanently under the Late Resettler program. His adult daughter — let's call her Victoria — remained in Russia. Victoria was an attractive young woman with an active outlook on life, not yet burdened with family obligations. She had successfully completed a technical degree and worked as an engineer at a large oil-refining company in St. Petersburg. Although Alexander and Victoria had long lived apart, they always maintained a warm relationship. The question of moving to Germany had come up before. Somehow, however, something always got in the way of the plan — a new, well-paying job here, another whirlwind romance there. At some point, though, the young woman decided to make use of the opportunity available to her and try to build a life in Germany, all the more so as she understood that, holding dual citizenship, she could always return. So, after several months of discussion and a number of visits to see her father, she decided to act. At first glance there seemed to be no obstacle to a quick move. She assembled a set of documents and submitted them for review to Germany's Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt — BVA). As the Russian poet Nikolai Nekrasov wittily observed: "Where there are roses, there are also thorns — such is the law of fate." Victoria was refused following the review of her case. The reason given was insufficient evidence of German ancestry — specifically, the impossibility of reliably confirming her family relationship with Alexander.

Upon receiving this refusal, an outraged Alexander came to us for legal help. Our firm's attorney handling Alexander's case therefore had to prove the family relationship between our client and Victoria. To assemble the right set of documents to have the earlier decision reconsidered, it was necessary to establish the personal circumstances of our client's life and that of his adult daughter. As it turned out, Alexander had met Victoria's mother back in his youth, after finishing university. The young couple decided to live together almost immediately, although formalizing their relationship was not yet on the table. Despite this early start, the couple lived together fairly well. The result of this cohabitation was a sweet and clever little girl. For reasons no one now remembers, Victoria's mother listed a different man as the father on the child's birth certificate. Unfortunately, nothing in this world lasts forever: when Vika was five, her biological parents separated, and the girl stayed on with her mother. Her mother, however, was not alone for long; she soon met another man, whom she married after living together for six months. The new husband, fortunately, accepted the girl as his own and even formally adopted her. Everything went reasonably well — Victoria lived with her "new dad," whom she loved in her own way, and continued to stay in constant contact with her biological father, who visited her often. Unfortunately, this marriage too ran its course at some point. The girl's mother separated from her husband, and a year later... got back together with the girl's biological father, whom she then married officially. As a result, Vika, between the ages of 7 and 12, lived in the same apartment as her biological father, an ethnic German. He spent a good deal of time with his daughter, which undoubtedly shaped her outlook on the world. Although everyone in the newly formed family spoke exclusively Russian to one another, Alexander was interested in German history and culture, tried to track down German-language books, and listened to German music. He naturally shared all of this with his daughter, who soaked it all up like a sponge. Alexander might well have stayed in Russia had fate not taken yet another turn. Victoria's parents now officially divorced. The girl stayed on with her mother, while the man began gathering documents to move to Germany under the Late Resettler program — all the more so as he had many relatives there. Nevertheless, father and daughter, even living in different countries, continued to stay in touch.

All these twists and turns of family and personal life would no longer matter much, were it not for the fact that moving to Germany required proving paternity. Although, with her mother's help, the young woman had obtained a certificate from Russia's civil registry office (ZAGS) confirming Alexander's paternity, this proved insufficient for a favorable BVA decision. On the recommendation of our firm's attorney, it was decided to carry out a genetic test that could reliably confirm paternity. Our client took this advice and provided a sample at a certified laboratory, as did his daughter in Russia. The results were sent to Germany, and a report was subsequently obtained confirming a 99.9% probability of a biological relationship. We submitted this incontrovertible evidence to the BVA together with an application to reconsider the case. We also attached evidence to the set of documents showing that Victoria had, throughout her life, communicated extensively with her father and absorbed the traits and traditions typical of the German people. As a result, the administrative authority was presented with both comprehensive evidence of the family relationship with a late resettler and evidence of a mental commitment to the German people. Victoria's brilliant command of German was beyond doubt, and there were no other "aggravating" circumstances in this case. To the shared delight of father, daughter, and the attorney handling the case, a favorable decision was issued, and nothing now stood in the way of the young woman preparing for an exciting new chapter in her life.

Once again, we were reminded that one should not give up even after an initial setback. Our firm's attorneys always make every effort to bring even the most difficult case to a positive conclusion. Our clients know this, as do their acquaintances, who turn to us even in cases that seem, at first glance, hopelessly "difficult."

Immigration & Residence Law

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