Yelizaveta (name changed) was born somewhere in southern Kazakhstan into a family with German roots. She had spent her entire life there, never once considering a move to Germany — until she took a vacation in Bavaria and met a young man there. As so often happens, a romance developed, and the couple, unwilling to part, formalized their relationship. Some time later, Yelizaveta arrived in Germany as the spouse of a citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany, under Germany's Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz – AufenthG).
A few years later, Germany's Federal Act on Displaced Persons and Refugees (Bundesvertriebenengesetz – BVFG) was amended in ways that somewhat eased the process of recognizing late-resettler status. Rather than wait out the statutory period required to obtain German citizenship as the lawful spouse of a German citizen, Yelizaveta decided to apply for late-resettler status instead, hoping to obtain citizenship on a shorter timeline. What's more, unlike the path to citizenship as a German citizen's spouse, late-resettler status would have spared her the naturalization procedure and the requirement to renounce her Kazakhstani citizenship.
Conditions for Obtaining the Status
Late-resettler status requires proof of German ethnicity, a lasting affiliation with German culture, and German proficiency at a family-transmitted level (§ 6 BVFG).
It was for exactly this purpose that Yelizaveta approached our law firm. To gather the required documents, our client returned to Kazakhstan and, with our assistance, conducted the entire process from there. Over time, she assembled the full set of documents needed to apply for resettler status, and she met every precondition for the status. Yet the Federal Administrative Office (Bundesverwaltungsamt), after processing her application, refused it — arguing that by moving in with her husband, our client had already lived in the Federal Republic of Germany for several years and held a German residence permit. In the authority's view, this meant she had already left her designated settlement area (Aussiedlungsgebiet). As our practice shows, the requirement of continuous residence within the areas of forced resettlement is the single most problematic hurdle for late resettlers, and the Federal Administrative Office scrutinizes it with particular rigor.
We therefore decided to take a different approach. At the very time Yelizaveta was in Kazakhstan gathering documents, her mother Svetlana (name changed) — also ethnically German — had decided to apply for late-resettler status herself, with our firm likewise providing legal support. Svetlana's application proceeded smoothly, and she was issued the corresponding admission permit for entry to Germany (Aufnahmebescheid), confirming her late-resettler status. So once Yelizaveta's own application was refused, we proposed a different route: applying for family reunification with her mother, thereby entering Germany as the family member of a late resettler.
We submitted a petition to the Federal Administrative Office requesting that Yelizaveta be included in the admission permit already granted to her mother. In support of Yelizaveta's application, we relied on § 27(2) of Germany's Federal Act on Displaced Persons and Refugees (Bundesvertriebenengesetz – BVFG), which allows a late resettler's spouse (married for at least three years, to obtain status under § 7 BVFG) and descendants to resettle in Germany together with them upon petition, provided those individuals had continuously resided in the area of forced resettlement and none of the grounds for refusal under § 5 of the Act applied (such as a criminal conviction or involvement with a terrorist organization). We further pointed out that, under current case law, a late resettler's descendant need only have continuously resided in the resettlement area from the point at which the admission permit was issued to their relative. Since Yelizaveta had once again been continuously resident in Kazakhstan at the time our firm filed Svetlana's application with the Federal Administrative Office, she was entitled to be included in the admission permit.
In our submission we set out the facts of the case in detail, emphasizing that while Yelizaveta had indeed lived in Germany for several years due to her marriage to a German citizen, she had returned to Kazakhstan roughly two years earlier. We further noted that, at the time her parents obtained their admission permit, Yelizaveta held steady employment in Kazakhstan, was registered at her place of residence there, and so on. These facts demonstrated that our client had been continuously resident in Kazakhstan — that is, within the area of forced resettlement. As evidence, we submitted the necessary documents (an employment record book, a residence-registration certificate from Kazakhstan, and others), alongside a detailed account of the most current case law applied to resolve such disputes. With every statutory precondition thus satisfied, the Federal Administrative Office granted the petition, and Yelizaveta was successfully included in her mother's admission permit for entry to Germany, acquiring status as a late resettler's descendant.
Every person and every family has their own problems, their own life story. But there is no such thing as a truly hopeless situation, or one with no possible resolution — it simply takes persistence and a well-considered pursuit of the goal. New circumstances can emerge in the course of a case that open up fresh paths toward resolving it, and seizing them at the right moment is what matters most. But spotting such openings takes professionals with years of experience handling cases like these. That is why, to account for every nuance and not miss opportunities that arise along the way, we recommend consulting a qualified specialist without delay — someone who can serve as a reliable advisor throughout.
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