The number of applicants seeking "late resettler" (Spätaussiedler) status keeps steadily declining. Our law firm is regularly approached by people seeking help with this issue, and we're always glad to answer that call — our lawyers have by now built up considerable experience, along with a wide range of interesting stories in this field.
Tatiana (name changed), a young woman with German roots on her grandmother's side, originally from Novosibirsk, decided — like many others — to try her luck and obtain the coveted status. She had already gathered the necessary documents and even filed her application for late-resettler status. But fate had other plans for her. More on that shortly.
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).
Germany has a law that clearly sets out every precondition for recognizing an applicant as a late resettler: the Act on the Affairs of Displaced Persons and Refugees (Gesetz über die Angelegenheiten der Vertriebenen und Flüchtlinge, known for short as the Bundesvertriebenengesetz, BVFG). Alongside the legislator's requirement of German ethnicity (deutsche Volkszugehörigkeit), the law also singles out affiliation with the German people (Bekenntnis zum deutschen Volkstum) as a condition. Under § 6 BVFG, this affiliation is evidenced by markers such as language, upbringing, and culture. Accordingly, one of the most important preconditions for recognition as a late resettler is proficiency in German. There are two ways to prove this: either sit a language test at the German embassy's representation in your place of residence, or submit a certificate confirming proficiency at least at the B1 level (on the six-level Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale). Either way, you must demonstrate a genuinely foundational command of German — a handful of memorized words or phrases will not be enough. Proficiency is considered sufficient if the candidate can understand speech directed at them, answer questions, and sustain a conversation. Given the choice between the two options, we would nonetheless recommend the certificate route: in practice, it tends to be easier to obtain than passing the test.
Our client Tatiana, however, had no trouble with the language itself — she had thoroughly learned German and, as noted, had already assembled the necessary documents and filed her application. Yet she received a refusal from the Federal Administrative Office of Germany (Bundesverwaltungsamt, BVA), and the reason was almost mundane: she had not proven her German proficiency. She had, in fact, already been invited to an interview — the language test — but a series of unforeseen events made her miss it entirely. Her first child was born, then a second less than a year later, and over the following years several more children arrived, turning her life upside down. All her children were born close together, no more than two years apart, and the more of them there were, the more responsibilities naturally fell on Tatiana. There was simply no time to think about anything else, let alone the lengthy, demanding process of obtaining "late resettler" status.
Once her life settled into a somewhat calmer, more familiar rhythm, Tatiana returned to the nearly forgotten process and came to our firm for help reviving her application to be recognized as a late resettler. Our lawyer immediately filed a petition with the Federal Administrative Office of Germany to have her case reopened. A lengthy exchange with officials followed: the authority asked for the reasons and evidence on which it could base a review. After establishing every detail of why Tatiana had missed her test, our lawyer drafted a supporting brief. In it, he drew the authority's attention to the following points: shortly before her scheduled interview date, our client had given birth to her first child and, due to a difficult delivery, could not attend the test. She subsequently experienced a prolonged period of postpartum depression, documented in medical opinions that our lawyer attached to the letter. On top of that, a second child arrived right after the first, followed by two more. Given these personal circumstances and legitimate reasons, our client simply could not attend the test at the time — though our lawyer noted that her situation had since changed, and she was now in a position to demonstrate her German proficiency.
Even before filing the petition with the authority, our lawyer had told Tatiana about the option of proving her proficiency by submitting a B1-level certificate instead. She lost no time and immediately took the steps needed to obtain one. This considerably strengthened our case, and our lawyer forwarded the certificate to the authority, asking that it be added to the file and that the authority take into account that, with the certificate now on record, our client met every requirement set for candidates seeking "late resettler" status.
Some time later, the authority responded — this time favorably. All that remained for Tatiana were minor formalities and organizing her move to Germany with her family. She was overjoyed. We had achieved our goal and helped our client realize a long-held dream without wasting time or energy. Her children will now attend daycare in Germany from the start and grow up speaking German from early childhood.
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