The age range of 20 to 35 is generally considered a period of active self-discovery, personal growth, forming hobbies and building habits. It is at this age that a person is most active in social life and most eager to reach certain career milestones. This age group is accordingly the one most willing to take risks such as moving to another country — something an older person, whose life follows a familiar routine, would rarely decide to do without compelling reasons.
Our law firm's client was Alina (name changed), a native of Kazakhstan who has lived in Germany for more than 15 years. Alina grew up in a German-Russian family and, although she picked up German easily and was familiar with German traditions, moving to Germany had never been on her family's agenda. Nevertheless, Alina always enjoyed visiting Germany, where she later met her husband. After marrying a German citizen, our client moved to Germany permanently, while regularly visiting her parents, who remained in Kazakhstan.
Challenging a BVA Refusal
A refusal by the Bundesverwaltungsamt (BVA) to recognize late resettler status can be challenged before the administrative court — typically within one month of receiving the refusal.
As time passed, her parents grew older, and eventually Alina's mother, Antonina (name changed), lost her husband. Losing the man she had spent most of her life with took a heavy toll on Antonina's health, and she began falling ill frequently; in time, chronic conditions set in.
These developments distressed Alina greatly, and our client began thinking more and more about how to bring her mother to Germany. To that end, Alina decided to consult an experienced attorney who could advise her on the best course of action, and so she came to our law firm.
The first thread our attorney picked up on during the conversation with our client was the fact that Antonina was an ethnic German. Given this, it was possible to initiate the procedure for obtaining late resettler status. Our client, who had of course heard of this procedure but had never looked into what was needed to obtain a permit to enter Germany as a late resettler, became very interested and asked to be told the main list of requirements.
Our attorney explained to the client that she would first need to provide proof of German ethnicity, and later also demonstrate German proficiency at the Start Deutsch B1 level. This last requirement upset Alina greatly, as she explained to the attorney that, although her mother was indeed German, Antonina had spent her entire life in Kazakhstan, where she had had virtually no opportunity to speak German. As for learning German now, Alina said this was simply impossible, since her mother was already over 70 and fell ill very often.
Our attorney, however, drawing on extensive experience with late resettler cases, told Alina that this very fact could turn out to be a lifeline in this situation. Under Section 6(2) of Germany's Act on the Affairs of Displaced Persons and Refugees (Bundesvertriebenengesetz), an applicant for late resettler status is exempted from having to prove the required level of German proficiency if this is prevented by a physical, mental or psychological illness or by a disability.
Our law firm's practice already includes a substantial number of cases in which our attorney successfully demonstrated to the German authority for foreigners' affairs that a particular illness made it impossible for an applicant for late resettler status to take the language exam.
Upon hearing this, Alina explained that Antonina had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, albeit still at an early stage. Drawing on experience working with elderly clients, the attorney suggested that Alina's mother, being of advanced age, might also have Alzheimer's disease, which manifests as a loss of short-term and, at later stages, long-term memory. Our client confirmed that she had indeed begun noticing such signs in Antonina, but that they had not yet consulted a doctor about it.
On this basis, the attorney suggested that our client's mother see doctors where she lived, undergo the necessary diagnostic tests, and determine exactly what conditions Antonina was suffering from. Our client decided not to put this off and flew to see her mother in Kazakhstan right away.
Extensive testing revealed that, in addition to various less serious age-related conditions, Antonina had indeed been diagnosed with not only Parkinson's disease but Alzheimer's as well. This news was hardly reassuring, but it did offer a chance of achieving the desired outcome. Alina immediately informed our attorney and, as agreed, sent him copies of the test results and medical reports she had obtained. The attorney carefully reviewed the medical documents and explained to our client that it would not be enough simply to provide the Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt) with proof that Antonina had been diagnosed with these conditions. The certificates issued by the relevant doctors needed to explicitly confirm that these conditions had made Alina's mother unable to learn new information — in particular, German — and consequently unable to pass the language test required to obtain the necessary certificate.
Drawing on many years' experience dealing with the Federal Office of Administration on similar matters, the attorney sent our client a detailed list of the requirements the medical certificates needed to meet. Alina passed this list on to the doctors and sent the attorney the resulting certificates for review. Our attorney flagged the points that needed more attention so that the doctors could describe the necessary details in greater depth. A final version of the medical certificates was then issued, taking these recommendations into account.
While the necessary medical documents were being obtained, Alina, on our attorney's recommendation, immediately began gathering the remaining documents needed to accompany Antonina's application for late resettler status.
Once all the necessary documents had been assembled, the attorney completed the corresponding forms and drafted a detailed justification for the absence of proof of the applicant's language proficiency. The emphasis was placed on the fact that Antonina fully met every other requirement set out under German law (Bundesvertriebenengesetz), but that age-related illnesses left her unable to learn the language and obtain the required language certificate. The relevant medical certificates and the doctors' supporting explanations, confirming the information the attorney had submitted, were attached. In addition, the attorney also noted that the applicant's daughter had lived in Germany for more than 15 years and was ready to care for her ailing mother.
This set of documents was sent to the competent authority, which reviewed it fairly quickly and confirmed that the evidence the attorney had submitted had been taken into account; Antonina was accordingly issued the corresponding permit to enter Germany (Aufnahmebescheid).
Not expecting matters to be resolved so quickly and smoothly, Alina was overjoyed, and just a few months after receiving the permit, Antonina was already living together with her daughter in Germany.
Drawing on this case from our law firm's practice, we recommend that you always seek legal assistance from a qualified attorney rather than trying to gather information on your own from forums and acquaintances, since each individual case is reviewed strictly on its own merits by the government authorities — meaning only an experienced attorney can not only find the right solution but also see it through to completion.
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