Residence Period in Germany Extended by One and a Half Years

While gathering material for this article, we came across a website belonging to a visa center in Moscow called "VISA COMFORT — Service Without Borders." The author of the information posted on that site, Ms. Nina Mayskaya, shares her opinion of lawyers. With the author's permission, we quote her: "By a good lawyer, we mean a professional who has a deep understanding of their subject and enjoys complex cases. Who does not take on cases outside their competence, because they cannot guarantee a result (even to themselves). Who does not promise the impossible and speaks frankly about the prospects of a case, because they already earn well and value their reputation among a narrow circle of fellow professionals..." We fully share this particular view of the author's. That said, on the whole Ms. Mayskaya does not care for lawyers — especially German ones (which is clear from her article). We suspect this has to do with the fact that most lawyers in Germany handle the same matters as the visa center Ms. Mayskaya represents — namely, matters concerning late resettlers, family reunification, visa extensions, and much more. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion. As for the professionalism of our lawyers, our clients can judge that from their own personal experience, and readers of our column can judge it from the articles describing successfully resolved cases (and others). Below, we would like to tell you about another case successfully concluded by the lawyers of our law firm.

A client came to us — let's call him Rustam. Rustam's problem was not a simple one. His mother had come from Kazakhstan to visit him and fell ill while she was there. As Rustam explained, his mother is an elderly woman with a number of chronic conditions. Perhaps due to the stress of the paperwork and the journey, she fell ill. In addition to her chronic conditions, she also suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

As a reminder to the reader, Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. Dementia, in turn, is an acquired decline in cognitive function — a persistent deterioration of mental abilities involving the loss, to varying degrees, of previously acquired knowledge and practical skills, along with difficulty acquiring new ones.

So, Rustam's mother suffered from dementia and, as a result of her chronic conditions worsening, became seriously ill. Her visa was about to expire, but Rustam was even afraid to think about sending her back to Kazakhstan. So he kept her with him and took her to see doctors. It did not occur to him that his mother was staying in the country illegally. But the immigration authority, unlike Rustam, keeps close track of foreign nationals' stay in Germany. It was therefore aware that his mother's period of authorized stay had expired and that she was required to leave the country. Rustam soon received a decision from the authority stating that his mother was staying in Germany unlawfully and had to leave immediately; a deadline was set. But Rustam did not pay much attention to this decision. The period during which he could have submitted objections or a petition requesting an extension of her stay expired, and the decision became legally binding.

Still, Rustam felt some concern and decided to turn to a law firm. The client was unable to explain the full situation himself, so we suggested that he request the case file from the immigration authority so we could then clarify all the circumstances. Upon receiving the file, we found that Rustam had already applied to the immigration authority requesting an extension of his mother's stay in Germany due to her illness. The authority had granted the request, and Rustam's mother had been issued a Duldung (toleration permit) valid for 3 months. The term Duldung can be explained as follows: it is a permit to remain in the country granted on account of serious reasons preventing immediate deportation. As soon as such reasons no longer apply, the foreign national is required to leave Germany. Once that permit expired, Rustam did not submit any further documents or applications to the authority, and as a result a decision was issued ordering his mother to leave the country.

After reviewing the file, we invited the client for another meeting and explained the situation to him in detail. We advised Rustam to see the doctors again and explained the form in which the medical report needed to be submitted.

Once the client had brought all the necessary documents, we prepared an application to extend the client's mother's permit to remain for another year and a half, on the grounds that her illness was progressing and she was unable to leave the country. Most importantly, there was no one in Kazakhstan to care for her, since her only son lived in Germany. We decided that we would go to the immigration authority ourselves, without the clients present — Rustam's mother could not go, and Rustam had to stay and take care of her.

As our readers know, the immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) is the agency responsible for decisions on foreign nationals' stay in Germany, including the end of their period of stay. Visitors are generally received in the department responsible for the country the foreign national comes from. However, foreign nationals who came to Germany for a specific purpose — for example, to pursue an education, for a short-term stay, or asylum seekers, among others — are received at central departments, regardless of their country of citizenship.

We went to the immigration authority without a scheduled appointment, since there was no time left for that, and turned to the department serving people who had come for a short-term stay, which was the logical choice. Naturally, showing up without an appointment meant waiting in a considerable line. But when the official finally saw us, he apologized and explained that we needed to go to a different department, since the deportation decision concerning our client had already become legally binding.

There was nothing to be done, so we went to the other department, which was located in an entirely different building. About 60 people were waiting there for a decision on their fate — elderly people, the sick, parents with small children. There was no way we could sit through such a line — after all, we had our own clients waiting to be seen. We approached the staff member responsible for directing visitors, showed him our documents, and asked for an urgent audience or an appointment time. After reviewing our documents, the official immediately directed us to the right office. The official who received us listened to our explanation that our client's illness was progressing, with no grounds to expect her recovery, as confirmed by the medical report. Therefore, even though the decision ordering the client's immediate departure had become legally binding, there were nonetheless grounds — provided for by law, no less — for extending her lawful stay. The official reviewed the documents and medical reports we submitted and agreed to extend Rustam's mother's period of stay by one and a half years (18 months).

We informed the clients of the result and explained that after 18 months, Rustam's mother would be entitled to apply for a residence permit.

We would like to note once again how important a lawyer's role is in cases like this: they explain the meaning of the relevant legal provision and the possible consequences of violating it; they prepare applications and supporting arguments; and they find the right words to persuade an official to consider not only the letter of the law, but also the specific circumstances of the case.

Immigration & Residence Law

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