Migration

My daughter is in Germany studying on a 12 months d visa she is British . Does she still need to apply for a residency permit and if so, whilst it’s being processed can she return home and still be allowed back into Germany? 

Hello Team,

I'm a Blue Card holder, living in Germany from April 2022. My son will complete his school from an International School in 2026 June and he is interested to study his bachelors degree in Italy. He is on the Blue card dependent residence permit right now. I have already applied for my permanent settlement permit and I don't know when I will get an appointment call from the Ausländerbehörde. By the time my son goes out to Italy, he would have completed 4.5 years in Germany. Would he lose his eligibility to apply for EU PR if he takes up bachelor studies in Italy? His primary residence would still be in Germany with me. What are our options?

Thanks

I am currently trying to apply for a chancenkarte in Hamburg to stay here and look for a job as the three months on the end of my Blue Card runs out (after being made redundant). 

The form online is clunky... I have selected the option 'I have a residence permit or settlement permit and I need a new residence permit (transfer).' but then I need to avoid selecting the button that says my 'current' Aufenthaltstitle is 18g, as this then notifies me that 'Hamburg Welcome Center for Professionals' will receive the request. I did this last week and received an email from them saying they are NOT responsible for Chancenkarte and i must direct my request to the Hamburg Service vor Ort instead. So this time I'm selecting 'my nummber is not listed' (although it is) to force the form to direct me to the Hamburg Service vor Ort instead.

This seems like my only option for directing a request to them for a chancenkarte...

My question is to prove sufficient finances, must i have €1,091 x 12 or can you submit proof of less funds and then subsequently recieve a Chancenkarte for say, 6 months?

Thanks for any help!

I want to thank the people that are responding to my question. Im navigating this site or I would thank you personally.

Hello guys,

I am planning to be a naturalized German citizen, but my legal residence period in Germany is 4 years three months.

Is it possible to send in my application now? As the process can take about a year or longer to be completed 

I fulfilled all other requirements.

I have B2 language certificat and I have done volunteering services for many years.

Thanks 

My great-great-grandfather, Oskar Petersohn, was born in 1873 in Zeitz, Germany and lived there until 1893. Unfortunately, the Magdeburg archives were destroyed during the war, so there is no documentation for the years 1893–1899.

It appears that Oskar got married in England in 1901, and my great-grandfather was born there in 1905. I am aware of the “10-year rule” regarding citizenship.

Oskar and his family returned to Germany in 1907. (I have documents about that, and date based more less he leave germany was 1898, my great-grandfather started working on a ship in , although there is no official German document for this period, only a consular matriculation record.)

Back in Germany, I have records showing my great-grandfather living there from age 2 to 18, including school records, Arbeitsbuch (work card), and the registry for immigration to Brazil, though none of these explicitly state his German citizenship.

Regarding Oskar: after returning to Germany, I have birth records of other children from 1908 to 1913, as well as Melderegister entries from 1915 to 1918, indicating that he was recognized as German and served in the German military. Finally, Oskar died in Memel in 1943.

My great-grandfather later left his father and immigrated to Brazil at age 18. According to the rules, everything seems fine, but my difficulty is interpreting the “10-year rule” in this unusual case, given the gaps in documentation and the periods abroad.

Hello everyone and thanks for helping me with my questions, 

I have been working as a researcher in a research institute with a university in Hessen since 01.09.2023. I received an EU Blue Card on the basis of my contract(which ended on 31.09.2025). The EU Blue Card last day of validity is 31.12.2025. 

As you know how it is with research institutes and applying for grant as a Ph.D. student could be tough, we received a preliminary approval for an EU grant which begins in 01.01.2026 for a period of 3 years. 

However it is not yet finalized so the university only gave me a contract until the end of the year(so 3-month gap from 31.09.2025 to 31.12.2025). I will hopefully get a new longer term contract(from 01.01.2026 to end of 31.12.2027) very soon in the coming weeks. 

My question is what should I do with regards to my blue card situation in this case. I received a letter that I must apply for an extension of Blue card 8 weeks before. But I only atm have the 3-month contract which is not enough(I guess) for an extension. Is there a way to get some from the foreigners' office until I get the new contract?

Hello,

I am writing behalf of my spouse, who is a registered nurse here with 'Urkunde' and currently working under my Blue card visa for last 2.5 years. We would like to change her visa from spouse of Blue card holder to skilled worker category so that she will be eligible for applying permanent residency ( as per the information from internet).  

How can we change the visa category. is it possible to do online application?.

Thanks in advance for any help of useful information.

Best Regards,

Jenson 

Hello handbookgermany team,

i have a question related to visa renwal & settlement permit.

My Visa Situation:
- I came to Germany in May 2017 as a PhD student (I don’t remember the visa type, but I had an Arbeitsvertrag as wissenschaftliche mitarbeiter and paid pension for three years).
- In November 2021, I started working full-time with a §18b skilled worker visa, which is valid until mid-November 2025, and I worked until September 2024 (I quit my PhD during this time), then took a break between October 2024 and Feb 2025.
- Since March 2025, I’ve been working full-time (40h/week) at my current company with unlimited contract.

I already applied for a settlement permit with required documents (e.g. residency proof, work contract, insurance proof, pension proof, einbürgerungstest - except the B1 language certificate, which I’m preparing for now).

My Question:
Since my current visa is valid until mid-November and I already applied for a settlement permit:

- Does my settlement permit application automatically keep my visa valid until a decision is made?

- Should I also apply for a skilled worker visa to renew my §18b visa to keep my right to live and work safe regardless of settlement permit application process? 

- If I apply for the renewal of current work visa, could that be processed faster and affect my right to travel or work while waiting for the settlement permit?

thank you,
 

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