Coronavirus, Public Life & Mobility

Contact restrictions apply in many federal states, i.e. you can only meet with a few people. The specific regulations differ from state to state.

A distance of at least 1.50 meters should be maintained from people who do not live in the same household. When shopping and on the bus & train, you must cover your mouth and nose with a face mask or scarf.

Please Note: Police officers are present to make sure everyone respects these measures and those who do not will face penalties, i.e. a fine or even prison sentence.

Many countries have currently enforced entry bans or extra checks to curb the spread- same applies to parts of the European. Before you travel, check the situation in your travel destination carefully. To learn about the situation in EU countries, visit reopen.europa.de. For many countries, the travel warnings issued by the Federal Foreign Office still stands. The Federal Foreign Office has set up its separate page on the Coronavirus where you can find all essential information. You can also make inquiries at the embassy or consulate of your destination country in Germanybefore starting your trip.

You can learn about your rights as a holidaymaker whose trip is affected due to the current situation on the website of the Consumer Center and the European Information Center Germany.

The borders between Germany and its neighbor countries have been reopened since June 15.  From July 2, the following individuals can travel to Germany: Australia, Georgia, Canada, Montenegro, New Zealand, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay. People who are from China, Japan and South Korea will only be allowed to enter Germany if these governments also allow people from Germany to enter. The list is to be updated every two weeks.

Important: Whether you can enter Germany depends on your place of residence not the nationality.

Strict entry regulations still apply to the rest of the countries. Only the following individuals can currently enter Germany from other countries:

• German nationals and family members of German nationals who return to their common place of residence,
• Citizens of other EU countries as well as those from Great Britain, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and.
• Third-country nationals with a permanent residence permit in Germany, EU member state, or Great Britain, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
• People who come to Germany in the framework of family reunification.
• People who work in medical and health care service.
• Students who cannot finish their studies abroad.
• Professional workers who are urgently required in Germany and their tasks and cannot be postponed or done abroad.
• People who work in transportation sector.
• People who work as agricultural workers in the field.
• People who have to travel to Germany for urgent family reasons.
• Sailors
• Diplomats
• Passengers in transit

Important: Make sure you carry all the necessary documents if you plan to travel across international borders. Inquire in advance at the German embassy in your area or directly at the Federal Foreign Office. If you have specific questions about your entry, you can also call the Federal Police on 0800 6 888 000 (free of charge). The staff speak German.

Asylum seekers can also continue to enter and apply for asylum in Germany. However, please note that the Dublin Regulation continues to apply. You can find out more about the Dublin regulations in our chapter "Dublin procedure". 

Important: Those who enter Germany from a high-risk area, must either show their negative test results or remain in quarantine for 14 days after entry. You can find an updated list of high-risk areas on rki.de.

Please note: The German embassies in Amman, Addis Ababa, Ankara, Athens, Beirut, Erbil, Islamabad, Istanbul, Izmir, Khartoum and Tehran are currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Please check the website of the relevant embassy regularly for more information. 

Those who have had close contact with people diagnosed as infected or have been in a risk area should avoid contact with other people. If that is the case, stay home and contact the responsible health department immediately. You can find their contact details, for example, via the database of the Robert Koch Institute(RKI).

On May 6th it was decided that all shops could open again. However, specific hygiene and distancing measures must be observed.

When shopping, make sure you follow the regulations: keep your distance from others. And wear a face mask which covers your mouth and nose. Many stores now only allow a small number of people to enter at the same time. The others have to wait outside.

The restaurants m and eateries may also gradually reopen. Each federal state can decide the exact dates. However, guests and staff must observe certain hygiene and distancing measures.

Hair salons and alike are allowed to open again. However, proper hygiene and distancing measures must be observed.

The individual federal states decide on the opening of theatres, opera houses, cinemas, etc. as well as swimming pools, gyms and the like. Most businesses have reopened in many federal states- but specific hygiene and distancing requirements must be maintained.

You may face empty shelves sometimes when products are temporarily sold out. But in principle, there is enough of everything- only the stores have to refill shelves faster than before. Currently, there is no reason to buy more food or hygiene products than you regularly need. In some shops, even, buying too much of some products have been forbidden, which means you can only buy them in "usual" quantities. Such decisions are made to ensure that there is always enough for everyone.

All students should go back to school after the summer holidays. Most students currently only have lessons at school for a few days/weeks. The regulations differ from state to state.

Each federal states decide on the opening of daycare centres. In most federal states, most children are allowed to go back to daycare at least a few days a week. Ask your child's school or daycare centre for morespecific information.

Many government offices have been either closing their doors or are only open to the public for limited hours. If you have an appointment or an urgent query, check the proper offices' website or call them.

Check the website of the relevant Immigration Office to see if it is open. If it is closed, you can apply for the extension online on their website. You can Search for your Immigration Office’s website on webgis.bamf.de. The Immigration Office will then send you a so-called "Fiktionsbescheinigung" in your mailbox- and your residence permit will remain valid for the time being.

Please note: Even if you are currently abroad and cannot find a returning flight to Germany, you can still extend your residence permit. To do this, write an email to the relevant Immigration Office.

If you have a Schengen visa: Your visa is expiring or has expired in the past few weeks? For the time being, you do not have to do anything- and can stay in Germany until September 30, 2020, without a valid visa. In case your Schengen visa permitted you to work, you can also continue to work.

For other types of visa: If your visa expires and you cannot leave, you will need to apply for a visa extension. Write an informal e-mail and specify relevant personal data (name, date of birth, etc.) to the Immigration Office in your area. To find the Immigration office responsible for you, check webgis.bamf.de.

Please note: If your stay depends on the continuation of your employment and you lose your job, you may have to leave the country. in case that is not possible for the time being, you will be issued a tolerated stay permit or "Duldung". You can find out more in our chapter "tolerated stay permit".

If you had a so-called "D visa" (e.g. for family reunification, studying, looking for a job, etc.) with which you wanted to come to Germany after March 15, 2020, but you could not due to the entry restrictions or missing flights, you can now apply for a so-called "Neuvisierung". 

"Neuvisierung" means that the documents you've already submitted will be checked briefly and your new application will be processed faster. 

Applying for a "Neuvisierung" is possible if: 

• Your visa has expired in the past months or expires on July 29, 2020, at the latest. 
• The purpose of your trip and your destination in Germany have not changed. 

In principle, you do not have to come to the embassy again for the "Neuvisierung". Only people who submitted their visa application more than 6 months ago need to come to the embassy again and give their fingerprints. However, the embassy can request new documents from you. You must, e.g. prove the continuation of your vocational training or employment contract or present your current enrollment certificate for the university. You also have to prove (again) that your livelihood in Germany is secured. Declarations of commitment must not be older than 6 months. But it does not matter if you now exceed an age limit that is relevant for your visa.

Important: The application for "Neuvisierung" is only possible within one month after the opening of the application period on the website of the German embassy responsible for you. If you miss the deadline, you have to make a new application for a visa- so check the website of the proper embassy regularly. 

Please note: Extending the original visa is not possible; so you either have to apply for a "Neuvisierung" (within the deadline) or submit an entirely new visa application. Keep in mind that you do not have to pay any new fees for "Neuvisierung". 

Please note: This regulation does not apply to Schengen visa.

For family reunification visas, there are further regulations. You can find out more in the section "Will my application for family reunification be processed further?".

Each federal state decides about the reopening of language schools independently. Same applies to Music academies and driving schools. In most federal states, at least one-to-one or small group classes are allowed. Check with your school to find out more.

In our chapter "Learning German", you can find plenty of helpful materials which allow you to practice online and offline.

Most students have to study at home by themselves. The schools regularly send students tasks and learning material these days. Your child has to do these tasks. If your child needs help and you cannot provide it yourself, you can ask a neighbour or friend for help by phone or video chat. Your child can also find help online:

•         On stayschool.de, students starting from 5th grade can get help with learning without paying anything. Volunteers help your child learn via video chats. The tutoring is available in many languages.

•         On corona-school.de, children starting from 1st grade can also find cost-free advice from university students who are working voluntarily to help school children with their homework through video chats while the schools are closed.

•         On daserste.de, you will find various learning possibilities for students of all levels.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many counselling centres throughout Germany had to close down. You can still reach many of these centres by phone or email. Under the sections "Where can I find help?" and "Help for special target groups" on our page Local Information you will find several direct links to counselling centres' websites where you can find help with various problems.

Many in shared accommodation facilities currently do not know what is going to happen in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. Some accommodation facilities are under total quarantine. Others have enforced new measures—unfortunately, a uniform regulation for shared accommodation facilities do not exist in Germany (yet). Your facility's management will notify you of the way your accommodation centre will continue to run during the next few weeks. Currently, effective resolutions are being sought and discussed. If there are significant problems in your accommodation centre, contact and inform the Refugee Council. You can find the responsible Refugee Council on fluechtlingsrat.de.

Since May 30, deportations are theoretically possible. Whether they take place, however, depends on available flight connections and entry/quarantine restrictions. If you are concerned that you may be affected, contact the Pro Asyl hotline, the proper Refugee Council or your lawyer.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Dublin-case deportations to other European countries have been suspended for a few months. Currently this interruption period, however, is not counted into BAMF's legal transfer time-limit. In other words, BAMF's right to transfer individuals with a "Dublin case" will not expire during the current interruption period. Whether this can be legally enforced, however, is controversial. There already has been a court ruling against the extension of the Dublin-deadlines. The EU authorities also maintain that the suspension period resulted from the Corona pandemic must also be included in Dublin deadlines. If you find yourself in the "Dublin procedure", make sure to seek advice from a lawyer or counselling centre. Contact the Refugee Council in your state if you need help finding a lawyer/counselling centre.

Because of the Corona pandemic, application for asylum can only take place in writing. As soon as you are registered in an Initial Reception Centre ("Erstaufnahmeeinrichtung"), you will be handed a so-called proof of arrival ("Ankunftsnachweis ") and an asylum application form. After you fill out and sign the application form, It will be sent to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) together with a copy of your proof of arrival. The BAMF will then send you a temporary stay permit ("Aufenthaltsgestattung"). Your hearing will be scheduled AFTER the situation somewhat calms. You can find out more at bamf.de.

If your hearing has already taken place, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) will continue to process your asylum application.

From May 11th, BAMF will resume informing asylum applicants about the decisions- i.e. negative and positive results. The only exceptions are asylum seekers who live in shared accommodation facilities under quarantine.

You need to keep checking your mail regularly and contact Pro Asyl hotline or a lawyer if need help.

When your tolerated stay permit expires, you must apply for an extension. Check the website of the Immigration Office responsible for you to see if they are open- when not, check whether there is an online application available on their website. If you cannot find any: Call them or write an e-mail including all necessary personal data (name, date of birth, etc.) and ask for your "Duldung" to be extended. You can find the Immigration Office responsible at webgis.bamf.de.

Currently, many embassies either do not work or do so for limited hours. So, extensive delays are expected. Check the website of the proper German embassy regularly to learn about the latest. If the delays can lead to the expiry of a deadline, your family cannot collect the visa, or any other problems arise, contact the staff of the DRK search service or your lawyer.

Please note: The legal deadlines still apply, i.e. you have to meet the legal deadlines despite the Corona crisis. You can find out more about the statutory deadlines in our chapter "Family Reunification". To keep the deadline, you can register at the Immigration Office online at fap.diplo.de. The application which your family must submit to the relevant embassy can be sent per fax- but please make sure to preserve the confirmation notice.

If your family already has a visa (which is still valid), they can come to Germany.

If your family's visa expires/expired during the entry ban, it needs to be renewed. To do so, they need to apply for a so-called "Neuvisierung". To learn more about the process, make sure you read the section "My visa expired before I entered Germany. What should I do?". Furthermore, for family reunification visas, the following applies:

• Documents which have expired meanwhile (e.g. the residence permit of the family member in Germany) must be submitted again.
• In case the previous application included a doctor's note, a new one must be submitted.

Important: You do not need to worry if your child has passed the age limit during the recent months and is not considered a minor anymore given you have made the original application before he/she reaches 18 years of age.  Same applies whether your child resides in the home country or Germany.