You can receive a parental allowance, if:
- You live with your child in Germany,
- you have the custody of your child,
- you do not work or work less than 30 hours per week, and
- you have a residence permit including a work permit, a “Beschäftigungsduldung”, German citizenship or the citizenship of an EU country (including Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland).
Please note: If your residence permit has been issued according to §23 paragraph 1 (with the addition "wegen eines Krieges im Heimatland"), §23a, §24 or §25 paragraph 3 to 5 of the Residence Act, you must also meet ONE of the following requirements to benefit from parental benefits:
- You must be employed, on parental leave or collect unemployment benefits I or
- you must have been in Germany for at least 15 months.
Work is not a requirement for entitlement to parental allowance. Employees, self-employed individuals, civil servants, unemployed persons, students, those under vocational training, and stay-in-home mothers and fathers can apply for a parental allowance. But people with higher incomes are not entitled to a parental allowance. That means if you, as a parent, earn more than € 250,000 (or both parents, more than € 500,000) per year, you are not entitled to a parental allowance.
The parental allowance pertains your biological children and the biological children of your partner and foster- and adopted children. In exceptional cases, you can also receive a parental allowance for your grandchildren or nieces and nephews. But such is only possible if the child's parents are not capable of taking care of the child.
Important: If you come from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro or Kosovo and work in Germany, you can receive parental allowance even if you have a tolerated stay ("Duldung") or temporary stay permit (“Aufenthaltsgestattung”). The same applies to you if you come from Turkey and have been in Germany for at least six months.