Residency Permit.
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Image: Duesseldorf.de |
European Union citizens as well as Swiss usually do not need a passport, only an identification card is necessary. To stay as a non-EU citizen in Germany for longer than 3 months it is necessary to apply for a residence permit.
Within the third month in Germany or before taking up employment it is necessary to register for permit of residence, an Aufenthaltserlaubnis.
Citizens of the older member countries of the EU enjoy unrestricted mobility to stay and to work in Germany, holders of an EU passport from the more recent entrants are more restricted. Contact the EU service office.
One can also apply for long term residence. The advantage of such a long term permission is, that it is easier to live in other EU-states (beside in Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark), but there are some conditions, which have to be satisfied.
One needs to reside continually in Germany for not less than five years. The financial support has to be assured and one is obliged to be medically insured and enter into a long-term old age care insurance. One must have a place of employment and fixed address. Knowledge of the German language will be tested and a fee of 85 euros will be charged. Under certain conditions it is possible to get a German identification card. One has to have been living in Germany for at the minimum eight years and must not have a criminal record. It costs 255 euros. The same conditions apply, if one has been living for 3 years in Germany and has been married with an German citizen for at least two years.
The same terms also apply, if one is entitled to political asylum, stateless, refugee and has been living in Germany for six years or one comes from another German-speaking country and has been living in Germany itself for four years.
The registration office for all foreigners, the Ausländerbehörde, is a department in the civic centre, Bürgerbüro, which you can find close to the south exit of the Central Station.
Bürgerbüro im Dienstleistungszentrum
Abt. Kommunale Ausländerbehörde
Willi-Becker-Allee 7
40200 Düsseldorf
Phone: 0211 892 1020
Opening hours:
Mon. & Tue.: 7.30 am - 4.00 pm
Wed. & Fri.: 7.30 am - 1.00 pm
Thu.: 7.30 am - 6.00 pm
Please make an appointment in advance!
German Link: Bürgerbüro im Dienstleistungszentrum...