Status: 04/11/2023 12:14 p.m
“It turned our whole life upside down,” says an Iranian family about the so-called right of residence. For a good 100 days, long-term tolerated residents have been able to get a stay on trial.
Azad Morad Waisi’s family has been happy for weeks. Because they get the so-called right of residence for 18 months. The family of three comes from Iran and has been living in Germany for more than seven years. At the end of 2015, Azad fled to Germany via Turkey and Greece with his wife Galawieh and their then six-month-old daughter Aysa. However, her asylum application and follow-up application were rejected.
“I was very sure of myself during the first interview,” says the 36-year-old Iranian, who comes from the Kurdish city of Kamyaran. But although “I am a politically active person and am active in an Iranian opposition party, the application was rejected.”
“These seven years were like a nightmare”
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees found his statements “not credible,” says Azad Morad Waisi. The Administrative Court and Higher Administrative Court also rejected the family’s application. “We’ve had six rejections in seven years in Germany.” This made the Morad Waisi family one of the approximately 250,000 tolerated persons in Germany who are required to leave the country.
“These seven years were like a nightmare,” says the Iranian. “Every time we received a negative decision, we were afraid of being deported. Last winter we slept with my family in the car in the parking garage of a shopping center in Cologne for 45 days at a time.” The then seven-year-old daughter Asya witnessed everything. “We told her a story that if we stay at home, we can die. She accepted that. As soon as it got dark, she took her little sleeping bag and said: let’s go.” In the morning Azad Morad Waisi took his daughter to school.
For a long time, Azad Morad Waisi and his family only had tolerated status.
Image: Bamdad Esmaili, WDR
A “180 degree turnaround” for tolerated people
Martin Henrich keeps hearing about these fears. The Essen specialist lawyer for migration law deals with many tolerated clients. “I estimate that since January about 20 applications of this type have been made in our law firm. With the exception of one application, the applications have been granted.” The regulation affects a total of around 136,000 people who are already well integrated in Germany, the federal government writes on its website. You must have been tolerated, permitted or have been living in Germany with a residence permit for five years.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior says there are no figures on how many tolerated people have applied for the “opportunity right of residence” so far. Attorney Henrich says that the “opportunity right of residence” according to Section 104C is “a 180-degree turnaround in the life of tolerated persons. They now have the opportunity to receive a residence permit for the first time and to integrate themselves in Germany”.
Prerequisites for the “chances right of residence”
Applicants must have lived in Germany for at least five years as of October 31, 2022. In addition, they must have been tolerated or permitted without interruption or lived in Germany with a residence permit.
You must not have been convicted of an intentional criminal offense or have repeatedly intentionally made false statements or misrepresented your identity or nationality. Another requirement is a commitment to the free and democratic basic order.
On December 2, 2022, the members of the Bundestag with the majority of the traffic light parties launched the new law. Of the 654 MPs who took part in the vote, 371 voted in favor of the bill, 226 voted against and 57 MPs abstained.
The dream of a vacation
Azad Morad Waisi has worked repeatedly in the seven years in Germany. But he hadn’t had a work permit for a total of three years. Every one to three months, the family had to go to the immigration office to have their toleration extended. During these 18 months, during which the Morad Waisi family has “probationary stay,” they have to secure at least 50 percent of their own livelihood and clarify their identity, i.e. obtain a passport from the Iranian embassy.
Azad Morad Waisi wants to become self-employed and take over a car repair shop in May after receiving the “opportunity residence permit”. Then a long-awaited dream will soon come true: “I haven’t even been able to leave Germany in these seven years. When my daughter goes to school after the summer holidays, the children talk about her vacation. My daughter doesn’t know what a vacation means,” he says. “We are already thinking about renovating the home, buying new clothes and fulfilling my daughter’s wish to see dolphins in the sea and taking her on vacation. After that, I will visit my family as soon as possible.”