The new “opportunity right of residence” is intended to give tolerated persons who have been in Germany for a long time the opportunity to put their lives in order – and perhaps to stay. Which rules the traffic light has agreed on in detail.
More beneficiaries, more time: This is how the latest changes to the Opportunity Residence Act, which the traffic light coalition agreed on Monday, can be summarized. The law is a kind of legacy regulation for refugees who have not been granted protection but who, for various reasons, could not be deported either. Among them are many arrivals from 2015/2016; but also people who have been living in the country longer than tolerated. The federal government now wants to give them the chance to stay legally.
Anyone who has been living in Germany for five years by the deadline of October 31, 2022 should receive a probationary residence permit for 18 months – not for one year as initially planned. During this time, migrants can work and obtain a passport without fear of deportation.
The deadline was also pushed back again, which means that more refugees are eligible for the new title – according to SPD MP Helge Lindh, who negotiated for the SPD, a total of around 138,000 people. “The law is an expression of common sense and pragmatism.”
So far, many see no incentive to get a passport
The Green migration expert Filiz Polat said that people were being taken “out of the system of degrading chain toleration” and were finally being given a perspective. FDP MP Stephan Thomae emphasized that the new rule only applies to refugees who have been tolerated for at least a year. “Without a residence permit, these people can hardly find a job and often remain stuck in the social systems for years.” The law is good for the people as well as for Germany.
The SPD deputy Lindh also referred to the security policy aspect of the law, here too there is added value, because those who have been tolerated have a real incentive to get passports for the first time. Refugees have already been asked to clarify their identity. But some don’t do it because they fear they will be deported immediately. “The reality is that these people then live in the country as tolerated, and often for years,” says Lindh.
Migrants who present a passport after 18 months, earn their own living, have not committed a crime and speak German well, can then apply for a regular residence permit according to the rules already contained in the residence law. The law is expected to be passed by the Bundestag on Friday.