The situation:
Foreigners with Duldung who have been residing in Germany for five years without interruption as of January 1, 2022, have had the opportunity since 2023 to obtain a one-time, temporary residence permit (Chancenaufenthalt), which can then – if they use the opportunity – lead to a longer-term residence permit based on sustainable integration.
The problem:
Unfortunately, in many cases, this opportunity was not used, particularly because the applicants applied for the Chancenaufenthalt – often without legal assistance and advice – without fully informing themselves about the requirements, options, and consequences.
The Chancenaufenthalt is only granted temporarily to enable the requirements for a further residence permit due to sustainable integration and to obtain the missing documents. The opportunity stay also offers people who have deceived about their identity, within very limited limits, the opportunity to end this deception. However, caution and care must be exercised here. In particular, the identity deception must not be repeated. For example, a Pakistani with status Duldung might have used the opportunity if, out of desperation, he had stated for years that he was a Rohingya from Myanmar.
The limited time of the Chancenaufenthalt must also be used to obtain the missing requirements for a further residence permit (due to sustainable integration) and to provide required documents to the immigration authorities. Many people did not think about this and let the time pass without using the chance of Chancenaufenthalt.
Legal Tip 1.)
In a new decision, the Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH München) has opened the door to demonstrating some of the missing requirements in particularly cases (VGH München, decision of March 6, 2025 – 19 CE 24.1915), such as the immigration authorities themselves have only provided incorrect information about the consequences of the opportunity-based residence permit. In individual cases, this may perhaps help to gain a residence permit.
Legal Tip 2.)
Anyone applying for the opportunity-based residence permit for the first time should consider and seek advice on whether the time has now come to take advantage of this opportunity if they have previously given false information ab
