Legal status in Germany: how to choose a legal basis for your stay

This page helps you understand on what basis you can stay in Germany and where to go next. It compares the main grounds, describes the path to a permanent settlement permit and citizenship, and lists the changes. Step-by-step instructions for the main status of Ukrainians are on the page about temporary protection.

# What does it mean to be in Germany legally?

You are in Germany legally if you have a residence permit, have applied and received a Fiktionsbescheinigung certificate, or are within a visa-free period. Permits are issued by the local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde).

A separate rule applies to people from Ukraine. If you were in Ukraine on 24 February 2022 and entered Germany by 4 December 2027, you can stay without a residence permit for 90 days from your first entry, as long as you do not already have temporary protection in another EU country. The same applies to Ukrainian citizens who lived in Ukraine at the time but were temporarily abroad on 24 February 2022 itself, and to people who were recognized as refugees in Ukraine or had international or equivalent protection there. From 9 October 2026 this exemption does not apply to people who have military obligations under Ukrainian law and do not prove that they meet them or are exempt from them. Re-entering after you leave does not restart these 90 days: this is how the government explains it in the explanatory memorandum to the ordinance. You can get a residence permit without leaving Germany.

If a person who is in Germany legally applies for a residence permit, their stay is treated as permitted until a decision is made. If an application for an extension or for another permit is filed before the current permit expires, the old permit is treated as valid until the decision. In both cases the office issues a Fiktionsbescheinigung; more about it on the page Residence permit card (eAT) and Fiktionsbescheinigung.

Address registration and the tax identification number (Steuer-ID) do not give you the right to stay. The Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) explicitly states that the Steuer-ID says nothing about either your status or your right to work.

# What grounds for stay exist and how do they differ?

The grounds differ in who can get them, what conditions you must meet and whether you can work.

Every residence permit allows you to work unless the law prohibits it, and each one must show whether work is permitted and whether there are restrictions (§ 4a AufenthG).

# How do you get a permanent settlement permit and citizenship?

A permanent settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis) and citizenship are granted after several years of legal residence, and the periods differ for each basis.

• General rule (§ 9 AufenthG). Five years with a residence permit, secure means of support, at least 60 months of pension insurance contributions, sufficient German (level B1), basic knowledge of the legal and social order (an integration course confirms both), adequate housing.
• Skilled workers (§ 18c). Three years with a permit under § 18a, § 18b, § 18d or § 18g and 36 months of contributions; two years if you completed vocational training or university in Germany. A Blue Card holder can get a permanent settlement permit after 27 months of work with basic German (A1) or after 21 months with sufficient German (B1).
• After temporary protection. The law allows, but does not oblige, the office to issue a permanent settlement permit to a person with a permit on humanitarian grounds (§ 24 is one of them) if the conditions of § 9 are met (§ 26 Abs. 4).
• Citizenship (§ 10 of the Nationality Act, StAG). Five years of legal permanent residence, supporting yourself without benefits under SGB II or SGB XII (with exceptions), no criminal record, German at level B1 and a test on knowledge of the country. In addition, at the time of the application you need a permanent settlement permit, a Blue Card or a permit issued for a purpose that is not on the law’s list of non-qualifying purposes. The law expressly names the § 24 permit on that list, so on its own it does not lead to citizenship.
• Spouses of German citizens (§ 9 StAG). As a rule, citizenship is granted after three years of legal residence if the marriage has lasted at least two years and the other conditions of § 10 are met.

The option of getting citizenship after three years for special integration achievements was abolished on 30 October 2025. German law no longer requires you to give up your other citizenship. What this means under Ukrainian law is not covered here.

We did not find two things in official sources: how the authorities apply the § 26 Abs. 4 rule to § 24 holders, and whether years under § 24 count toward the five-year period for citizenship.

A holder of temporary protection has no right to an integration course but may be admitted to one if places are available (§ 44 Abs. 4 AufenthG).

# How does your status affect work and family?

A § 24 permit gives you the right to any kind of work; before it is issued, you can work with a Fiktionsbescheinigung that contains the entry “Erwerbstätigkeit erlaubt” (“employment permitted”). While you are in Germany without a permit and without such a certificate, that is, only within the 90 days without a permit, you cannot work: the law allows work without a residence permit only when a law, an ordinance or an office’s decision expressly provides for it, and the ordinance on visa-free stay does not. Students can work no more than 140 working days a year, and asylum seekers have the restrictions described in the table.

Anyone who received a § 24 permit for the first time must live for three years in the federal state they were assigned to (§ 12a AufenthG). The obligation does not apply, among other cases, if the person has a job with social insurance of at least 15 hours a week and earns at least the average SGB II needs amount for a single person, or is in vocational training or at university.

Family members of people who left Ukraine are themselves entitled to temporary protection if the family existed in Ukraine before 24 February 2022. The husband, wife and minor unmarried children of a § 24 holder receive a permit on simplified terms (§ 29 Abs. 4) if the flight separated the family and the relative is being transferred to Germany from another EU country, or is outside the EU and needs protection. Other relatives can get a permit only in cases of particular hardship (§ 36). Admitted relatives receive § 24 status.

Family reunification with people who have subsidiary protection (one of the forms of asylum) is suspended until 23 July 2027. This matters to Ukrainians if they move from temporary protection to asylum and receive subsidiary protection specifically; the rule does not affect § 24 holders as such.

# Can you switch from temporary protection to another permit?

Yes, if you meet the conditions of the new permit. In August 2026 the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) confirmed that Ukrainians under protection can switch to other permits, for example for work, and in this way get long-term prospects. EU Decision 2026/1912 calls on EU countries to speed up such transitions.

Within 90 days of your first entry you can apply straight away for a permit for another purpose, for example study or work. The federal portal germany4ukraine.de notes that this may be more advantageous.

The main trap: while a person has temporary protection or has applied for it in any EU country, they are not issued a Blue Card, a study permit (§ 16b Abs. 1 and 5), or permits under § 16e, § 17 Abs. 2, § 18d (researchers) and § 19e (§ 19f Abs. 1 AufenthG). This ban does not apply to permits for skilled workers under § 18a and § 18b. A study by the European Migration Network, published by BAMF in 2024, says that sometimes the § 24 permit has to be given up in order to get another one, and that § 24 can later be requested again if the other permit is given up. This was written before 2026. From 5 August 2026, only those who had protection in Germany on 4 August 2026 and keep it without a break are exempt from the military obligations requirement. So, in our reading of Art. 2 of EU Decision 2026/1912, anyone who gives up § 24 and later asks for it again should be ready to confirm that they meet their military obligations or are exempt from them, if they have such obligations.

We did not find any separate changes in 2025–2026 that would make it easier to switch from § 24 to a work or study permit.

# What changed in 2025–2026?

• On 24 July 2025 family reunification with people under subsidiary protection was suspended until 23 July 2027.
• On 28 October 2025 an amendment to the UkraineAufenthFGV ordinance came into force: § 24 permits that are valid on 1 February 2026 remain valid without extension until 4 March 2027.
• On 30 October 2025 citizenship after three years for special integration achievements was abolished.
• On 2 December 2025 people who had already received temporary protection in another EU country were excluded from visa-free stay.
• On 1 July 2026 the Bürgergeld benefit became Grundsicherungsgeld.
• On 5 August 2026 EU Decision 2026/1912 came into force: temporary protection was extended until 4 March 2028, and from that day it is granted only to people who meet their military obligations in Ukraine or are exempt from them, if they have such obligations. The requirement does not apply to people who already had protection in a given EU country on 4 August 2026 and keep it there without a break. What matters is having protection on that date, so the requirement also applies to people who applied earlier but had not yet received protection.
• On 9 October 2026 the 90 days of stay without a permit were extended to people who enter by 4 December 2027. For people with military obligations under Ukrainian law, this rule applies only if they prove that they meet them or are exempt; otherwise they need a national visa to enter and stay in order to get § 24.

What had not happened as of 12 October 2026:

• There is no ordinance in the Federal Law Gazette on the automatic validity of § 24 permits after 4 March 2027. One page of the federal portal gives 4 March 2028, but this contradicts the text of the ordinance; more on the page about temporary protection.
• The bill (Leistungsrechtsanpassungsgesetz) to move Ukrainians who were first issued a § 24 permit after 31 March 2025 from Grundsicherungsgeld to benefits under the AsylbLG is still before a Bundestag committee. The current rules apply.

# When do you need a lawyer?

You need a lawyer specializing in German immigration law when your case goes beyond the general rules:

• you want to switch from § 24 to a work or study permit and are not sure whether the § 19f ban applies to you;
• you are thinking of applying for asylum while you hold temporary protection;
• you received a refusal or another decision that you disagree with;
• your family members have different statuses, or relatives remain outside the EU;
• you plan a long absence from Germany.

Deadlines for challenging decisions by the authorities are short. An objection (Widerspruch), where one is available, is filed within one month after the decision was notified to you; a lawsuit is filed within one month after the decision on the objection or, if no objection is available, within one month after you were notified of the decision. A decision on allocation under § 24 cannot be challenged by an objection, and a lawsuit does not suspend its enforcement.

For people on a low income, the state provides out-of-court legal advice (Beratungshilfe) on application. Asylum seekers can get free, independent advice on the procedure, funded by the state. Kompanion does not provide legal services and does not recommend lawyers.

# What mistakes should you avoid?

• Treating the arrival certificate (Ankunftsnachweis), address registration or the Steuer-ID as a residence permit.
• Applying for a Blue Card or a study permit while you have temporary protection, without knowing about the § 19f ban.
• Counting on a current § 24 permit being valid automatically until 2028: under the ordinance in force, it is valid only until 4 March 2027.
• Leaving Germany for more than six months: the permit lapses unless the office has set a longer period.
• Relying on old materials: between October 2025 and October 2026 the rules on citizenship, the name and conditions of basic income support, and the visa-free entry periods all changed.