Settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis): permanent residence in Germany

What it is

The settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis) is a residence permit with no end date. You no longer have to extend it, and you may do any work, employed or self-employed.

A similar permit is the EU long-term residence permit (Erlaubnis zum Daueraufenthalt-EU). It also needs five years and gives you the same rights in Germany. In addition it makes it easier to move to another EU country.

The usual way: after five years

• You have had a residence permit for five years.
• Your living costs are secure without public funds.
• You have paid into the statutory pension insurance for at least 60 months. For married couples it is enough if one of them has.
• German at level B1, and basic knowledge of law and society in Germany. A completed integration course proves both. The test "Leben in Deutschland" proves the second.
• Enough living space for you and your family.
• No reasons of public safety speak against it.

Who gets it sooner

• EU Blue Card: after 27 months of work with the Blue Card and pension contributions for that time, with basic German (A1). With German at B1: after 21 months.
• Skilled workers with a work permit: after three years, with 36 months of pension contributions and German at B1.
• Skilled workers who finished a degree or vocational training in Germany: after two years with a work permit and 24 months of contributions.
• Self-employed people with a business: possible after three years if the business works and your living costs are secure. This shorter time does not apply to freelancers.
• Family of German citizens: usually after three years with a residence permit, if you still live together as a family and speak German at B1.
• Recognised refugees and people entitled to asylum: after five years with German at A2 and living costs mostly secure, or after three years with German at C1 and living costs almost fully secure. The time of the asylum procedure counts.

What counts towards the time

• Time with a residence permit for study or vocational training counts half on the usual way.
• Of a stay abroad that did not end your permit, up to six months count.
• Time with only a Duldung does not count. Offices such as Berlin also count time with a national visa and with a Fiktionsbescheinigung.

How to apply and what it costs

• Apply at your Ausländerbehörde, in many cities online.
• The fee is 113 euros in most cases, 124 euros for self-employed people and 147 euros for highly qualified people.
• Typical documents: passport, current permit, employment contract, salary statements for the last six months, your pension insurance record (Rentenversicherungsverlauf), language and test certificates, health insurance and rental contract.

Can it be lost?

• Yes. It ends if you move away for good, or if you stay outside Germany for more than six months and the office has not set a longer time for you. Ask before you go.
• After 15 years of lawful residence in Germany with secure living costs, or if you live together with your German husband or wife, it does not end this way.
• The EU long-term residence permit usually ends after 12 months outside the EU, or after six years outside Germany.

How a lawyer in Germany helps

A lawyer can work out which way is the fastest for you, count your months correctly, check gaps in pension contributions or residence before you apply, and act if the office refuses or does not decide.

Questions people ask

Official information

• Make it in Germany: settlement permit
• Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF): settling in Germany
• Berlin immigration office: permanent settlement permit

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