Subsidiary protection

If you are entitled to subsidiary protection, you will be given a residence permit for one year. The residence permit is extended by the immigration authority upon application. Only if your protection status is revoked by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is it possible for the immigration authority to refuse to extend the residence permit. 

If there is evidence that your country of origin will not issue you a passport, you will receive a residence permit with a substitute ID document. But you cannot use it to travel abroad. For trips abroad you will need a German travel document for foreigners (“grey passport”). The immigration authority will issue you with such a document only if you can prove that you made every effort to obtain a passport issued by your home country but were unsuccessful.

The residence permit allows you to work in Germany. In addition, you are entitled to social welfare benefits according to the German Social Code II (“SGB II”) if you do not earn enough money. This also includes health insurance. If you are ill, you can go directly to a doctor with the health card issued by the insurance company (further information). You have to file the application for social welfare benefits at the job center.

You are obliged to participate in an integration course. The costs for this are paid by the job center if you do not earn enough money.

The right to family reunion for those with subsidiary protection is currently only possible for humanitarian reasons, which can only be decided by the immigration authority. Each month 1,000 national visas can be distributed.

Family reunion for humanitarian reasons is not possible if you were not married or not already in the partnership before you fled. It is also not possible if you have been convicted of certain criminal offences.

The earliest you can obtain a permanent residence title (settlement permit) is after you have been working and paying pension contributions in Germany for five years. Among other things you must also provide evidence of B1-level German language skills.