Residency Permit.
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Image: Duesseldorf.de |
European Union citizens as well as Swiss usually do not need a passport, only an identification card is necessary. To stay as a non-EU citizen in Germany for longer than 3 months it is necessary to apply for a residence permit.
One can also apply for long term residence. The advantage of such a long term permission is, that it is easier to live in other EU-states (beside in Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark), but there are some conditions, which have to be satisfied.
One needs to reside continually in Germany for not less than five years. The financial support has to be assured and one is obliged to be medically insured and enter into a long-term old age care insurance. One must have a place of employment and fixed address. Knowledge of the German language will be tested and a fee of 85 euros will be charged. Under certain conditions it is possible to get a German identification card. One has to have been living in Germany for at the minimum eight years and must not have a criminal record. It costs 255 euros. The same conditions apply, if one has been living for 3 years in Germany and has been married with an German citizen for at least two years.
The same terms also apply, if one is entitled to political asylum, stateless, refugee and has been living in Germany for six years or one comes from another German-speaking country and has been living in Germany itself for four years.
