Legal and Bureaucratic Hurdles

Back to: Know-How: Support in Finding Accommodation

When it is possible to move into one’s own home depends on various aspects. On the one hand, the status of the fugitive determines the general options:

Residence permit (ongoing asylum procedure)

As long as the asylum procedure is still ongoing, a refugee may only move into his or her own home under certain conditions and after a certain period of residence in the initial reception facility. As explained in the previous chapter, they are subject to the residence and domicile requirement. In addition, the Office for Migration and Integration is responsible for these matters1.

Positive asylum decision
At the latest with the asylum and refugee recognition refugees can move into an apartment outside the accommodation canters. If the costs of rent is covered by the state, in this case the Jobcenter.2

However, the exact legal regulations on the subject of finding accommodation as an asylum seeker do not apply across the board to the whole of Germany either, but differ from city to city. Therefore, you should always check whether the current legal situation has changed and whether the information is valid in the respective city. The various legal regulations often make it very difficult to find accommodation. Here are some examples of the basic regulations for Dresden and Berlin:

Berlin
In Berlin, asylum seekers may move from the initial reception facility or the shared accommodation into a private home at the earliest six weeks and at the latest six months after filing the application, unless they come from so-called safe countries of origin. In this case, they will be accommodated in first reception facilities until the end of the asylum procedure 3.

If fugitives have found an apartment in Berlin, it must first be examined by the authorities. This can take 4-6 weeks and often means that the apartment has already been rented elsewhere.

Safe countries of origin are countries in which no state persecution can be feared and in which the respective state can basically protect against non-governmental persecution.

The BAMF currently lists the following countries as safe countries of origin: member states of the EU, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ghana, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Senegal and Serbia.4

Dresden
In Dresden, the renting of a private apartment is only planned after the positive approval of the asylum application. The search for accommodation thus falls into a time that is already burdened with enormous administrative efforts. In addition, all bureaucratic procedures and the search for accommodation must be completed within three months so that the social welfare office can provide support (including financial support). 5.

When it becomes possible to rent an apartment is therefore different. At the latest after the change of status to a recognized refugee, however, one should take care of one’s own apartment 6.

Recognized refugees are persons who receive refugee protection after completion of the asylum procedure 7. In the course The Asylum System and Its Functions

you will learn which forms of protection still exist and when they come into effect.

Footnotes

  1. Leitfaden für die Unterstützung von geflüchteten Menschen in Freiburg. S. 33, PDF: https://www.start-with-a-friend.de/standorte/freiburg/
  2. Leitfaden für die Unterstützung von geflüchteten Menschen in Freiburg. S. 67, PDF: https://www.start-with-a-friend.de/standorte/freiburg/
  3. Bündnis Neukölln (2017): AG Wohnungssuche. Nützliches, [online] http://www.buendnis-neukoelln.de/fluchtasyl/wohnungssuche/nuetzliches/ [05.02.19]
  4. Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (2016): Sichere Herkunftsländer, [online] http://www.bamf.de/DE/Fluechtlingsschutz/Sonderverfahren/SichereHerkunftsstaaten/sichere-herkunftsstaaten-node.html [05.02.19]
  5. Mediendienst Integration: Berlin und Dresden. Welchen Zugang haben Geflüchtete zum Wohnungsmarkt?, [online] https://mediendienst-integration.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Expertise_Fluechtlinge_Wohnungsmarkt.pdf [05.02.19]
  6. fluechtlingshilfe-bw.de: Wie kann ich bei der Wohnungssuche unterstützen?, [online]https://www.fluechtlingshilfe-bw.de/praxistipps/handbuch/inhalt-des-handbuchs/unterbringung/wohnungssuche-unterstuetzen/[05.02.19]
  7. Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge: Schutzformen, [online] http://www.bamf.de/DE/Fluechtlingsschutz/AblaufAsylv/Schutzformen/schutzformen-node.html[05.02.19]

Project Partners

Casework is a cooperation between the Innovation in Learning Institute (ILI), the ECC Association for Interdisciplinary Consulting and Education, the INTRGEA Institute for Development of Human Potentials, and Oxfam Italy. More info…