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BREXIT

Brits in Germany face residence permit costs of up to €150 in no-deal Brexit

Britons living in Germany will face costs of up to around €150 for residency permits in the case of no-deal Brexit, The Local can reveal.

Brits in Germany face residence permit costs of up to €150 in no-deal Brexit
Brits will have to pay for German residency permits in future if it's a no-deal. Photo: DPA

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal at the end of this month, Brits in Germany will become third country nationals (in other words non-EU member states) and will be expected to pay the same price for a residence permit as people from other non-EU nations that fall into this category.

The residence permits range from €13 for a Fiktionsbescheinigung (holding permit) up to €147 for a type of Niederlassungserlaubnis (permanent residency).

Other permits include the Aufenthaltserlaubnis (limited residence permit) which typically costs around €100. Find the full list of permits and their fees under German law here.

A spokesman from the Berlin interior senate department told the Local: “If the United Kingdom withdraws without an agreement on October 31st 2019 then due to the changing legal situation all titles issued from November 1st 2019  will be subject to a fee in accordance with section three of the residence regulations. The fees vary according to the purpose of the residence permit.”

READ ALSO: Brexit limbo: How Brits in Germany are trying to secure their futures

The spokesman added that this is not something specific to Berlin and that all Brits in Germany receiving a permit after this deadline will face costs. He said: “This applies to all British nationals in Germany.”

Up until now, Brits in Berlin have been receiving residence permits without having to pay a fee.

As we've reported, Germany has said no British person will have to leave the country as a result of Brexit. However, to guarantee their future in the Bundesrepublik, Brits have to apply for a residence permit from their local Ausländerbehörde – and that's the case whether a deal is in place or not. 

But the processes vary hugely across Germany, a country of 16 states and hundreds of foreigners authorities.  Some places, like Berlin, have been proactively asking Brits to register. Others have been sending letters out to residents asking them for interviews. Some do not plan to take any action until after the UK officially leaves the EU.

Germany also plans to bring in a no-deal Brexit law which will guarantee that no British citizen already living in Germany before Brexit will be forced to leave.

READ ALSO: New law set to guarantee Brits residency in Germany in case of no-deal Brexit

'Unfortunate but understandable'

The move to impose fees in the event of a no-deal may be a disappointment to Brits who have set up their lives in Germany, especially as the UK government scrapped a fee for their settlement scheme for EU nationals.

British Berliner David Greenhouse, 35, said paying around €100 may not be a big deal financially for some but “it’s not great, and I would definitely hope that it wouldn’t be the case especially as there’s lots of people who may not be in a fortunate position”.

“If there’s going to be some charges like that and if people can’t afford to pay then what are they going to do? Are those people then going to be at risk of being deported if they couldn’t afford the fee to get the residence permit?

“If I were somebody in the German government I would try to be the bigger person. The UK was going to charge for the settlement scheme but they stopped doing that. So if Germany is going to charge us they would definitely not be the better person in this situation.”

Photo: DPA

Another Brit, James East, described the move as  “unfortunate but understandable”.  “As long as it's a reasonable amount, I don't mind – but I'm afraid that the cost might be significant if the British government put EU citizens through the same processes (with the same fees) that they currently impose on third country nationals,” he said.
 
Meanwhile, Paul Forster said: “As a fairly new Berliner I personally feel like Germany has been more than accommodating to British citizens. I would be happy to pay a modest fee if it meant being able to stay.”
 
Registration in Berlin to close

In Berlin the registration system for Brits to apply for a residence permit will close if a no-deal Brexit happens. Any Brits who haven’t registered by this point will have to contact the Ausländerbehorde (foreigner's authority) directly by email to make an appointment and 

“The online registration procedure would be shut down at midnight in the event of an unregulated departure of the United Kingdom on October 31st,” the spokesman told The Local.  “All Britons who have not registered by then can only contact the foreigners authority by e-mail or attend an interview during the regular opening hours.”

The Ausländerbehorde in Berlin is aiming to invite all Britons who have registered by October 31st to an appointment for a residence permit before April 30th, 2020. 

Up until now, around 12,288 Brits have applied for a residence permit in Berlin. However, as there are about 18,000 Britons in the capital that means more than 5,700 still haven’t registered. 

READ ALSO: What complications do Brits face in obtaining German residence permits?

Of those who have registered, 2,698 have attended appointments and received a residence permit. 

Here's the number of permits that have been given out so far in Berlin:

Niederlassungserlaubnis (permanent residency or settlement permit): 2,4909

Aufenthaltserlaubnis (limited residence permit): 21

Fiktionsbescheinigung (fictional certificate, acts as a holding permit) : 253

Other: 15

Brits who have registered have been advised not to take any further action, and simply wait for their appointment. However, if they are concerned about anything or have had a change in personal circumstances (for example if they are now married or have moved house) they should contact the Ausländerbehörde.

Any Brits who haven't registered yet are advised to do as soon as possible. British nationals in Germany will need a residence permit in future regardless if the UK leaves with or without a deal.

“Regardless of how the United Kingdom withdraws, British citizens will in future always need a residence permit or other proof of their right of residence for their stay in Germany,” the Berlin Senate spokesman told The Local. 

“In order to secure the respective residence rights, the Ausländerbehörde Berlin therefore expressly recommends that you make use of the possibility of online registration on the homepage.”

BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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