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How Brits in the UK can get back to Germany in the New Year

Many Brits living in Germany ended up unexpectedly stranded in the UK over the holidays. If you're one of them, here's how to make it back to the Bundesrepublik.

Published: 30 December 2020 14:34 CET
How Brits in the UK can get back to Germany in the New Year
British Airways planes at London Heathrow. Photo: DPA

Nobody planned on a simple Christmas this year, but for Brits in Germany who opted for a quick jaunt home this festive season, the last few weeks have seen things get a lot more complicated.

On December 20th, the discovery of a new, more infectious strain of COVID-19 in the UK led to a sudden barrage of travel bans across Europe and beyond. 

Acting swiftly to stem the spread, Germany announced that it would be stopping all travel to and from the UK that evening. By the 22nd, the ban had been extended until January 6th.

For Brits in Germany – who won’t receive their new residence documents for months – being stuck on the wrong side of the border in the run-up New Year has been the stuff of nightmares.

Although official guidance from the EU Commission states that UK citizens should be allowed to travel back to their home countries, Brits in the UK have been worried that things might change when the Brexit transition ends on December 31st. 

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Germany's UK travel ban 

According to the British Embassy and campaign group British in Germany, if you’re stranded in the UK right now, there’s no need to panic just yet. Germany plans to start allowing residents of the country back in on January 1st 2021, and has assured campaigners that British citizens who live in Germany will be treated like anyone else. 

Nevertheless, there are a number of conditions of UK citizens will have to meet to be allowed back into Germany – such as providing a negative COVID test, and proving their right of residence. If you need to re-enter the country in January, here’s everything you’ll need to know beforehand. 

How to prove your residence in Germany

According to a statement from the Bundespolizei obtained by British in Germany, border guards will be fully aware of the rights of British residents in Germany after the end of the transition. Travellers will, however, be asked to show some form of proof that they live in Germany in order to be allowed back in after January 1st.

READ ALSO: Brexit: What changes in Germany from January 2021

In normal cases, this would involve getting what’s known as a Fiktionsbescheinigung – a provisional certificate that allows someone to travel when they are still waiting for a decision on, say, a visa. But with immigration authorities taking longer to issue documents thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, these certificates are unlikely to be issued in time for immediate travel. 

“The border authorities have therefore been instructed to initially recognise other certificates as proof of the right of residence from January 1st 2021,” said a spokesperson for the Bundespolizei. “These can be, for example, address registration certificates, rental contracts or employment contracts.”

The best proof to bring with you when travelling is likely to be the Meldebescheinigung – official proof that you are registered at a German address – but if this isn’t available, one of the following documents can be used as evidence instead:

  • recent bank statements

  • a rental contract 

  • your employment contract or recent salary statement

  • a benefits or pensions statement

  • your health insurance card or documents

  • an enrolment certificate from a German university

  • evidence of self-employment in Germany

If you still have your boarding cards from when you travelled out of Germany before Christmas, these can also be used to support your case – although they won’t count as proof of residence by themselves. 

A holiday traveller arriving in Mainz. Photo: DPA

Navigating COVID-19 rules and restrictions

When re-entering the country from a high-risk area such as the UK, you’ll also need to provide authorities with a negative COVID-19 test. The test should have been taken no longer than 48 hours before your arrival in Germany, and can be shown in either paper or electronic form. 

As well as a standard COVID-19 test, Germany will also accept PCR and antigen tests, providing they meet the quality standards set out by the World Health Organisation. 

If you need to return to Germany urgently and can’t get tested before you travel, you will need to get tested at the airport. A word of caution, though: if you opt for the on-arrival test, you will probably have to wait at the airport until the result is available, which can apparently take a very long time. You may also need to contact the airport beforehand to see if and when the testing centre will be open. 

Even with a negative test result, you’ll still need to quarantine for 10 days after arrival. If you want to escape your bedroom sooner than that, you may be allowed out after five days if you can secure another negative test result. 

Planning to travel later in 2021? 

If you need to travel in and out of Germany later in the year, it may be worth trying to get hold of a Fiktionsbescheinigung while waiting for your new residence document to arrive. Contact your local Foreigner’s Registration Office to find out more about the process. 

READ ALSO: These are the documents Brits in Germany should carry when travelling after December 31st

If you don’t manage to secure this document in time, don’t worry. Just make sure you have a few documents to hand that can help you prove your residence in Germany. Once again, your certificate of registration at your German address is probably your best bet here – but employment contracts or university enrolment certificates should also be fine.   

British in Germany also recommends familiarising yourself with the rights you have under the Withdrawal Agreement, and being prepared to share links to official summaries of these rights in case you deal with officials who aren’t aware of them. 

If you need urgent assistance on arrival in Germany, you can contact the British Embassy’s emergency helpline 24/7.

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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.

Published: 8 December 2023 14:34 CET
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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