Brexit - Proof of right of residence under the Withdrawal Agreement
The UK left the European Union at the end of 31 January 2020.
There was a transition period from 1 February 2020 to 31 December 2020, regulated in the Brexit Transition Act. After this, the UK continued to be a member state of the European Union until 31 December 2020.
During this period, nothing changed for you and your family members in terms of residence rights and the right to work in Germany.
Since 1 January 2021, people who were previously entitled to reside or work in Germany (or another EU country) and had exercised this right have essentially had the same rights as before the UK left the EU.
These rights exist by law.
Prerequisite
You must take care of your right of residence if you
- do not have German citizenship,
- were living or working in Germany on 31 December 2020 and
- one of the following cases applies to you:
- You have British citizenship or
- You hold one of these German documents as a family member of a person with British citizenship:
- Residence card or
- Permanent residence card or
- On 31 December 2020, you are a family member or family member of a person with British nationality who is resident in Germany on 31 December 2020 and later move to Germany to join the British national.
The following conditions must also be met in order to be able to assert rights under the Withdrawal Agreement in Germany:
- You must have resided in Germany on 31 December 2020 and continue to reside in Germany.
- You must also have been entitled to freedom of movement on 31 December 2020. This is the case if you
- were employed in Germany,
- were looking for work in Germany - whereby a job search period of more than six months only leads to a right to freedom of movement if there was a reasonable prospect that you would find a job,
- have been self-employed (commercially or freelance) in Germany,
- have not been gainfully employed in Germany - for example as a pensioner or student - and have sufficient means of subsistence, including health insurance cover.
If you have a permanent residence card, the following applies:
- If you are in possession of a permanent residence card that is issued to nationals of an EU state upon application (§ 4a of the Freedom of Movement Act/EU), you must still report your residence to the immigration authority.
- If you are a third-country national family member in possession of a permanent residence card for third-country nationals entitled to freedom of movement, you do not have to report your stay.
Responsible department
The foreigners authority responsible for your place of residence.
Procedure
- You must report your stay to the responsible office. Use the form provided for this purpose.
- The competent authority will check your identity.
- As part of the check, it may request further documents that it needs to check whether you are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and whether the other conditions for freedom of movement are met.
- If all requirements are met, the competent authority will issue the new residence document and inform you how to obtain it.
- If you have a permanent residence card, you will receive the new residence card instead of the previous document. An existing right of permanent residence is then entered on this card.
Deadlines
until 30 June 2021 (also possible after this date)
Required documents
- valid passport
- biometric passport photo
Costs
- Persons aged 24 and over: EUR 37.00
- Persons up to the age of 24: 22.80 EUR
You do not have to pay anything if you were previously in possession of a permanent residence card. Residence cards and permanent residence cards will in any case become invalid on 1 January 2022 if you are no longer entitled to freedom of movement but are only entitled to reside under the Withdrawal Agreement. They will therefore be exchanged for a new residence document before then.
Miscellaneous
none
Appeal
none
Release note
Machine generated, based on the German release by: Justizministerium Baden-Württemberg, 09.01.2025