Before the war, people from Ukraine who wanted to come to Berlin to study needed an entry visa and a residence permit for studying or preparing for studies. This has happened through the EU Council decision of March 04.03.22, XNUMX, the one that follows Ukraine Transitional Residence Regulations and the Ordinance of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland (BMI) changed from April 06.04.2023, XNUMX.
If you were in Ukraine shortly before or on February 24, 2022, you are allowed without a visa to 04.03.2025 enter Germany and you for a period of time of 90 days after initial entry stay here. You must submit an application for a residence permit within these 90 days. You can find information about the procedure here.
If you are a Ukrainian citizen, you will usually receive a humanitarian residence permit for temporary protection § 24 Residence Act (AufenthG). If you have received an assignment for Berlin, you can apply for a residence permit online apply to the State Immigration Office (LEA).
As long as your application is being reviewed, you will receive something called “Certificate of fiction”. This is a document with which you can prove that you are legally staying in Berlin.
Attention: the residence permit is currently sometimes not issued as a card (electronic residence permit, eAT), but is issued in the form of an adhesive label to simplify the administrative procedure.
With a residence permit in accordance with Section 24 Residence Act you have the following options:
- Study allowed
- Unlimited employment permitted
- Right, if the other requirements are met, social benefits such as BAföG or to receive citizen's money
- There is usually a residency requirement
- Valid until March 04.03.2025th, XNUMX, if the regulation is not extended
The basis for the regulation on temporary protection is the decision of the Council of the European Union of March 04.03.2022, 24. However, this did not include students from third countries other than Ukraine. In Germany, this group of people has also been included in the scope of protection of Section XNUMX of the Residence Act through a circular from the BMI. The following are now recorded:
- Ukrainian citizens who had their habitual residence in Ukraine before February 24, 2022,
- Stateless persons and nationals of other third countries from Ukraine who enjoyed international protection or equivalent national protection in Ukraine before February 24, 2022,
- Family members (spouses, partners and father/mother of a Ukrainian or people with a permanent residence permit in Ukraine) as well
- Stateless persons and nationals of other third countries who can prove that they legally resided in Ukraine before February 24, 2022 on the basis of a residence permit (temporary and permanent) issued in accordance with Ukrainian law and who are unable to travel safely and to return permanently to their country or region of origin.
The Senate has for Berlin the following special regulations met:
1) Case group 1: Persons who are covered by the scope of application of Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of March 04, 2022 (see above: “Who is the beneficiary”) can receive a residence permit in accordance with Section 24 of the Residence Act.
If you, as a Ukrainian citizen, came to Berlin to study as a student with a residence permit before the war, you may be able to apply for a residence permit for refugees if your residence permit for studies expires and you can no longer receive an extension because the requirements of § 16b Residence Act no longer exists, or its requirements no longer apply while the residence permit for studying is still valid. This is possible, for example, if you have finished or dropped out of your studies or if you cannot secure a living for your studies.
It doesn't matter when you entered Germany, whether before or after February 24.2.2022, XNUMX. You can find more information here.
2) Case group 2: In cases in which the State Immigration Office (LEA) involves the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in the review process under Section 24 of the Residence Act, the LEA issues a fictitious certificate in accordance with Section 24 of the Residence Act for an initial period of twelve months.
These are cases in which nationals from third countries claim that they cannot permanently and safely return to their country of origin. These people will initially receive a two-month period of reflection and advice from the LEA and then another appointment. At this appointment it will be checked whether reasons for not being able to return safely have been asserted. These reasons given are then usually forwarded to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees to check whether the reasons apply. After so-called identification processing, the third-country national is issued with a fictitious certificate for twelve months. The decision as to whether there is a safe and permanent possibility of returning to the country of origin rests solely with the LEA.
If the reasons presented by the third-country national turn out to be insufficient, the 12 months should be used to create the conditions for the issuance of another residence permit, such as residence for study or study preparation, see below
3) Case group 3: Persons who meet all the requirements for the issue of a residence permit other than Section 24 of the Residence Act can obtain this residence permit upon appropriate application and therefore do not require any special support under residence law.
4) Case group 4: Persons who do not fall into any of the above-mentioned case groups will receive a one-off certificate of fiction in accordance with Section 24 of the Residence Act for a period of six months if they can credibly demonstrate that they were studying in Ukraine at the time the war broke out (February 24.02.2022, XNUMX). .
Refugee Council Berlin:
https://fluechtlingsrat-berlin.de/news_termine/ukraine/#90
Information from the LEA:
https://www.berlin.de/einwanderung/service/downloads/artikel.875097.php
Information from the Berlin Senate:
https://www.berlin.de/ukraine/
https://www.berlin.de/ukraine/ankommen/aufenthaltserlaubnis-online-antrag/
