Foto­credit: Soheil Hon­ar­mand

The aut­ho­rity for foreigners

Have this post read aloud

All people who do not have a Ger­man pass­port ine­vi­ta­bly have to deal with the aut­ho­rity for for­eig­ners (Aus­län­der­be­hörde) in Ger­many. Ger­man resi­dence laws dis­tin­guish many pur­po­ses of resi­dence. These can be for example on the basis of pro­fes­sio­nal qua­li­fi­ca­ti­ons, family rea­sons or see­king asylum. In par­ti­cu­lar, people who do not hold citi­zenship of an EU coun­try or have a per­ma­nent resi­dence per­mit in ano­t­her EU coun­try and wish to work in Ger­many face many legal hurd­les. For example, the so cal­led »labor-mar­ket test« (Vor­rang­prü­fung) still app­lies to them. In the fol­lowing video, Jab Ben talks about how the labor-mar­ket test works, what effects it had on his resi­dence per­mit and how it affec­ted his choice of job:   

YouTube

Mit dem Laden des Videos akzep­tie­ren Sie die Daten­schutz­er­klä­rung von You­Tube.
Mehr erfah­ren

Video laden

PGRpdiBjbGFzcz0iX2JybGJzLWZsdWlkLXdpZHRoLXZpZGVvLXdyYXBwZXIiPjxpZnJhbWUgdGl0bGU9Ik1peHRhcGUgTWlncmF0aW9uIC0gVm9ycmFuZ3Byw7xmdW5nIiB3aWR0aD0iMTA4MCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI2MDgiIHNyYz0iaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueW91dHViZS1ub2Nvb2tpZS5jb20vZW1iZWQvNjR1U1d3a2RzNUU/ZmVhdHVyZT1vZW1iZWQiICBhbGxvdz0iYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlcjsgYXV0b3BsYXk7IGNsaXBib2FyZC13cml0ZTsgZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhOyBneXJvc2NvcGU7IHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZTsgd2ViLXNoYXJlIiBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4+PC9pZnJhbWU+PC9kaXY+

As Jab Ben exp­lains in the video, three employ­ment con­tracts he sub­mit­ted were rejec­ted due to the »labor-mar­ket test« (Vor­rang­prü­fung). In addi­tion to an employ­ment con­tract, people who fall under this para­graph must prove they have a valid cer­ti­fi­cate of regis­tra­tion (Anmel­dung). Jab Ben and Zagalo exp­lain what this dou­ble bur­den meant for their lives in Ger­many in the fol­lowing video:  

YouTube

Mit dem Laden des Videos akzep­tie­ren Sie die Daten­schutz­er­klä­rung von You­Tube.
Mehr erfah­ren

Video laden

PGRpdiBjbGFzcz0iX2JybGJzLWZsdWlkLXdpZHRoLXZpZGVvLXdyYXBwZXIiPjxpZnJhbWUgbG9hZGluZz0ibGF6eSIgdGl0bGU9Ik1peHRhcGUgTWlncmF0aW9uIC0gT2huZSBXb2hudW5nIGtlaW4gSm9iIiB3aWR0aD0iMTA4MCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI2MDgiIHNyYz0iaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueW91dHViZS1ub2Nvb2tpZS5jb20vZW1iZWQvVWRYaFNhTkZISm8/ZmVhdHVyZT1vZW1iZWQiICBhbGxvdz0iYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlcjsgYXV0b3BsYXk7IGNsaXBib2FyZC13cml0ZTsgZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhOyBneXJvc2NvcGU7IHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZTsgd2ViLXNoYXJlIiBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4+PC9pZnJhbWU+PC9kaXY+

These legal regu­la­ti­ons are enfor­ced by the aut­ho­rity for for­eig­ners, where many people expe­ri­ence discri­mi­na­tion. In the fol­lowing video, Zagalo reports on his expe­ri­en­ces with the Frank­furt aut­ho­rity for for­eig­ners:   

YouTube

Mit dem Laden des Videos akzep­tie­ren Sie die Daten­schutz­er­klä­rung von You­Tube.
Mehr erfah­ren

Video laden

PGRpdiBjbGFzcz0iX2JybGJzLWZsdWlkLXdpZHRoLXZpZGVvLXdyYXBwZXIiPjxpZnJhbWUgbG9hZGluZz0ibGF6eSIgdGl0bGU9Ik1peHRhcGUgTWlncmF0aW9uIC0gQmVoYW5kbHVuZyBiZWkgZGVyIEF1c2zDpG5kZXJiZWjDtnJkZSIgd2lkdGg9IjEwODAiIGhlaWdodD0iNjA4IiBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUtbm9jb29raWUuY29tL2VtYmVkL3kxVnpnU0VZZHJJP2ZlYXR1cmU9b2VtYmVkIiAgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmU7IHdlYi1zaGFyZSIgYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuPjwvaWZyYW1lPjwvZGl2Pg==

For those whose resi­dence per­mit is tied to their job, the Corona pan­de­mic ischal­lenge. Losingjob or working short hours means not only finan­cial worries, but also fear for the resi­dence title. Jab Ben and Zagalo share how the Corona pan­de­mic has affec­ted their resi­dence per­mit and job in the video below: 

YouTube

Mit dem Laden des Videos akzep­tie­ren Sie die Daten­schutz­er­klä­rung von You­Tube.
Mehr erfah­ren

Video laden

PGRpdiBjbGFzcz0iX2JybGJzLWZsdWlkLXdpZHRoLXZpZGVvLXdyYXBwZXIiPjxpZnJhbWUgbG9hZGluZz0ibGF6eSIgdGl0bGU9Ik1peHRhcGUgTWlncmF0aW9uIC0gQ29yb25hIHVuZCBkaWUgQXVzd2lya3VuZyB2b24gS3Jpc2UiIHdpZHRoPSIxMDgwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjYwOCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLW5vY29va2llLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9kTXpGLV9nYjJabz9mZWF0dXJlPW9lbWJlZCIgIGFsbG93PSJhY2NlbGVyb21ldGVyOyBhdXRvcGxheTsgY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlOyBlbmNyeXB0ZWQtbWVkaWE7IGd5cm9zY29wZTsgcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlOyB3ZWItc2hhcmUiIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT48L2Rpdj4=

Many people who have to go through these legal pro­ce­du­res are resis­ting them and orga­ni­sing them­sel­ves tog­e­ther in net­works and initia­ti­ves. They try to solve the pro­blem of no work no home, no home no work tog­e­ther and sup­port each other in their daily lives tog­e­ther. One of these initia­ti­ves is Pro­ject Shel­ter. For more infor­ma­tion on this initia­tive see the sta­tion on the Para­dies­hof.

read more

Resi­dence laws in sta­tes do not arise by chance, but are con­stantly chan­ging and emerge against the back­ground of his­to­ri­cal deve­lo­p­ments and the pre­vai­ling struc­tures in that society at that time. One of the most important dif­fe­ren­tia­ting cri­te­ria wit­hinstate is citi­zenship. It deter­mi­nes »citi­zens« who have pri­vi­le­ges such as access to edu­ca­tion, the social sys­tem, the labour mar­ket or the health sys­tem.   

Cate­go­ri­sed accord­ing to natio­na­lity and eco­no­mic usability

For people who do not have a Ger­man pass­port and want to work in Ger­many, the right of resi­dence is very dif­fe­rent. In the case of the inter­viewees in the videos, cri­te­ria of natio­na­lity and the eco­no­mic value of the labour force come tog­e­ther. For a work visa, a dis­tinc­tion is made on the one hand accord­ing to natio­na­lity, since the inter­viewees have a long-term resi­dence per­mit in other Euro­pean coun­tries, but not the natio­na­lity of an EU coun­try. On the other hand, eco­no­mic exclu­sion mecha­nisms play a role, as they can­not prove that they have an aca­de­mic or voca­tio­nal qua­li­fi­ca­tion reco­gnised in Ger­many, which would bring them under the Skil­led Workers Immi­gra­tion Act and they do not have to go through a prio­rity check. In this way, the state regu­la­tes the com­pe­ti­tion on the labour mar­ket in a natio­na­listic way: EU citi­zens have prio­rity, other people are given access depen­ding on their eco­no­mic usa­bi­lity.  In this way, a mul­ti­ple cate­go­ri­sa­tion takes place, based on natio­na­list, racist and capi­ta­list logics. 

Insti­tu­tio­nal racism in the for­eig­ners authority

These logics are reflec­ted in people’s expe­ri­en­ces, for example, with insti­tu­tio­nal racism in the immi­gra­tion office.  This is done on the basis of the sup­po­sed skin colour, cul­ture, reli­gion or eth­nic ori­gin that is attri­bu­ted to the people con­cer­ned by the employees of the aut­ho­ri­ties. Ano­t­her aspect of this discri­mi­na­tion is that only cer­tain skills are reco­gnised as rele­vant and expe­ri­en­ces and know­ledge that deviate from these are deva­lued. For example, some people speak many lan­guages, but only their know­ledge of Ger­man counts in the aut­ho­rity for for­eig­ners. Cop­watch FFM speaks about insti­tu­tio­nal racism and police con­trols at the Cop­watch sta­tion. 

What is the labor-mar­ket test (Vor­rang­prü­fung)?

Many people who come to Ger­many from ano­t­her EU coun­try with a resi­dence per­mit are not allo­wed to choose their job freely. The labor-mar­ket test app­lies to them. In the labor-mar­ket test (Vor­rang­prü­fung), the per­son con­cer­ned must sub­mit their employ­ment con­tract to the aut­ho­ri­ties for exami­na­tion before they are allo­wed to take up the job. This exami­na­tion often takes several mon­ths. The aut­ho­rity for for­eig­ners inst­ructs the employ­ment office to check whe­ther there are hypo­the­ti­cally other sui­ta­ble app­li­cants with Ger­man or Euro­pean pass­ports for the employ­ment con­tract sub­mit­ted. After the appro­val of the employ­ment con­tract, the resi­dence sta­tus is initi­ally lin­ked to this one employ­ment con­tract for one year.

Since 2019, the aboli­tion of the so-cal­led labor-mar­ket test (Vor­rang­prü­fung) has been enfor­ced for the majo­rity of asylum see­kers and »tole­ra­ted per­sons« per­ma­nently in Ger­many in order to faci­li­tate their access to the labour mar­ket. Howe­ver, accord­ing to §38a of the Act on the Resi­dence, Employ­ment and Inte­gra­tion of For­eig­ners in the Federal Repu­blic of Ger­many, this does not apply to »hol­ders of resi­dence per­mits in other mem­ber sta­tes of the Euro­pean Union on a per­ma­nent basis«. Under the Skil­led Workers Immi­gra­tion Act (Fach­kräf­te­ein­wan­de­rungs­ge­setz), only people with voca­tio­nal trai­ning and/or aca­de­mic degrees reco­gnised in Ger­many are also exempt from the prio­rity check.

More Infor­ma­tion:

Resi­dence Act: Sec­tion 38a Resi­dence per­mit for long-term resi­dents in other mem­ber sta­tes of the Euro­pean Union

Google Maps

Mit dem Laden der Karte akzep­tie­ren Sie die Daten­schutz­er­klä­rung von Google.
Diese Funk­tion ist essen­ti­ell für unsere Home­page.
Mehr erfah­ren

Karte laden

The Sta­ti­ons

The Klap­per­feld

Depor­ta­tion pri­sons and the resis­tance against them

 

The aut­ho­rity for foreigners

The dif­fi­cult way to both a resi­dence and working permit

 

Working in Frankfurt

The fight for workers’ rights

 

The Main-Rail­way-Sta­tion

Racial Pro­filing as a con­stant threat

 

The Para­dies­hof

The fight for a self­or­ga­nised migrant center

 

The attack in Hanau

Against racist ter­ror and oblivion

 

The Bahn­hofs­vier­tel

Important hub for migrant life

 

Mix­tape Migra­tion is finan­ced by your donations

The tour is free for ever­yone and is acces­si­ble to as many people as pos­si­ble. At the same time, we are depen­dent on dona­ti­ons and sup­port — we want to make the tour bet­ter known and, in a second step, expand it to include addi­tio­nal topics and stations.

The pro­ject is desi­gned, orga­ni­zed and car­ried out by the non-pro­fit asso­cia­tion turn the cor­ner. turn the cor­ner is com­mit­ted to a society in which we tog­e­ther and con­sciously shape how we want to live and work inde­pendently. A society in which people can be dif­fe­rent without coer­cion. Learn more about turn the corner.