To secure your legal status, you need to take care in advance of documents confirming force majeure
The sudden interruption of almost all ties with the outside world has detained in Europe a certain number of foreigners from visa countries. An unpleasant surprise was the closure of European borders and the threatening overstay of the permitted period of stay in Germany.
Visa rules oblige foreigners to leave the country by a certain date, but foreigners cannot fulfill the requirements of the law due to force majeure circumstances. A number of foreigners with the right to reside in Germany are stuck in their passport countries or in other states. They cannot return in a timely manner, which jeopardizes their residence permit in Germany.
Ukraine, of course, will allow citizens returning from abroad into the country, but you still have to get to the Ukrainian border, especially for road travelers. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania have announced a ban on the transit of foreigners through their territory. According to initial reports, the borders are indeed closed for an indefinite period, European countries are letting in only their own citizens. Some countries have banned their citizens from traveling abroad.
For all visa foreigners and visa-free Ukrainians, the general provisions of the law on foreigners, visa restrictions and the rules of the European Visa Code apply. Citizens of Ukraine have the right to stay in Germany for no more than 90 consecutive days, a total of no more than 180 days per year under the 90-90 rule. A visa has a time limit, some visa visitors to Germany may legally stay in the country for only a few days.
The extraordinary epidemiological situation has not yet led to the abolition of these fundamental legal regulations. Overstaying the visa period in Germany is still considered a violation of the visa regime and entails penalties. Intentional illegal stay in the European Union may be considered a criminal offense. In general, overstaying the permitted period of stay in the EU, even due to force majeure, can cause significant difficulties now and in the future.
I recommend that tourists and visitors stuck in Germany take care of evidence of claims about the impossibility of departure: a certificate of cancellation of a passenger flight, bus route, a ban on leaving a certain region. Collecting and preserving evidence will help in the future to explain the delay by objective circumstances.
It would be useful to prepare an answer to the question about alternative ways to leave Germany. If you cannot leave Germany by bus through closed land borders, you could leave the country by air on a plane. Here, saving correspondence with the airline or travel agency confirming the lack of available seats on the plane will help. Depending on the circumstances, you need to contact the local foreigners authority and apply for a visa extension until the situation becomes clear. The authority may extend the visa at its discretion.
Foreigners currently abroad with a residence permit in Germany may face the closure of borders or the cessation of transport links between the country of stay and Germany. Paragraph 51 of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) prescribes the automatic cancellation of a German residence permit after six months of absence from Germany. An exception to this rule may be made due to special force majeure circumstances of proven objective impossibility to return to Germany within the specified period.
The countdown of the return period begins anew from the moment the previous obstacles are eliminated. A visible sign of the elimination of obstacles is the opening of borders and the resumption of transport links with Germany and from Germany. The foreigner must accurately and fully present the situation to the German foreigners authority and prove the impossibility of timely return to Germany.
Keep notifications of flight cancellations and take care of evidence of your own futile efforts to find an alternative return route, for example, by bus or train. In special situations, it is worth contacting the competent German foreigners authority and obtaining official consent for an extended stay abroad.
I recommend taking this situation seriously and not relying on "maybe". Losing a residence permit in Germany may be final and irreversible; it is very difficult to rectify the situation retroactively.
Holders of a permanent residence permit in Germany (Niederlassungserlaubnis) with 15 or more years of residence in Germany (plus financial independence), as well as foreign spouses of German citizens, have special visa privileges.
Thomas PUE,
German lawyer.