After some time, everything can change: a marriage breaks up, a company closes due to debts, illnesses suddenly begin, now relatives in Germany require care, living conditions in the region worsen. A former German settler would like to reconsider his previous decision to return to the country of origin and asks whether he can re-move to Germany for permanent residence together with new family members? Often during the period of residence in the country of origin, the family composition changes, marriages are made and broken, children are born, who also must be provided with the right to reside in Germany.
The Office for the Reception of Late Resettlers often reacts negatively to applications by Russian Germans for return to Germany. A number of judicial decisions, however, have significantly improved the legal position of Russian Germans intending to return to Germany. In the case considered by the court, a Russian German woman moved to Germany in September 1993 with a decision on admission under the right of a late resettler. In March 1994, she returned to Kazakhstan. In 1999, the resettler demanded that the German embassy in Kazakhstan issue her a German passport for re-entry into Germany. The embassy rejected the application on the grounds that she had lost her status as a German by returning to the country of origin.
At that time, the German embassy correctly assessed the legal situation and the refusal can be considered in accordance with the law. Until 1999, the law deprived a 'returnee' of the status of a German resettler as a result of returning to the homeland. A guarantee of return to Germany was only given by naturalization as a German citizen and obtaining a German passport on German territory. In the 1990s, it took up to two years from the moment of resettlement for German authorities to issue a German passport to a resettler. The plaintiff returned to her homeland in Kazakhstan six months after resettlement, without waiting for naturalization as a German citizen.
After 1999, the legislator repealed the provision on the loss of German status upon return to the homeland. The previous rules, however, did prohibit repeated return to the country for a resettler who had left Germany for an extended period. In 1994, she indeed did not want to live in Germany. So that is how it will be, the German law in force at that time considered. The plaintiff's lawyer did not accept the refusal and filed repeated applications through the entire admission procedure. The basis for the demand to reissue documents of a late resettler was the positive change in legislation after 1999. The procedural specifics of the resettler's case allowed the case to be considered unfinished in 1993-94, which made it possible to reopen the case under the new rules.
As a result of a complex legal proceedings, the Russian German woman received a certificate of a late resettler, which she had failed to obtain in 1994 due to her return to Kazakhstan. With this certificate, she was able to obtain a German passport for entry to Germany for permanent residence.
These judicial decisions are of fateful significance for Russian Germans demanding the right to return to Germany. They once lost this right under the laws of that time due to voluntary and prolonged return to the country of origin. The law now provides the opportunity to resume a once-unfinished admission procedure to Germany even after many years.
What about those who left Germany for the country of origin after completing the admission procedure but before obtaining a German passport? Here the admission procedure is completed, so interested persons must file an application to establish the status of a German citizen. One application will not suffice here. Based on the application, an investigation will be conducted into the purposes of leaving for the country of origin at the end of the last century. After many years, it is not easy to establish the circumstances of the departure, but one will have to deal with it. It is necessary to explain to the German authorities the purposes of returning to the country of origin and the need to extend one's stay in the homeland.
Return to the country of origin after 1999 does not entail serious consequences of loss of German citizenship status. In cases of return after 1999, it is almost always possible to solve the problem of re-return to Germany. The procedure for the resettlement of children who were minors at the time of the parents' return to the country of origin or born abroad, and spouses whose marriage was concluded after the return to the country of origin, is handled separately.
Thomas PUE,
German lawyer.