Niederlassungserlaubnis validity on staying abroad longer than 6 months in a year

Question

I have a niederlassungserlaubnis (permament residency) in Germany. As I like travelling. I go abroad a lot for vacation purposes.

I know that staying abroad for more than 6 month in a row, makes your residency permit void. About apart from that, I couldn't see any rule about how much I need to stay in Germany in the last year.

Let's say I did the following:

Jan    Stay in Germany
Feb    Stay in Country A (my hometown)
March  Stay in Country A (my hometown)
April  Stay in Germany
May    Stay in Germany
June   Stay in Country A (my hometown)
July   Stay in Country A (my hometown)
Aug    Stay in Country C
Sep    Stay in Country B
Oct    Stay in Germany
Nov    Stay in County B
Dec    Stay in County C

Total: 
4 months in Germany
4 months in Country A (my hometown)
2 months in Country B
2 months in Country C

In such a vacation plan, I'll never ever stay abroad for more than 6 months in a row.

However in total, I spend less than 6 months in Germany in a year. On the other hand, I have my employment contract, an apartment that I rent and my anmeldung. I also didn't spend more than 6 months in any other country either.

In this case what's the rules for Niederlassungserlaubnis? Do they even check these while entering the country?

Answer 1

The 6 months which you refer to for the Niederlassungserlaubnis is not 6 months within a year, but 6 months continuously.

So, according to the example schedule you posted above, you are not outside Germany for longer than 4 months at a time, and when you return to Germany you remain in the country for a significant period of time before travelling again. A short trip to Germany (i.e just a few weeks) would not be counted towards returning. But a couple of months would be OK.

Provided that you do not permanently live in any other country, maintain an apartment/house permanently in Germany, continue to pay your social security contributions, health insurance, and remain tax resident (and pay taxes) in Germany then you should not have any issues.