I am in the process of marrying my German partner, which will hopefully be completed within the next 6 months. I am an American citizen who has been living and working in Germany legally for the past 3 years. I have only a one year contract this year, and I know that it will not be renewed (related to the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetzes). I was planning to apply for unemployment benefits after switching my residence permit from an employment-based one to a family-reunification one (because we are getting married).
Someone said that any future application for permanent residence or even citizenship might be affected if I claim unemployment benefits after this contract ends. Is this true? Would they actually deny someone who is married to a German citizen and has been living and working in Germany for years a permanent residence card because of a period of unemployment where they claimed the benefits they had been paying into for years?
In short, should I be concerned about or avoiding claiming my unemployment benefits when this contract ends (if I have not secured a different job in the meantime) so as not to negatively affect a future application for a permanent residence permit?
(I ask because we could probably live on my partner's income alone, just not save anything, but also I think that since they will have been deducting this unemployment insurance from my pay for four years I should be entitled to claim the benefit without penalty.)