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I submitted a renewal application for my residence permit at the Landesamt für Einwanderung in Berlin last October, but the office is so overloaded that my permit expired before I received the new one. I am planning to leave the country for a month, and my current permit is a sticker in my passport. It might be worth noting that that it was a collective application through my university.

Is it possible for me to re-enter Germany if I have an official paper stating that my application was submitted, even though I don't have my residence permit? I am normally allowed to enter Germany as a tourist for 3 months without a visa due to my nationality.

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  • 3
    Do you mean your residence permit? Did you apply for a Fiktionsbescheinigung?
    – xngtng
    Commented Dec 21, 2022 at 16:17
  • 2
    Can you please add your nationality?
    – Willeke
    Commented Dec 21, 2022 at 16:55
  • 4
    Students don't renew visas. They apply for residence permits or their renewal. Visa is not the same as residence pernit. In its current form, your question is quite confusing, and there is no context.
    – Thomas Cruise
    Commented Dec 21, 2022 at 17:45
  • Can you describe the document that you applied to renew? Is it a sticker in your passport? Is it a separate card? Where did you submit the application -- what is the name of the office and what city is it in? How would you plan to show that your application was submitted -- did you get some sort of receipt when you submitted the application? If so, what does it say?
    – phoog
    Commented Dec 21, 2022 at 20:54
  • Sorry for all the missing details and using the wrong term. I updated the question according to your requests.
    – Arjuna Deva
    Commented Dec 22, 2022 at 18:27

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It's complicated.

A complete residence permit application allows you to stay in Germany according to § 81 Abs. 3 and 4 AufenthG. You have a Fiktionswirkung that allows you to stay in Germany.

However, you need a Fiktionsbescheinigung to prove that there is a Fiktionswirkung. It's a specific paper certificate that border authorities are supposed to recognise.

  • If you have a Fiktionsbescheinigung, and it's the §81 Abs. 4 type, then you can travel and re-enter Germany with an expired residence permit.
  • If you don't have a Fiktionsbescheinigung, but you are a citizen of a §41 Abs. 1 AufenthV country, you can travel and re-enter Germany. This was confirmed by two lawyers, and multiple emails from the German border police. However, this is a policy, not a law. It can change without warning.

I wrote an extensive guide about the Fiktionsbescheinigung that explains those concepts. I update it when there is new information.

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