Government Support for non-EU citizens
A brief explanation of the Allgemeinverfügung (General Disposition) from the Landesamt für Einwanderung
At the beginning of the corona crisis the Berlin Migration Office (Landesamt für Einwanderung) issued a official statement that changed quite a lot for residency permit holders. The initial official statement was valid until mid-June 2020. Since then multiple extensions of the validity have been issued. The last extension, published at the end of October, extended the validity until 31.03.2021. The first decree brought in three main changes, but with each extension there have been slight changes to the decisions they made.
What does this mean for Visa holders now, until 31.03.2021:
1. Residency permit holders are allowed to apply for and receive benefits
2. You will not loose your residency permit if you have left Germany and are not able to return within the 6 months re-entry period due to corona.
This means that if you hold a residency permit that allows you to earn more than €450,- a month, you are eligible for ALG II, also known as Hartz IV. It is very important to print both the first and most recent official statement and include it in your jobcenter application. We have heard of cases being wrongfully rejected, because these decisions have not been properly communicated between different government agencies. An important note is that as a non-German citizen, you are only able to receive ALG II for six months if you are completely unemployed. After that you have to find some kind of registered work in order to requalify for benefits.
We fully understand that applying for benefits is a stressful process, but we don’t have the financial capacity to offer the long-term financial support. There are several resources available under ‘How do we help’ to navigate this process. Below you will also find translated versions of the initial and the most recent official statements from the Berlin Migration Office. If a new official statement is issued, we will try our best to translate this as fast as possible to help keep you informed. On their website you can also find an extensive FAQ in English
