International Students

Unfortunately, it is currently difficult to obtain a timely extension of the residence title from the Foreigners' Registration Office Darmstadt.

Therefore, we would like to inform you about the temporary solution and its legal requirements. It is important that you have applied for an extension in time before your residence title expires and that you can prove this.

What is necessary for this?

In order to maintain the validity of the residence permit (fiction effect), it is important to apply for the extension of the residence permit informally: by e-mail or by mail. In this e-mail/letter please indicate your passport number and date of birth and ask to send the application and the list of documents for the extension to your current address.

If you have applied for an extension of your residence permit in time, it will automaticlly be given a fictitious status (§81 paragraph 4 of the Residence Law) until a decision on the extension has taken place. This is also confirmed by the Foreigners' Authority on its website: https://www.darmstadt.de/rathaus/online-dienste/auslaenderbehoerde-darmstadt see heading "Residence title / Travel document / Documents", question "My residence title will expire soon - What can I do?").

You should receive a certificate of fiction by mail (can take a few weeks). After that you will have to wait until you receive the form and the list of documents from the Foreigners' Registration Office (you are welcome to prepare everything in advance, e.g. proof of financing, enrolment certificate, proof of insurance, etc.). You will get an appointment only after you have submitted the documents and they have been checked. Then the fee can be paid and you will receive the appointment to order your residence card.

If you have any further questions, please contact our social counselling service.

The following formulations are unfortunately very bureaucratic, as they must be legally valid. If you have any questions, please contact our Social Counselling Service or the International Office at your university.

With the on-time submission of a request for renewal of the residence permit (e.g. in the form of an e-mail in which students apply for the extension of their residence title) and the automatic response (E-Mail reply) received to it, the fiction effect according to § 81 para. 3 p. 1 (permission fiction) or para. 4 (continuation fiction) AufenthG comes into effect by operation of law in the case of a previous legal residence as well as the timely application (before the expiry of the residence title or within 90 days after legal entry into the Federal territory) for the granting/extension of a residence permit.

In the case of continued validity of the previous residence permit, the residence permit that has then mostly expired with its period of validity continues to apply with all its legal effects and permissions until the decision of the foreigners authority. Students can be hired or employment contracts extended on this basis, provided that the previous residence title indicates that the student is permitted to work. To this end, it is necessary to check the ancillary provisions of the submitted fictitious certificate or residence title as well as the timely submission of the application.

The legal basis for this is the §81 Residence Act, https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg_2004/__81.html.