According to the BMI’s draft bill of 27.05.2022 for a law introducing an “opportunity right of residence”, the previous period of residence for adolescents and young adults is to be reduced to 3 years and the maximum age is to be raised to 27 years in the area of the right of residence regulated in ยง 25a and ยง 25b of the Residence Act. The previous period of residence for adult single persons will be reduced to 6 years (from currently 8 years) and that for persons with minor children to 4 years (from currently 6 years).
The right of residence is now to be regulated in Section 104c of the Residence Act. According to this, a foreigner who has resided in Germany continuously for at least 5 years on 01.01.2022 is to be granted a right of residence if he has not thwarted his deportation and is not a criminal. In this context, neither the clarification of the identity nor the securing of livelihood nor the implementation of a visa procedure should be relevant. One criticism of the draft is that an exception to the passport requirement has not been included, so that the regulation in this form would remain largely ineffective. The fact that periods of lawful residence are not to be taken into account for reasons other than humanitarian reasons also makes no sense according to the purpose of the regulation.