At the beginning of December 2023, an ordinance of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (IMM) came into force, according to which the residence status of persons from Ukraine who have been granted temporary protection will be extended until March 4, 2025 in accordance with Section 24 of the Residence Act (AufenthG). This means that those affected do not have to submit an application to extend their residence status. This eliminates the need to visit the relevant immigration authorities, which simplifies the procedure for extending residence status for people from Ukraine and makes the work of the immigration authorities much easier.
I am often asked by people from Ukraine who have temporary protection status in Germany whether they can travel abroad with an automatically extended residence permit under Section 24 of the Residence Act, as the extension of their title is not clear from the document itself.
At the end of November 2023, the BMI announced the following in its circular:
In accordance with Article 39(1) of the Schengen Borders Code (SBC), the BMI will submit an application to the Council Secretariat for notification of the renewal of a residence permit by statutory order pursuant to Section 24(1) AufenthG and for publication in the Official Journal and inclusion in Annex 22 of the Manual to the SBC (Annex pages 17-24) Part 2. This is intended to enable the competent authorities of the Member States to obtain information on the validity of the rights of right holders traveling with a residence permit that has obviously expired.
In response to a corresponding request from the non-profit organization Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft zur Unterstützung Asylsuchender e.V. from Münster, the BMI has again announced January 2024:
The IMT has informed the EU Council Secretariat about the extended residence permits in accordance with Section 24 (1) AufenthG and requested that they be included in the Schengen Borders Code guidelines. This should enable the competent authorities of the EU Member States to obtain information on the validity of legal holders traveling with residence permits that have clearly expired.
The EU member states should then have the relevant information and re-entry into Germany should be possible without any problems.
If you still have any doubts, the BMI recommends that you contact your local foreigners authority or contact me
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