Can I as a refugee obtain residence status in Germany by virtue of being father to a German child living outside Germany

Question

My ex girlfriend of German nationality who has always been living in the Uk has given birth to our child in the UK. She has UK settled status and got pregnant whilst on holiday in Germany. I am a Nigerian refugee with Duldung in Germany. Can I get residence in Germany by being a father of a German child although the child does not live in Germany? Ex does not want any paternity signed nor any other document. Please advise how I can proceed?

Answer 1

Hello and welcome to Wefugees. Living together in the family is regulated in Germany with the so-called Familiennachzug. As far as I understand it correctly, in your case it is not possible to claim this right, because it does not provide for a child living abroad to get a residence permit in the country of origin. Unfortunately, we cannot give legal advice here on Wefugees, and I will link our experts @meike and @mbeon-éanna here again. But as far as I know, I would answer your question with a no for now. On this website you can find more information about the family reunion "Familiennachzug": 

https://***.bamf.de/EN/Themen/MigrationAufenthalt/ZuwandererDrittstaaten/Familie/familie-node.html;jsessionid=6A0E202CB17553A6F31BE2E42754F964.internet282 

The website is in several languages. I hope I could help you with my answer and wish you all the best! Please do not hesitate to come back to us with further questions. Saskia

Comments

Thank you so much for your information Saskia. Much appreciated.

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Hi @Tom002,

I agree with my colleage @Saskia Wefugees that is it not possible to get residency if the child themself are not reident in Germany. The only possibility I can think of is if you came to a custody arrangement whereby the child might stay with you for a certain amount of time in Germany. Otherwise the German authorities would likely say to apply for residency in the UK.

If you are seeking advice about international custody arrangments and your rights as a parent, I recommend you contact this organisation. They speak English and have lots of experience with cases like this:

https://zank.de/en/help-with/

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Best,

Éanna

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Thank you Eanna. Much appreciated