Residence Permit 19d to 18g (Blue Card) Inquiry and Marriage

Question

Dear Wefugees Community,

Quick background on my question: I'm 24 years old and from Libya. I have a refused asylum case since 2020 and have been living with a Duldung, but I have also attended university for 3 and a half years, recently graduated, got a decent job offer, and started working in September 2023. I have been issued a residence permit under 19d ABS. 1NR. 1B in August 2023 for 2 years until August 2025. 

My main goal is to get married to my girlfriend of 5 years in the next year and a half or so. I mean, being separated for 4 of those 5 years is too much, but we kept good contact, so I really want to get married to her. And I believe it is difficult for her to get a visa for marriage if I have a 19d residence permit. So I applied for 18g (Blue Card) in March as I fulfilled all the requirements (university qualification, salary requirements, everything, etc.), and I read that it is possible to change from 19d to 18g Here: https://***.ggua.de/fileadmin/downloads/tabellen_und_uebersichten/Tabelle_Spurwechsel_2024.pdf. 

The immigration office replied with a rejection, and the reason in the email was that, "a change from Section 19d of the Residence Act to an acquisition title (this also includes the EU Blue Card according to Section 18g of the Residence Act) is not possible." And they have asked me to withdraw the application. I eventually researched and found this: 

„Und, was zumindest in Einzelfällen auch künftig möglich sein wird: Der Wechsel aus

§ 19d oder einer anderen nicht-humanitären Aufenthaltserlaubnis in die Blaue

Karte-EU (§ 18g AufenthG). Denn auch diese ist eine Anspruchsnorm, so dass man

mit Hilfe des § 39 Nr. 1 AufenthV über die Sperren des § 10 Abs. 3 AufenthG und

des § 5 Abs. 2 AufenthG hinwegkommen kann. Die Blaue Karte wird auch nicht über

die Neuformulierung des § 10 Abs. 3 AufenthG speziell gesperrt, wie dies für § 18a /

b AufenthG gelten wird.“

Source: https://***.ggua.de/fileadmin/downloads/tabellen_und_uebersichten/Spurwechsel.pdf

Which shows it is possible to change, but why did they reject my application for that reason? What shall I do here? Appeal? Apply again? Thank you very much.

Best Regards

Answer 1

Hi @moejojo

Firstly, as I understand it, the immigration office has not rejected your application. They have informed you that they plan to reject it and are giving you the opportunity to withdraw the application (and not have to pay an application fee) or to respond to the reasons why they plan to reject it.

I recommend you reply and make reference to the rules you have yourself already found. The key law is paragraph 10, section 3 of the Aufenthaltsgesetz. This paragraph covers people who have had an asylum application rejected and whether they can be issued with a residence permit:

Einem Ausländer, dessen Asylantrag unanfechtbar abgelehnt worden ist oder der seinen Asylantrag zurückgenommen hat, darf vor der Ausreise ein Aufenthaltstitel nur nach Maßgabe des Abschnitts 5 erteilt werden. Sofern der Asylantrag nach § 30 Absatz 1 Nummer 3 bis 7 des Asylgesetzes abgelehnt wurde, darf vor der Ausreise kein Aufenthaltstitel erteilt werden. Die Sätze 1 und 2 finden im Falle eines Anspruchs auf Erteilung eines Aufenthaltstitels keine Anwendung;

The key part is in bold. As you fulfil the requirements for the Blue Card, it is no longer at the discretion of the authorities whether to issue you it or not. You therefore have an ‘Anspruch auf Erteilung eines Aufenthaltstitels’ and cannot be blocked from receiving a permit due to a previous rejected asylum case.

The have been a series of changes to the laws on this recently so it is possible the authorities did not examine your case accurately. Reply to them with reference to your entitlement for a permit and how the blocking mechanism (‘Sperre’) for rejected asylum seekers from paragraph 10, section 3 does not apply in your case.

They may then proceed and reject your application. If so, you should appeal the decision.

Best,

Éanna

Comments

I replied with this email found here: pastebin.***/pWj7pLbh
They further backed down and replied with this: pastebin.***/9NUpwMSx
But then I asked on what legal grounds, as I still don't have an official reason, and they replied with this: pastebin.***/WtrS5czb

What can I do here? My goal is stated in the main post (marriage), as it seems that the change is not possible, or is it? Idk, what is your advice or that of your colleagues? Thank you very much

---

Hi @moejojo 

Firstly, I advise you not to post personal information here about your case and to remove those links which you have previously posted. This is an open forum and not suited for the sharing of such information. 

It is the view of the Ausländerbehörde that the change is not possible. They have reached this view after consulting with the ministry of justice in the state where you live, who themselves say it is not possible after referencing a decision of the administrative court in Aachen. As you can see by the Ausländerbehörde having to consult with the ministry, it is a rather technical question about the interpretation and implementation of the laws around when it is and is not possible to move from migration for asylum/humanitarian reasons to migration for employment (the so-called ‘Spurwechsel’). 

In my view it comes down to the question of how these two parts of paragraph 10, section 3 of the Aufenthaltsgesetz, which I have marked in bold below, are applied in the case of someone wishing to switch from 19d to 18g: 

Einem Ausländer, dessen Asylantrag unanfechtbar abgelehnt worden ist oder der seinen Asylantrag zurückgenommen hat, darf vor der Ausreise ein Aufenthaltstitel nur nach Maßgabe des Abschnitts 5 erteilt werden. Sofern der Asylantrag nach § 30 Absatz 1 Nummer 3 bis 7 des Asylgesetzes abgelehnt wurde, darf vor der Ausreise kein Aufenthaltstitel erteilt werden. Die Sätze 1 und 2 finden im Falle eines Anspruchs auf Erteilung eines Aufenthaltstitels keine Anwendung; Satz 2 ist ferner nicht anzuwenden, wenn der Ausländer die Voraussetzungen für die Erteilung einer Aufenthaltserlaubnis nach § 25 Absatz 3 erfüllt. Ein Aufenthaltstitel nach § 18a, § 18b oder § 19c Absatz 2 darf einem Ausländer, dessen Asylantrag unanfechtbar abgelehnt worden ist, vor der Ausreise nicht erteilt werden. 

According to the source you refer to, the first bold section should apply to you. You are entitled to a Blue Card (i.e. it is not at the discretion of the authorities) and so the rules the prevent people from switching do not apply. 

As far as I can tell, the authorities in your case are saying that the second section in bold applies in your case. That section singles out the three named permits to prevent people switching to them. While 18g is not listed among them, the authorities are arguing that it should be interpreted so. The law on the Blue Card used to be part of paragraph 18b. It is, however, only an interpretation and it is not explicitly stated so in the law. 

You can continue with the application and see how they ultimately decide. If they reject it, you have the option of appealing the decision. If they then reject it again, you can consider taking it to the the local administrative court, who may see the matter differently. You should seek legal advice if undertaking this step.