Deportation custody

If the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) wants to deport you, they can take you into custody for this. For a deportation you can be detained for a few days or up to 6 months. This deportation detention is in Dresden. Even without having committed a crime, you can be imprisoned. The police can pick you up at home or at an authority appointment. Then you will be taken to the court for a hearing.

It is important that lawyers or a trusted person are present at the hearing. You must ask for this at the beginning of the hearing. In detention pending deportation, you have the right to counseling from lawyers and the contact group for detention pending deportation in Dresden. You can talk to the social services and request both consultations.

Further information and contact:

How big is the risk?

If you have a simple toleration, a Duldung, you can be deported and before that you can be detained. Even if you have been here for many years or have applied for residence, the foreigners authority can deport you and take you into custody beforehand.

The danger is big,

• if deportations have already failed because you were not at home or missed appointments at the foreigners authority.
• if you have applied for asylum in several EU countries.
• if you have resisted deportation.
• if the Immigration Office knows that you have given a false passport or a false name.
• if you have moved away and have not registered with the Immigration Office or the Social Office for several months.
• if you are caught at the border by the Federal Police but do not have a visa and an entry ban or no grounds for asylum
• if you are a man: currently (2024) no women and children are detained in Saxony.
• if you have committed crimes – even though this is not a prerequisite for deportation detention.

What can you do?

If you are afraid of deportation and deportation detention, please seek counseling at:

Carry the name and contact information of your attorney and someone you trust with you at all times! Here you can find a template for your “person of trust” in custody pending deportation:

If you are arrested, insist that they are informed and come to the court hearing.

The immigration authorities want to convince the court that you want to flee from your deportation. They write to the court with evidence that you are hiding from the authorities. The authority calls this “Untertauchen” / “absconding”. In our Dublin flyer you can find more information on the topic of “Untertauchen” / “absconding”.

The hearing before the court

You will be brought to the court by the police for a hearing. The hearing is not about your reasons for asylum! It is about whether the court believes you will hide from deportation. Assure the court that you are willing to report regularly and that you will not run away from deportation. If you are not taken into custody, go urgently to a counseling center or to a lawyer.

What happens in the deportation detention centre?

You will be examined by a doctor to see if you are healthy enough to be detained and deported. If you are ill and need medication, tell the doctor. You can meet a lawyer, the deportation detention contact group, counsellors for a (second) asylum procedure, a psychologist or a counsellor. The social services must help you with this. You must hand over all your belongings and cash. If you have more than €200 with you, they will keep the money even after deportation. You also have to hand over your smartphone. However, you can apply to have it for a short time so that you can write down contacts and phone numbers or passwords for email and Facebook and send photos or documents on your smartphone to your lawyer or supporter. You can use the (slow) internet for one hour a day. You can also borrow a simple phone and use it to make calls. Contact supporters, your lawyer or the deportation detention contact group as soon as possible so that they can help you.