Emergency Kit against deportations for people threatened with deportation

If you left your country due to war or persecution, in Germany you have the right for asylum.

You have to apply for asylum. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in German Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, known as BAMF, will decide about your application.

In this video you get short information about the right for asylum in Germany in different languages:

If you have applied for asylum, you will receive a “Aufenthalts-Gestattung”, a temporary residence permit (also known as an “Ausweis”).

Hearing / interview

If Germany is responsible for your asylum application, the hearing or also called interview will take place at the BAMF. This is your chance to reason your request for asylum.

The hearing is a very important and decisive appointment.

Please be well prepared for your interview. It is very important! You can write down your experiences in a chronological order and bring also some proofs, if you have some. You can also ask for a preparation meeting in a refugee consultation center.

Here you find more detailed information in different languages on the asylum procedure, your rights, the hearing and your access to education and work:

Accomodation

At the beginning of your asylum procedure, you will live in reception center, called “Erstaufname”. It is possible that you stay there until a decision has been made about your application, or you will be moved to another accommodation.

Unfortunately you cannot decide where you want to live in Germany. You will be sent to a specific city or village and have to live there in an apartment or another camp. You can apply for a transfer from Erstaufnahmecamp into another accomodation. You can also apply for a transfer from one city to another city. There are only limited reasons when you have the right to move.

Here you find more information in german and english how to get a transfer from Erstaufnahme-Camp:

Reasons for your application might be:

• a job that you can start in another city
• Family members with whom you would like to live in another city
• practicing your religion
• caring for family members
• start a course of study or education

Remember that you have to prove everything and explain it well.

Letters

If you move, you must give your new address to the BAMF, the immigration authority, and possibly to the court. This is very important because letters will always be sent to the last address that you told the authorities. Please find help in understanding letters from authorities very soon, because there are important information in it and short deadlines for you to react.

Documents

To prove your identity to the authorities in Germany, it is better to present any official document you have. Your passport is the best document. The law states that you must give it to the immigration office if you have it. Unfortunately, passports are often lost or stolen when fleeing. You can explain this to the BAMF or the immigration office. A passport also makes deportation easier. However, the authorities usually need a passport for a residence permit and a work permit.

In the beginning of your asylum procedure it will be assessed whether Germany is responsible for examining your asylum application or another European state is responsible. This is called the Dublin regulation.

Unfortunately you cannot decide which state examines your asylum application. This is why it needs to be clarified

• when and where you arrived in the ️European Union (EU),
• whether you have family members in other member states of the EU,
• whether you already applied for asylum in another member state,
• whether you arrived in Germany with visa from another member state,
• or whether you had your fingerprint taken in another member state.

If Germany considers another EU member state to be responsible for your asylum procedure, your asylum application is “inadmissible” [“unzulässig”]. It means that you must return to the country responsible so that your asylum application can be examined there.

You have the right to give reasons why you cannot return to this country. Please note the following:

Asylum application is “unzulässig” (“inadmissible”)

• You only have 7 days to file a complaint (“Klage”) and an urgent application (“Eilantrag”).
• It does not always make sense to file a complaint (“Klage”) or an urgent application (“Eilantrag”).
• Germany has 6 months to deport you.
• A complaint (“Klage”) or an urgent application (“Eilantrag”) can extend this period.
• If you hide and the authorities find out, they can extend the time for your deportation by 1 year. Germany then has 18 months to deport you.

Important aspects that make it easier to find a way for you to stay in Germany are:

• You are unable to travel due to health reasons.
• The EU country you are supposed to return to has so-called “systemic deficits”. This means that there are not the most basic necessities of life, such as a place to live, a bed or soap.

Here you find more information in different languages about the “Dublin-System”:

Here you find contacts and information in different languages about other European countries that can help you if you are deported because of the “Dublin procedure”.

If you hide and the authorities find out, they can extend the time for your deportation by 1 year. Germany then has 18 months to deport you. The authorities also call hiding “Untertauchen” / “absconding”.

You should therefore collect evidence yourself that you are not hiding, but are only absent by chance or for important reasons.

If you miss an appointment with a public authority, you must cancel your appointment in advance. You need an important reason for this. A sick note from your doctor is best. Send the sick note with an email to the immigration office shortly before your appointment.

If the police wanted to pick you up for deportation but couldn’t find you, you should prove that you are not hiding. To do this, write to ypur local immigration office and the BAMF (for Dublin deportations) or the Central Immigration Office (for all other deportations) explaining the reason why you were not there. You can write an email or send a fax.

You can find the contact details for your local foreigners authority on their letters or on the Internet. You can find the contact details for the BAMF and the LDS, the Central Foreigners’ Registration Office, in our contacts section .

You should have proof of this:

• Take photos of yourself in your home on different days
• Keep sick notes [Krankenschein] or hospitalisation certificates in a safe place
• Keep train tickets, bus tickets, receipts, admission tickets etc. if you are ever in another city. You can also take photos of yourself in these places.
• Perhaps friends or your family can write you a letter confirming that you visited them briefly. They can sign an affidavit to this effect.

Your name should always be clearly legible on the letterbox. You or someone else should empty the letterbox at least once a week.

Your flat door or room in the accommodation should look like you are there regularly.

The neighbours should see that you are regularly at home.

The federal offices decision will be sent to you in writing in a yellow letter. If you have a legal adviser, your lawyer will receive the letters.

If you get a positive answer, you can stay – you will have to do now a lot of other bureaucratic stuff and may need some help from migration counselling offices, but you have a residency for a certain period in Germany.

There are 3 types of refusals:

Inadmissible - “Unzulässig”

In the case of Dublin rejections and a second asylum application “Folgeantrag”. You get more information about the Dublin-procedure here:

Simply unfounded - “abgelehnt”

The decision from the BAMF states: Your asylum application is rejected.
You have 2 weeks for a legal complaint (“Klage”). This complaint protects you from deportation until a decision is made by the court. That’s why you don’t need an urgent application (“Eilantrag”).

Manifestly unfounded - “Offensichtlich unbegründet”

• You have 7 days to file a complaint (“Klage”) and an urgent application (“Eilantrag”). The complaint does not protect you from deportation. You must therefore also submit an urgent application for protection against deportation.

The German asylum system is very complicated, so it is not possible to summarize all the information in a short flyer. Please use also the further information in our flyer:

Free advice on the asylum procedure in saxony

If you cannot get help there, the counsellors will recommend specialised lawyers. Please decide on a counselling centre or inform a new counselling centre who has helped you with what so far. Unfortunately, you sometimes have to wait a few days or weeks for an appointment. So don’t wait too long if you need counselling, but make an appointment quickly. If there is a deadline for filing a complaint, it is best to tell or write to the counselling centre straight away. Please take all important documents (e.g. language course certificate, tenancy agreement, employment contract, medical reports) and all letters from German authorities with you.

Returning from Germany

If you want to leave Germany you can apply for support. Here you find more information in different languages. These are information from the german government.

We take a critical view of return assistance, as it does not work as Germany promises. On this page you will find a documentation and evaluation of experts about the return promotion:

In order to prevent deportation, you must first know whether deportation is imminent and how great the risk is:

• A tolerated stay [Duldung] usually means risk of deportation.
• These tolerated stays state: ‘Expires on the day of deportation regardless of validity’
• It is particularly dangerous if a [Duldung] is only valid for 3 months.
• A tolerated stay for employment [Beschäftigungsduldung] or training [Ausbildungsduldung] are not dangerous.
• Even if you have a “certificate of temporary residence” [Bescheinigung über den vorübergehenden Aufenthalt] = BÜVA, the danger is great. A BÜVA is a DIN A4 sheet with a photo that you receive from the immigration office as an “ID proof”, which is often only valid for 1 month and poses a great risk of deportation. Please go to a counselling centre as soon as possible if you receive a BÜVA instead of a [Duldung].
• Deportations happen in prison, in camps or at home. Sometimes people are also picked up from their workplace or from hospital.
• You can also be deported during appointments at the authorities. If it is an unusual appointment, you should be careful and preferably cancel the appointment.
• You can also be deported if you have not handed in your passport.
• Even if you have submitted an application for residence, you can be deported before the foreigners authority has decided on your application. You can prevent this if you also submit an urgent application or request a promise from the regional directorate/central foreigners authority that they will not deport you. Lawyers or advice centres can help with this.
• Attention: Families can also be deported separately!
• Deportation is possible even after many years in Germany or if you have a job, are ill or your children go to school.
• People with a residence permit, temporary residence permit, EU citizens with freedom of movement are not at risk.
• Even after many years in Germany or if you have a job, are sick or your children go to school, deportation is possible

  Every case is different. You need the help of an advice centre or a lawyer who is well versed in migration law. They need to examine your case carefully to see what your chances are.

Was does tolerated stay permit (Duldung) mean?

Duldung is a bad status. Many rights are denied, for example you cannot decide for yourself where you live.

But it does not always mean that deportation is imminent. Some people live in Germany for many years with this tolerated status.

The actual risk of deportation is individual.

However, a tolerated stay / Duldung causes many problems:

You are not allowed to re-enter Germany with a tolerated stay permit. So be careful when travelling abroad.
A Duldung always has a time limit, often 3 or 6 months. But you can also be deported within this period without warning. The danger is great if the tolerated stay permit states: ‘Expires regardless of validity on the day of deportation’ or a similar text.
Many Duldungen contain further prohibitions:

• “Zur Wohnistznahme verpflichtet” = “Obliged to take up residence in…” : This means that you must live at this address. If you want to move, you must first submit an application to the immigration authorities, who must authorise your move. This often takes a long time and you usually have to have a job. In the meantime, you may be able to rent a second flat or room through a friend or acquaintance. However, you must officially live in the flat that is on your tolerated stay permit.
• “Beschäftigung nicht gestattet” = “Employment not permitted” : This means you are not allowed to work.
• “Beschäftigung nur mit Erlaubnis gestattet” = “Employment only permitted with authorisation” : This means that you and your future employer must submit an application to the foreigners authority.

You can find more information on work permits here:

You can legally defend yourself against the bans and submit applications to the foreigners authority to have these bans cancelled. It is more difficult to find a job or a flat with a Duldung. This is because landlords or employers are not familiar with the rules at the foreigners authority and are unsure because Duldungen are only valid for a few months. It often helps if your family, friends and supporters help you to find a flat or a job through their networks.

Here you can find further important information on your rights and obligations if you get a Duldung:

A Duldung is not a substitute for a passport. Therefor it is no proof of your identity. This is why there can sometimes be problems if you want to get a driving licence or if you want to buy a SIM card or open a bank account.

Passport obligation

If you have a Duldung and have not yet presented a passport, the foreigners authority will definitely want to see your passport. They have many ways of forcing you to do this, for example they can ban you from working or reduce your social benefits if you don’t get a passport.

You have a so-called ‘duty to co-operate’, which means you have to obtain a passport and prove your identity.

If you try to obtain a passport, write down exactly what you have done: Visited embassy, called family etc.

Here you can find multilingual information on the obligation to cooperate and obtaining a passport:

In some countries you can only be deported with a passport. If you give your passport to the immigration authorities, the risk of deportation increases. At the same time, it is your duty to prove your identity and you need a passport for a residence title. However, you can also be deported to many countries without a passport, for example to Georgia, Pakistan or Tunisia. Here, the risk of deportation with and without a passport is roughly the same.

Here you can find information on how you can still obtain a residence permit with a tolerated stay:

Anxiety, anger or insomnia are normal reactions of your body when there is a risk of deportation. This is because the risk of deportation means a great deal of stress.

The cause of the risk of deportation is racist laws and authorities. We cannot solve these problems with these tips. But perhaps some of the tips can help you to calm yourself down if you are panicking. Perhaps these tips can help you feel stronger and continue to fight against deportations.

If you are very scared and panicked or if you think you are beside yourself, outside the world, then it helps if you can taste, smell or feel something intense. This can bring you back from a shock.

For example, you can:

• Taste: bite into a lemon or chilli or chew strong chewing gum
• Smell: hold strong odours such as lemon, lavender, patchouli or a pleasant scent under your nose
• Feel: stroke your skin with a massage ball, a brush or something rough. Or you can flick a rubber band on your wrist. You can run cold water over your hands or face or take a hot-cold shower.
• Listen: Listen to your favourite song or relaxing sounds from the sea, wind, rain or forest.

It is important that these are strategies that are helpful in the short term and not harmful in the long term. It is about getting out of a state of fear and panic in the moment so that you can then become active again and do something about the risk of deportation.

The fear of deportation sometimes brings back bad memories of flight, war and persecution. The fear of deportation itself can be traumatising. Professional psychological therapy is then a great help for many people. But it is particularly difficult for refugees without residency to get psychotherapy. In Saxony, there are the PSZ, psychosocial counselling centres, which can sometimes help a little faster and have interpreters.

Here, too, you often have to wait a few weeks.

That’s why you’ll find here lots of multilingual information on mental illness, trauma and panic and what you can do yourself to feel better:

Free online book with many exercises with pictures, descriptions and audio files from the World Health Organisation (WHO):

Video about Tapping (no language needed):

Videos for refugees in 17 languages with information on trauma:

Text and audio exercises from “Refugee Trauma Help” on on mental illness, trauma and panic:

Don’t stay alone with your anxiety: meet up with other people, talk about your feelings, ask for help. Get out and move (do sport, run, go for a walk) to combat the paralysing fear. Many people also find it helpful to become active and join others in campaigning against deportation. You can do something!

If you don’t know anyone, you can find initial contacts to politically active refugees and supporters here:

There are various ways to obtain a residence title with tolerated stay [Duldung]. It is important that

• the identity has been clarified, preferably with a passport
• there have been no major criminal offences

It is also often helpful if you work, volunteer and know lots of people who are happy to support you. This is called “good integration”. This is just an initial overview of the opportunities available to you. You don’t automatically get a residence permit, you always have to apply for it first and provide plenty of proof. You are only safe once you have received a favourable decision on your application.## What residence titles are there? These paragraphs in the Residence Act / “Aufenthaltsgesetz” are particularly helpful here:

• § 25a (for young people) and § 25b (adults) in the case of “good integration” after at least 3 years in Germany.
• Until the end of 2025: § 104c “Opportunity residence” / “Chancen-Aufenthalt” if you have been living in Germany since at least 31 October 2017.
• § 60c “Ausbildungs-Duldung” or § 16g “Aufenthaltserlaubnis zur Berufsausbildung” if you are doing a 2- or 3-year training in a company or in a vocational school.
• § 19d: You can apply for this residence permit after training. You must then work in the same profession as during your training.
• § 60d “Beschäftigungsduldung”, if you have been in Germany since 2022 or longer and have been working for at least 1 year with tolerated status. Attention: For these residence titles you need a passport, which you must not hand in too late! Go to a counselling centre beforehand!

You can find more detailed information in 9 languages here:

Information only in Spanish, especially for tolerated people from Venezuela:

The “Welcome to Europe” network has compiled “Information against fear” to support everyone in the fight for their right to stay. Here is a brochure on the right to stay in english and german:

Residence through Hardship Case Commission:

Here you can find a brochure for Saxony in 11 languages with more information:

Residence because of the family:

Because you have children or are married to people who have a right of residence in Germany or are German citizens.
Attention: Sometimes you have to travel back to your country of origin, apply for a visa and come back. In case of children you have to prove that you have the right of custody and that you take care of the upbringing. The immigration authorities can request a genetic test to determine whether the biological paternity is true.
You can get a tolerated stay /Duldung until the child is born or when you have all the documents for a marriage. However, you must apply for this at the immigration office.
It is very important that you have the support of a counseling center or lawyers.

A new asylum application, a so-called follow-up application according to § 71 of the Asylum Act.

If the situation in your country of origin has changed a lot or you have new evidence why you are in danger there, a follow-up application may make sense. And perhaps you have not yet had the courage to talk about the real reasons why you had to flee?
But you need the support of a lawyer or a counseling center! Please do not simply go to the BAMF alone and file an application, get advice beforehand.

Protection from deportation due to serious illness Section 60 (7) of the Residence Act

If you are very seriously physically or mentally ill, deportation is a great danger to your life. That is why you need protection from deportation.
The immigration authorities believe that you are healthy. You have to prove that you are ill. But the immigration authorities do not accept many proofs of your illness. A special medical certificate is required for this. This takes time. Especially in the case of mental illnesses, you must also be aware of long waiting times. It is even more difficult to get treatment if you have a medical treatment certificate [Kranken-Behandlungs-Schein] from the social welfare office.
All in all, it is not easy to provide the necessary evidence of a serious illness to the immigration authorities. If you have it, you must show it to the immigration office within 2 weeks.
Please show your doctor this information for the special medial certificate to proof your illness to the immigration office:

Find out dates of collective deportations here:

You can hide, and sleep somewhere else. But you should still keep appointments with authorities – or cancel them with good reason, for example because you are sick.

Do you want to know if the police have been to your house when you are not at home? Trusted neighbours can inform you if you talk to them about it. If you live alone, you can also stick a small piece of tedder or a toothpick firmly in the crack of the door when you leave the flat. When you come back, you can then check whether someone has opened the door.

W2eu has written a brochure with important tips on how to prevent deportations:

Multilingual information on resistance against deportations can also be found at No Border Assembly

There is the possibility of soli-asylum. This means that you live with other people, where the police cannot find you. Here you can find more information in different languages:

There is also the possibility of church asylum. This means that you live in a church or a parsonage. The police knows where you are, but they are not allowed to pick you up. Most of the time this is only possible if you are deported to another EU country because of the Dublin regulation. And ideally you already have personal contact with church members or pastors. Here you can find first information:

Even if it causes anxiety and stress , you can prepare yourself for a possible deportation.

The police may come at night, in which case everything has to happen very quickly. This information can help you in the event of an ongoing deportation and, at best, prevent it:

Have the most important things ready: Medication, documents (children’s birth certificates, medical documents, passports, etc.)
Clarify with a trusted person that you can call them at any time if you are in danger. Write the name and telephone number of this person and your lawyer in a clearly visible place and hang the note next to the door.
If you are deported, this trusted person can also send you things that you were unable to take with you or have forgotten.
Do you know many people who could come to you quickly in case of danger and block your deportation? If so, plan together who you will inform. This person can then pass on the information to everyone else (telephone chain).
Often you will not find enough people to block the deportation. Nevertheless, you can contact individual people so that they come and support you and act as witnesses.
Do you have proof that you or your family should not be deported? Have it ready so that you can show it quickly. For example, medical reports, court judgements, maternity passports, letters from authorities or lawyers.
Keep in regular contact with your lawyer and supporters. Make sure that they have the latest documents and information from you that can help you with a stay, e.g. employment contract, medical documents, etc.
If you like, sign the templates from this emergency kit and give them to someone you trust. They can then react quickly in the event of deportation if you run out of time.

There is further information for supporters , where you can find contacts to authorities and courts or politicians. They can call supporters for you if you are deported.

Talk to family, friends or acquaintances about how they can and want to support you and show them the information.

Deportations often happen secretly. Most people in Saxony know nothing about it.

You can publicise your impending deportation with the help of supporters. Sometimes this can also prevent an ongoing deportation. But it is also important that more people understand how bad deportations are.

Here are tips for protesting and publicising deportations .

Think about what information you want to share publicly and discuss this with your supporters:

For example, are they allowed to publish this information?

• How exactly did the deportation take place?
• What was your life like in Germany? (Work, school, voluntary work, health, criminal offences…)
• Why did you have to flee? What are you afraid of when you return?
• Do you want to make your name or photos, letters, videos of yourself public or would you rather not?

The police can pick you up for deportation in many places, for example from your home, at an appointment with the authorities, at work or on the street. The police sometimes also try to pick you up from family or friends if they know your address. This is because all addresses that an authority (social welfare office, immigration office, BAMF, town hall) knows are potentially dangerous. The police can come at any time of day, usually very early in the morning. It is often no longer possible to prevent deportation. You only have a few hours before you are deported by plane. All addresses that an authority (social welfare office, immigration office, BAMF, town hall) knows are potentially dangerous. The police can come at any time of the day, usually very early in the morning. Deportation can often no longer be prevented. You only have a few hours before you are deported by plane.

Police outside the flat?

Be very calm and leave the light off!
If you are the person who is to be deported, don’t open the door if you don’t want to be deported!
If there are other people living in the flat who are not afraid of being deported, they may have to talk to the police and even let them into the flat. You can hide in a flatmate’s room and lock the door.
Then inform your lawyer or supporters as soon as possible. You need urgent counselling. If the police try once, they often come back soon and try again!

Police in the accommodation / camp?

Preparation counts!

Find out who has received a negative decision from the BAMF and is at risk of deportation.
Where are good hiding places in the camp that you can get to quickly?
Which social workers or security staff are good and can help? Talk to them!
Keep up to date with deportation dates! This way you know when the police might enter the camp. Information is available on Instagram, Facebook or Telegram, for example:

The police pick you up from work:

The police need a search warrant for the office or company premises. Ask your boss or supervisor to request this warrant from the police.
You can explain to your colleagues that the police are not arresting you for a criminal offence, but that the police are often so forceful when it comes to deportations.
If your work can be a reason for a right to stay, ask your colleagues to email your employment contract, a current payslip or a letter of support to your lawyer or a supporter.

The police will pick you up from the authorities or at a roadside checkpoint:

If the risk of deportation is high, always take a friend or a supporter with you to an appointment and do not go alone. They can check for you outside the immigration office and in the clerk’s room to see if the police are there and warn you secretly.
If you cannot go to an appointment at an authority, you must cancel it. The best way to do this is to write an email to the authority on the day of the appointment. You should have an important reason (e.g. illness) and send proof (e.g. sick note from the doctor). If you miss an appointment without an excuse, the authorities can report you as a “fugitive” and put you on the wanted list. This means that the police can arrest you anywhere and you can also be taken into custody pending deportation more easily.
If the police arrest you, you have the right to call your lawyer or other supporters.

Please also report any attempted deportation to the deportation monitoring centre of the Saxon Refugee Council:

For many, it’s a shock: the police are there. There may be a lot of police officers and they may also be very unfriendly. They don’t understand how bad the situation is for you. They also don’t have any interpreters with them. It’s often difficult to talk to the police and you don’t understand what they want.

Even if it’s difficult, try to stay calm. The police officers could also use force, tie you up or separate families if they think you are aggressive.

Who is the police officer in charge? Talk to him calmly. The following is particularly important:

• Is a family member not at home? How will the police prevent the family from being separated?
• Is someone ill or pregnant? Is there any evidence of this? Ask the police to call a doctor again to check their ‘fitness to travel’.
• Does anyone in the family have a residence permit or a tolerated stay permit for education or employment? Is an asylum application still open?
• Is someone not feeling well, for example acute panic? Then ask for an emergency doctor to be called.

Try to gather information:

• Are you being deported by bus or, as is usually the case, by plane?
• Which airport do you fly from and when does the flight depart?
• Will you be taken to a police station beforehand?
• What is the destination of the deportation? In which city will you arrive?

You are allowed to pack 20kg per person. Don’t forget the most important things: medication, documents (children’s birth certificates, medical documents, passports etc.), clothes for the first few days …

The police may take cash from you.You are supposed to use it to pay part of the costs of your deportation yourself. They may also search your belongings for cash. If you are threatened with deportation, it is best to take your money to a trusted person. They can use it to pay a lawyer or send you the money after your deportation. The police must give you a receipt when they take something from you.With this receipt, a supporter or a lawyer can check whether the police were authorised to do so.

The police often take your phone away from you. It’s best if you can hide a second phone somewhere. If you can, secretly make audio or video recordings. Insist that you are allowed to make at least one phone call before they take the phone away: Call your trusted person or your lawyer. If possible, a supporter should come and help you with the deportation. Or they can make other calls for you, such as calling your lawyer. You can also call acquaintances or friends at your deportation destination so that they can pick you up and organise a place for you to sleep.

You or your supporter should also contact the Deportation Monitoring Centre . Inform them about your situation and ask how they can support you.

The police will then take the people to the police station. They are then taken to the airport or onto a bus to be deported. Deportation often takes several hours. Your supporters or your lawyer can use this time on your behalf to legally prevent your deportation. But they now have a lot to do, have to act quickly and be available on the phone! Perhaps they can submit a follow-up asylum application to the BAMF or an application for tolerated stay to the foreigners authority and an urgent application against the deportation to the administrative court.

If you don’t see any legal chances, you can also prevent the deportation in another way. But beware: the police often react harshly and violently!

• You can try to defend yourself and run away
• Friends can block the police for you
• You can refuse to sit down on the plane

Please report the deportation or the attempt to the deportation monitoring of the SFR e.V:

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.