Ausländerbehörden.org

All immigration offices in Germany

Which Ausländerbehörde is responsible for you?

Enter where you live. You get the responsible immigration office with address, phone and appointment booking.

Offices by federal state

Baden-Württemberg135
Bavaria Bayern96
Berlin1
Brandenburg18
Bremen2
Hamburg6
Hesse Hessen31
Lower Saxony Niedersachsen52
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern8
North Rhine-Westphalia Nordrhein-Westfalen80
Rhineland-Palatinate Rheinland-Pfalz36
Saarland1
Saxony Sachsen13
Saxony-Anhalt Sachsen-Anhalt14
Schleswig-Holstein15
Thuringia Thüringen22

How responsibility is determined

Immigration offices (Ausländerbehörden) decide on residence permits and other matters of residence law (§ 71 (1) AufenthG). Which authority that is in a given place is set by the federal states (Art. 84 (1) GG): usually the district (Landkreis) or the independent city, in some states also larger towns within a district.

Local responsibility follows state law; as a rule it is the office of the place where you live. If a residence requirement (Wohnsitzregelung) applies to you, it has to be lifted before you move (§ 12a (5) AufenthG): registering at the new address does not by itself make the office there responsible (§ 72 (3a) sentence 4 AufenthG).

Good to know

  • Renewing a residence permit

    If you apply before your permit expires, it continues to apply until the office decides (§ 81 (4) AufenthG).

    Guide (in German)

  • Fiktionsbescheinigung

    The office issues a certificate on the effect of your application (§ 81 (5) AufenthG). Whether you may work with it depends on the application.

    Guide (in German)

  • Settlement permit

    Niederlassungserlaubnis: as a rule after five years with a residence permit, for skilled workers after three years (§ 9, § 18c AufenthG).

    Guide (in German)

  • Naturalisation

    A claim after five years of lawful residence (§ 10 StAG). The citizenship authority is responsible; in many places that is not the immigration office.

    Guide (in German)

  • Moving

    Register your new address within two weeks (§ 17 BMG). Which office is responsible afterwards is a matter of state law.

    Guide (in German)

  • Formal obligation

    Verpflichtungserklärung: whoever invites someone is liable for five years for public funds spent on that person’s living costs (§ 68 AufenthG).

    Guide (in German)

  • No decision

    After three months without a decision you can usually bring an action for failure to act (§ 75 VwGO).

    Guide (in German)

  • Rejection

    One month for an objection or a court action; neither suspends the rejection (§§ 70, 74 VwGO, § 84 AufenthG). An urgent application to the court can.

    Guide (in German)