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I am a British national with a British passport who has a contract to begin work in Germany in August ,and a partner (not married) who is a German national living there. I have a chance also to register my residency at her address with the local town "council". With her meeting me at the airport, with proof of her address/passport, do you think I will be allowed to enter the country at the moment? I know there is a list of things you need to have and prove to enter, but will my list be enough? Apart from the brand new residency registration, I won't have anything else as a proof of address. Thank you in advance for your help

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  • This is essentially unanswerable. It's difficult to predict what arrangements will be in place next week, let alone in 'the summer', whenever that is.
    – user105640
    Commented Apr 4, 2020 at 13:40
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    Have you considered asking in Expatriates Stack Exchange?
    – o.m.
    Commented Apr 4, 2020 at 14:07
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    This is a constilation where you should ask the German Embassy or Consulate about, since you are not yet registered as a resident.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Apr 5, 2020 at 0:23
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    When it gets close, email [email protected] and ask
    – Crazydre
    Commented Apr 5, 2020 at 15:02
  • @Crazydre Thank you for the email address. I actually sent one through their online form on Friday.
    – Mark
    Commented Apr 5, 2020 at 20:18

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We do not know what will be the case in summer - the current regulations will be "reviewed", but it is unclear when they will be relaxed.

For the current regulation the federal police (Bundespolizei) has provided guidance. Valid reasons include:

  • To work in Germany
  • To reunite with family

So yes, you would potentially be allowed to enter. If you are not married to your partner, her picking you up will only help mildly, as they cannot easily check if you are family. You can, however, bring your work contract to prove that you have to start there on day X.

Note that this is by no means legal advice, and the situation will likely change until the summer. Make sure you check the regulations before you leave, and try to confirm the rules from an official source.

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  • Thank you, especially for the link. I read this "The Federal Police carry out temporary border controls at land, air and sea borders with Italy, Spain, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Denmark and Switzerland." and thought OK, no UK. That's good. And then read the list that starts: Persons who are not German nationals may enter under the following conditions.....and realise I probably don't have much chance right now.
    – Mark
    Commented Apr 5, 2020 at 14:54
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    @Mark conditions include taking up residence in Germany, at least the last time I checked.
    – phoog
    Commented Apr 5, 2020 at 17:18
  • @Mark Sorry that I cannot translate the whole thing. Section 2 has specific rules for people who are not German citizens. It specifically mentions "zur Ausübung einer Berufstätigkeit und/oder zur Durchführung von Vertragsleistungen" (roughly: to work or to fulfil professional contracts). While you don't match the exact examples, I think it is likely that you'd be admitted if you showed your work contract. The final decision is up to the officer, though.
    – averell
    Commented Apr 6, 2020 at 6:34
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    "as they will live with their partner there will be no rent contract in Germany": Mark has his partner's rent contract. But as evidence that the rent contract requirement cannot be taken too literally, consider that doing so would prevent people from qualifying under that exception if they have purchased a home. Consider along with that the fact that decisions are to be made with regard to individual circumstances, and it becomes clear that this is more about the spirit of the exception than the letter of the law. @Mark ought to have little trouble getting into Germany.
    – phoog
    Commented Apr 6, 2020 at 14:11
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    @Mark you won't be able to "look for a new place" until the restrictions are relaxed, I should think. I would just tell them that you're moving in with your partner. Bring a copy of your partner's rent contract or whatever other documents establish possession of her residence, as well as of her ID or passport, record of her registration, etc.
    – phoog
    Commented Apr 6, 2020 at 14:15
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Hard to give a definite answer as the situation changes, but perhaps it helps to give a general impression of the situation based in media reports and what I hear from my friends and family (who live in different parts of Germany).

Many (or all?) travel restrictions and curfews are imposed not by the federal state but the individual Länder, so you should not just consider the border crossing but the whole journey. It would help to know where you are planning to live. The specific rules are different by region, depending on the local situation. Generally EU citizens (and UK until the end of 2020) must be treated same as German citizens by EU regulations, so the internal travel restrictions apply to everybody, it's not a matter of nationality but if the purpose of the journey is acceptable.

There was a media report of a pensioner who moved from Ruhr to Friesland and was initially rejected, but she was allowed to register after she showed that she had actually emptied her old house for sale and was really planning to move permanently, not just escape the cities to the countryside (there's a big problem of people flooding the rural areas just now, so there are specific restrictions).

In your case, essential work-related travel is accepted, but it's hard to know what exactly counts as "essential". I would think that moving home to start a new job should (probably) be ok but you may have to convince not just immigration but possibly local authorities too or random police checks on the way. I don't think there's a specific document (like a visa or something), it's more a matter of explaining the situation convincingly to the officers, I would think a copy of the employment contract would be enough and perhaps a letter from the employer.

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  • Thank you very much for your kind advice. A letter from my employer will be my next step.
    – Mark
    Commented Apr 5, 2020 at 14:45
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    @Stephan Note that the question is about a foreigner moving to Germany, not moving internally in Germany. Currently EU citizens are treated differently from Germans when trying to cross the border. They specifically restricted the free movement rules due to the current situation and the sentence "it's not a matter of nationality" is currently not true. Germans (and existing residents) can always enter. Everybody else needs an "important reason". Also, the national border is under Federal jurisdiction - the rules of the Länder don't apply in this case.
    – averell
    Commented Apr 6, 2020 at 6:47
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    @Mark getting a letter from your employer is still the right step, though ;-)
    – averell
    Commented Apr 6, 2020 at 6:48
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    @Mark OK, the phrase "not a matter of nationality" is ambiguous; I just want to point out that there are more travel restrictions than just border controls (which are not on all borders either). According to advice I got it's not necessarily simple for Germans either. I'm German but live in UK and I could not visit relatives in Schleswig-Holstein as I'm not resident there. Technically I would be allowed to enter Germany at eg. Hamburg airport but then they check travellers into SH and might turn me away (although it's easier to sneak through). With no hotels and no way to go..
    – uUnwY
    Commented Apr 6, 2020 at 13:44
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    @Mark The point I'm trying to make is at the moment you have to look at the whole journey, not just border crossing. It depends which borders you cross (eg last time I checked NL-D is not being controlled, also UK-D flights at least to some airports), and most people will not fly directly to their final destination but have a bit of journey by train possibly through several Bundesländer, where there might be checks too.
    – uUnwY
    Commented Apr 6, 2020 at 13:50

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