Most people start looking for an immigration lawyer at one of a handful of moments: a permit about to run out, a letter from the Ausländerbehörde, a visa refused at an embassy, or an application that has vanished into a queue. Each has its own clock and its own fix. Knowing which one you are in tells you how urgent this is — and whether you need a lawyer at all.
1. Your permit is about to expire
This is the single most important rule in German immigration practice: apply to extend before your permit expires.
If you apply in time, your existing permit is treated as continuing until the Ausländerbehörde decides — even if that takes months, and even if you cannot get an appointment before the expiry date (§ 81(4) AufenthG). The office confirms this with a Fiktionsbescheinigung, which you can show your employer. If you need to travel while you hold one, ask first — the rules on re-entry depend on your situation.
Apply late and that protection is gone. The office can still order your permit to continue to avoid unfair hardship, but it no longer has to. If no appointment is available, send the application in writing — by email or online form if your office offers one, and keep proof of when it went. What matters is when you applied, not when you got an appointment.
This protection does not cover short-stay Schengen visas.
2. The Ausländerbehörde said no
A refusal of a residence permit usually gives you one month to challenge it, and it often comes with a separate, shorter date to leave. The route — objection to the office or a claim at the administrative court — depends on your federal state, and the decision itself tells you which.
This is the most time-critical situation on this page. Our residence permit refusal guide explains the window, your status in the meantime and what to do this week, and you can work out your exact date here.
A letter headed Anhörung is different: the office is telling you it intends to refuse and inviting you to comment first. That is the cheapest moment to fix a file. Answer it, in writing, by the date given.
3. A visa was refused at an embassy
Visas for Germany are decided by German embassies and consulates abroad, which belong to the Federal Foreign Office. Because that office sits in Berlin, a court challenge to a visa refusal is heard by the Administrative Court in Berlin, wherever in the world you applied (§ 52 No. 2 VwGO).
As with any German decision, the paragraph at the end — the Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung — tells you what you can do and by when. Read it first. Some refusals are better answered with a stronger, better-documented new application than with a court case; others turn on a legal point that only a court will correct. Which applies is a judgement worth getting from a lawyer before the deadline, not after.
If your partner or family member in Germany is the one searching for help, they can instruct a lawyer here on your behalf.
4. You have been waiting for months
If an authority has not decided a complete application within a reasonable time and without a sufficient reason, you can ask the administrative court to make it act — an Untätigkeitsklage (§ 75 VwGO). It normally cannot be filed until three months after the application.
Three months is a minimum, not a deadline the office must meet: the court can give the authority more time if it has a genuine reason. Before going to court, a firm written reminder with a date — often from a lawyer — is sometimes enough to move a file. If your permit is about to expire in the meantime, section 1 matters more than this one.
5. You want to become German
Citizenship has its own rules: five years' residence, B1 German, the naturalisation test, and — since 2024 — no need to give up your other passport. Our German citizenship guide covers the conditions, what happens with a criminal record, and what to do when the application stalls.
6. Do you need a lawyer?
Often not. A routine extension or a first permit with complete documents usually goes through without one. For help with forms and letters, free migration counselling (MBE) exists in most towns.
A lawyer is worth it when:
- you have a refusal, an Anhörung, or a letter telling you to leave;
- your permit has already expired, or you applied late;
- a visa has been refused and you are deciding between a new application and court;
- your case involves a criminal matter, benefits, or a gap in your residence history;
- you are self-employed and the office doubts your income or business plan;
- an application has stalled and you are considering court.
7. Choosing one
Look for a lawyer who does mostly immigration work. A Fachanwalt für Migrationsrecht — a certified specialist in migration law — has had to prove both training and a substantial caseload in the field, though many experienced immigration lawyers practise without the title.
Distance matters less than you might think. Most immigration work is written: letters to the office, court filings, document review. Your lawyer does not need to be in your city, but should know how your local Ausländerbehörde and administrative court tend to work.
Ask before instructing: what the fee is (fixed prices for applications are common, with separate fees for court work), who will actually handle your file, and whether that person will write to you in English.
8. What to bring
- The letter or decision, complete, with the envelope and a note of the date it arrived.
- Your passport and current or last residence permit, and any Fiktionsbescheinigung.
- Your application and everything you submitted with it — or a list, if you did not keep copies.
- A short timeline: when you arrived, each permit and its dates, each application.
- Proof of what your permit is based on: employment contract and payslips, enrolment, marriage certificate, business documents.
- The date on any letter telling you to leave — say it first when you make contact.
One thing worth holding on to
Almost everything that goes badly wrong in German immigration matters goes wrong on dates — a permit that lapsed, a month that ran out. The law itself is often on your side. Apply early, answer every letter in writing, and keep proof of when you did.