My boyfriend has been living in Germany for about 20 years. He's always lived with his mom but recently got kicked out (because of his mothers boyfriend) and is currently living with me (I dont live in Germany) since he doesnt have an income due to multiple reasons and doesnt have a different place to stay at.
He has a residence permit that apparently expired in 2016 or 2018 (I don't know why but there are 2 different expiration dates on his permit). During the time they expired, he was still younger than 18, and his mom never prolonged his permit. He has always been able to go to school and been able to register at job centers and they've always told him his permit was fine and that the date didn't matter, so he never went to go prolong it himself either. There has never been a problem with his permit to do things until now.
Now he got kicked out and wanted to find a new place and start looking for a job. We tried doing this in Aachen since that city is a lot closer to where I live then where he used to live and I have to drive him there.
But we don't really know what to do now. We have gone to multiple places and everyone keeps sending us to other people and at the end of the day nobody has really helped us besides directing us to different places. He tried signing up to the jobcenter in Aachen, which worked at first, but now they told us that it's not possible because he needs to prolong his permit.
We then tried to go to the migration center to prolong it, but they couldn't make an appointment because he needs to register in Aachen first in order to do that. But to register in Aachen he needs an address, which he doesn't have of course because he is currently homeless.
There has to be a way to help him, but at this point we don't really know what to do anymore, we feel like we tried everything. He's lived in Germany pretty much his entire life and the only reason why things are this way is because of his mom.
All advice is welcome.
Thank you for your response.
When we were at the jobcenter in Aachen the lady that was helping him said he had to check his health insurance.
The jobcenter that he was registered at previously before getting kicked out, used to pay for it, but he got unregistered in june because he got kicked out and, wasnt living at that address anymore.
Today he called the health insurance people and they basically said that he can't not have health insurance and that he either has to register at his old jobcenter again so they'll continue to pay for him, get different health insurance or he'll have to pay 200€ every month himself. If he doesnt do any of these before july 1ste, he'll be in debt for 600€ for this past month.
We are very stressed out and are going to try to call his old jobcenter tomorrow to try and see if they can help him out. But we're very scared that they won't because he technically doesnt live at his old address anymore.
Nobody ever told us about this health insurance stuff and thats why we havent been able to do anything about this yet. Apparently this month a letter was sent to his old address, but ofcourse his mom didn't tell us about it and thats why we didnt know about it.
I dont have an income myself yet and currently live with my parents so i wouldn't be able to pay for his health insurance either.
We are very scared and stressed and are very worried that things won't work out and don't really know what to do anymore :(
Dear anonymous_anon,
I am sorry to hear about all your boyfriend's trouble with his health insurance on top.
May I ask in which city he lived before with his mother? Unfortunately, there are still the responsible authorities he will need to get in contact with. It is really recommendable to contact a counselling centre, either the one in Aachen, I sent you, or better would be a counselling centre in his old home town. However, since this is a quite urgent matter, I can suggest some next steps:
Since you told me that he is currently not registered somewhere - even though usually a de-registration is only possible personally - he should register himself homeless at the local city hall or welfare organisation. Another option is to go to a councelling which are specialized for homelessness and can support. I can help you to find the correct authority, if you tell me in which city he used to live.
To extend his residence permit, he should book himself an appointment at the foreigners department in his old hometown to extend his residence permit. May I ask which title he holds? The § should be mentioned on his plastic card at the front. Sometimes there is also an additional green-ish sheet. Could you please tell me what is written on that paper as well?
Regarding the jobcenter: Did you already reached someone successfully? He should get in contact with his old jobcenter and re-apply or did he might already applied for an extension?
As soon as his application at the jobcenter got through, they will cover his health insurance again. For the time inbetween, I would like to mention there are organizations who support people without a health insurance. Depending on the city, I can support in finding one as well, if you like support here.
Generally, in case your boyfriend is under 25 years old, his mother is still responsible for him. This means that she should provide him with a place to stay, etc. As you said, their relationship is difficult but I would like to mention that due to her responsibility it could happen that the jobcenter will refuse to pay for an apartment, for example.
However, please let me know how I can support you and your boyfriend. I can reach out to a migration counselling centre first, if you tell me the city he used to live.
Hi
I really appreciate you trying to help us. He used to live in the city "Hilden".
We are not sure if this is what you mean, but on his permit it says "AUFENTHALTSTITEL" and a little lower it says "Art des Titels: AUFENTHALTSERLAUBNIS"
Yesterday we drove over there to try and reapply to the jobcenter, but they said they cant help us because he currently isnt staying there and doesnt have an address and because his permit is expired. He doesn't want to use his old address because he doesnt feel comfortable getting back in contact with his mom, and they would probably hide the letters from us again.
We called the place for his permit, and apparently his application to extend his permit is still ongoing. His mom started the process 2,5 years after it expired, but never send in the right documents, so the application never properly got closed. So we'd be able to continue this application, but again, for us to continue this we need an address, which we dont currently have.
We dont think we'll be able to fix his insurance problem before the 1st since thats already tomorrow. Do you know who could help us with that? That is our main problem right now and it would be ideal if we could figure that out today since this is our last day to try.
My boyfriend is indeed below 25, do you think there may be a way to make his mom pay for the health insurance since she is still responsible for him?
Thank you again for helping us.
Hello again,
There's been update regarding the insurance. My boyfriend called them again to ask if it was possible to delay the payment or if it was possible to make his mother financially responsible for it.
Apparently the woman he talked to on the phone previously gave him false information. According to her, the fee only applies to people who make over 4k a month, which my boyfriend doesn't.
The person he had on the phone today also informed us that it is possible to get a payment pause for 3 months and started that for us.
So for now we dont have to worry about the insurance anymore and we can figure out how to sign up again at the jobcenter starting next week.
Dear anonymous_anon
I am happy to hear that there was a solution with his health insurance. As well, it is a very good start that the process of extension of his residence permit already started. Did the person tell you which documents are needed and until when you should provide them?
I reached out to an emergency housing assistance organization: https://www.spe-muehle.de/wohnungsnotfallhilfe/. I am waiting for their answer and will get back to you as soon as I have news.
Usually, they can provide an address, so the letters won't get lost.
May I ask if you already git in touch with the migration counselling centre? Here are the contact details for one in Hilden:
Beratungsbüro Hilden_CV Mettmann
Mühlenstraße 8
40721 Hilden
02102 1004970
mbe-hilden@caritas-mettmann.de
http://www.caritas-mettmann.de
Dear anonymous_anon
SPE Mühle - the housing assistance organization offers open counselling sessions, you and your boyfriend can visit next week: Monday from 8 am - 11 am & Thursday from 2 pm - 4.30 pm.
SPE Mühle Sozial gGmbH
Wohnungsnotfallhilfe / Sozialberatung
Nove-Mesto-Platz 3C
40721 Hilden
I will send you their telephone number via private message just in case, you will need it.
It sounds very promising that they can support your boyfriend.
Please let me know if you have further questions.
Hello again,
First of all, im sorry that it has taken so long for me to reply again, we really appreciated your efforts to help us. We have been trying to figure things out along the way.
We managed to extend his residence permit and he is currently still living with me.
He was able to get registered at the jobcenter again but now we are waiting for him to get approved to get financial help. We had to send them some documents but they told us it could take quite a while for it to get approved.
Since he doesnt have a place to live in his old town and he doesn't have a job there, we are kind of stuck waiting for the jobcenter right now.
We are hoping that he'll get approved by the jobcenter so he will be able to afford an apartment and start working. We're not sure what to do if the jobcenter doesn't end up approving him.
Without a job he can't get an apartment but without an apartment he also can't get a job there.
His 3 month insurance pause is also over at this point, so i have been paying for his health insurance since then (almost €300 a month).
He got a letter that said something about him being able to use the amount that he paid to get some sort of tax return? However since i dont know German laws/taxes and he doesnt have any experience with it either. We dont really know what to do with that information.
We contacted the number that the letter referred to, but they said we should get a tax adviser, which we can't really afford.
Any more advice is always welcome!
Hello anonymous_anon, thank you for getting in touch with us again.
It is good to hear that your boyfriend now has a place to stay and was able to prolong his residence.
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Were you able to contact the JMD / youth migration counseling? They are happy to help with the next steps and can also help you with the health insurance, since they are located in Aachen they are also more familiar with the local authorities.
My college refereed you to them in the beginning. Please let me know if you were able to reach out to them and if their advice was useful. You can find the contact here_ https://www.jugendmigrationsdienste.de/jmd/aachen.
Finally we also have a tax expert on our page, maybe she is also able to give you some further advice. Liudmyla Lerner
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If you boyfriend receives the approval of the jobcenter the insurance should also count retroactively.
Please let me know if you need any further advice.
Best wishes
Yara _Community Manager Hello Yara. Thank you for your quick response.
We gave up on the idea of doing things in Aachen since he didn't have an address there and it was causing difficulties, so for now we are trying to arrange everything in his town Hilden.
Tax advice would definitely be appreciated. You say the insurance should count retroactively, does that mean the jobcenter will pay me back? And do you maybe have any idea how high the chances are that he'll get approved? The jobcenter lady he was assigned to hasnt been the most helpful..
Thank you again for the help!
Hi anonymous_anon, yes as far as I am aware they should pay retroactively, once he gets approved, from the day he applied for Bürgergeld. But it's best to also talk with an advice center that can look at the situation with the Job Center, also since the lady is very helpful at the Job Center.
In Hilden, they also have a youth migration counselor. I will send you the exact contact in a private message. Please do reach out to them and let me know if they were able to help you further.
https://www.jugendmigrationsdienste.de/jmd/velbert
Best wishes
Yara _Community Manager Hello again.
Yesterday my boyfriend had another appointment at the jobcenter since ge got assigned to a different woman. Turns out the woman he first got assigned to, didn't really know what she was talking about, and now he got declined.
Which also sadly means the health insurance that I've been paying for, won't get paid back.
The new lady he got assigned to is a lot more helpful and really wanted to help him out. She told him that apparently he could just look for an apartment already and that the jobcenter will have to pay for it if ge can get a contract. The previous lady didnt tell us that and told us to wait until we got approved. Now he didn't get approved because he doesnt live close enough, which could've been avoided if the first woman gave us the right information.
The new woman called around a bunch of places and found someone who could possibly have an apartment for him next month, but its not guaranteed.
He has been living with me for almost a year at this point, but my parents would like some of their privacy back, so they agreed that he'll move out next month. If the apartment doesn't work out, he'll have to go to some sort of homeless shelter, which i really dont like.
The jobcenter told him to call around and look for an apartment, but he has been extremely depressed for the past few weeks and just doesn't have it in him to do that. He said he'll call the guy next month, and if he doesnt have an apartment available, he'll go to a homeless shelter. I would do it for him but i don't speak German so i don't think I'll be able to.
I'm really hoping the apartment will be available, i don't like the idea of him having to move into a homeless shelter.
Hello anonymous_anon, thank you for the update. I am glad he is now assigned to a caseworker that is really helpful. Many people also speak English and it might be helpful to try and reach out to see if there are any apartments available. You can also contact the JMD most of them also speak English, they might also be able to help with the flat search.
I will send you the contacts in a private message.
Best wishes
Yara _Community Manager Thank you for your help and the fast responses, i really appreciate it. I will look into it.
Do you know how likely it would be for him to be able to get a eu passport through naturalization after he moves back? In about a year i will be able to get my own place and then he could move back in with me. However, since he doesnt have a eu passport, hed have to apply for a belgian visa if we would want to do that, which sounds like a big headache again.
If he has an eu passport, he could just move here without many complications.
I have looked into it myself and besides being able to support himself financially, he seems to fit all the requirements. Is it difficult to get german citizenship? Is there a high chance he could get rejected? And how long woulf that process take?
Hi anonymous_anon, yes, one of the requirements for naturalization, is that one can support oneself financially.
In case this requirement is not met, the application will most probably be rejected.
More information on naturalization can be found here: https://handbookgermany.de/en/citizenship
Were you able to reach out to the JMD, have you seen my private message?
Best wishes