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Let's suppose I get a PR in Germany, and then I leave the country for a period shorter than 6 months, would I need to apply for a visa again to enter the country? What would I show at border control?

Relaxed
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tryst with freedom
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  • Why is this question tagged german-citizens? Permanent residence is not the same as citizenship. – Dr. Snoopy May 08 '23 at 07:22
  • One issue I had once flying on a return ticket to Japan from the UK was that the check-in desk at a smaller connecting airport wanted to see my visa for Japan. Luckily my Resident Card has a "Valid Until" in English on the bottom, which was enough for them, but it caused me a lot of sweat until I spotted that information. – Ken Y-N May 09 '23 at 00:14

2 Answers2

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You would not need to apply for a visa. You would enter the country -- or any Schengen-area country -- with your foreign passport and German residence permit.

phoog
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  • A PR (or visa) is not a guarantee for entering a country, though: You might have visited a دَاعِش‎-controlled area (e. g. visiting a “terror training camp”), thus Germany has some serious concerns to let you in again. – Kai Burghardt May 13 '23 at 10:10
  • @KaiBurghardt okay, and in some countries a passport issued by that country is similarly no guarantee of entry because the bearer of the passport could have done something to cause loss of nationality (including Germany, for example naturalizing elsewhere without a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung). But this sort of consideration is beyond the scope of this question, which is about the documents that a PR requires to enter a country, not the possible outcomes of presenting those documents to an immigration officer. – phoog May 13 '23 at 10:55
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I had that and they even let me get into the EU queue at the airport. No problem. Permanent residence means exactly what it says, you can come and go as you wish.

user20396
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    Arguably, the word "permanent residence" just says "you can reside there permanently", it doesn't say anything about coming and going. – Paŭlo Ebermann May 08 '23 at 22:51
  • @PaŭloEbermann in practice, however, the right to enter and leave one's country of residence is generally held to be implicit in permanent resident status. – phoog May 08 '23 at 23:32
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    @phoog IIRC Japan used to require even permanent residents to purchase single or multiple re-entry permits, but they've since scrapped the system - they instead issue the permit when you depart and fill out your departure card. You need to buy a permit, though, if you plan to be abroad for over a year, even for PRs. – Ken Y-N May 09 '23 at 00:09
  • @phoog Sure, I just wanted to add a snarky remark about "exactly what it says", as it is not actually saying it. I guess a better wording would be "Permanent residence in Germany (as in most other countries) includes the right to come and go as you wish." – Paŭlo Ebermann May 09 '23 at 00:15
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    I might add, in Germany "Permanent" is not quite permanent. You are not allowed out of the country for more than 6 months at a time. Then the government considers the residency to have lapsed. – user20396 May 10 '23 at 06:52