Status Germans

According to paragraph 1 of Article 116 of the “ Basic Law of Germany ”, status Germans are declared refugees or displaced persons of German nationality , their spouses and descendants who have found refuge in Germany within the borders that existed on December 31, 1937 ^[1] . Persons who were forcibly resettled or deported to the territory of the German Empire, but then left it before the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany came into force on May 24, 1949, are not recognized as status Germans ^[2] .

The purpose of the introduction of this provision in the Constitution of Germany was the desire to solve complex issues related to the citizenship of family members of German refugees from the former territories of the German Empire, and to ensure their integration in the territory of Germany ^[3] . The exact definition of the concept of “refugees or displaced persons of German nationality”, however, was first defined only in the “ Law on the Affairs of Displaced Persons and Refugees ” adopted in 1953. The acquisition of the official status of "status German" occurred only after their registration in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Until July 1, 1990, the exact procedure for receiving status Germans in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany was not spelled out by law, then it was partially regulated only for the category of “ Ausidler ” - ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe and the USSR. After January 1, 1993, as a status German, only the “ late migrants ” are received.

Not having German citizenship, high-status Germans have equal rights and duties of German citizens since the official status of this status ^[4] . At the same time, the quality of the “status German” is irrevocably lost if a person leaves Germany again and returns to the former places of settlement before he accepts German citizenship. Until July 31, 1999, the status Germans were given the unconditional right to obtain German citizenship (by right of blood ) and could acquire it simply by submitting a corresponding application. They could be denied citizenship only if they posed a threat to the state security of the Federal Republic of Germany ^[3] . Moreover, this category of persons appeared in the statistics of naturalization of foreigners.

On August 1, 1999, all status Germans who had not yet acquired German citizenship upon application were automatically assigned by law ^[4] . Today, German citizenship is granted to all status Germans immediately after arriving in Germany and receiving an official certificate of recognition as a migrant (according to § 7 of the Law on Citizenship). Thus, today the legal category of “status Germans” in Germany is only a short-term intermediate position of immigrants repatriating in Germany - from registering the fact of resettlement to Germany at the place of arrival to receiving a certificate of resettlement. The status Germans after August 1, 1999 no longer appear in the statistics on the naturalization of foreigners and are automatically ranked as German citizens.

• Volksdeutsche
• German settlers
• German citizenship

• Rechtslexikon: Statusdeutscher (German)
• Ausländer-Statistik: Deutsche (German)