All,

As we see so many posts about being at the mercy of the people at the Auslaender behoerde, I would like to add my 2 cents on working with the people on the other side.

It has been discussed many time times that NE expires once the person does not come back to germany with in 6 months or if the person does not have prior permission to stay out of the country. What I heard in this forum, and also to an extent believed, is that if you are getting transferred to work for a German company in another country and need to keep your NE valid you can get permission. Somehow I also thought it was restricted to a year.

I got permission to stay out of Germany for a period of 3 years and not loose my NE. I will not be working for the German company abroad. It was not very straightforward with the people on the other side, similar to what a lot of people point out while applying for Daueraufenthalt-EG.

The key is to be persistent and determined. I was asked to make an application with supporting documents (in German). I did that and talked directly to the boss. German communication skills are a big plus here to understand what they are saying and to communicate your point through. He reviewed the application and issued me a document in 10 mins which states:

Bescheinigung nach § 51 Abs. 4 des Aufenthaltsgesetzes (AufenthG) zur Vorlage bei den Grenzbehoerden

Hiermit wird dem XXXX, bescheinigt, dass die ihm erteilte Niederlassungserlaubnis fuer die Dauer seines Auslandsaufenthaltes nicht erlischt.

Diese Bescheinigung verliert mit Ablauf des XXXXX ihre Gueltigkeit.

The icing on the cake was when the boss said that half the total time I stay abroad with this permission will be counted towards the Einbuergerung application, if one plans to take that path. He was not 100% sure and suggested that I clarify this from the respective authorities. Anyway I don’t have any concrete plans to come back to Germany but it is great to have an option and also accumulate the time.

I know another friend who got a similar permission. The way each of our applications were treated and processed was different. There has to be a difference as it was a different office, different people and we were at the mercy of the officer’s interpretation of the law. The end result is I still like the German systems for the way they function. The key again is persistence and determination and having hope. Classical example is of MAX for having held on for so long.

Finally, this is a great group and source of a lot of information. The credit goes to all those making things happen here.