Hi All,
There some new stuff regarding this topic, so I thought I should inform you guys as well..
New German Government(Merkel & Co) is planning to accept some bunch of new regulations(in order to conform 2003/109/EC mentioned by aalvarez in this thread) regarding residence permits of the foreigners living in Germany.. the draft can be downloaded from this link..
http://www.fluechtlingsinfo-berlin.de/fr/pdf/BMI_AendG_ZuwG_030106.pdf
(The changes mentioned in the draft will be most probably part of the new residence law)
There are some interesting points mentioned in the draft:
1-) There will be a new kind of "Niederlassungserlaubnis" which will be named "Niederlassungserlaubnis - Daueraufenthalt EG". With this kind of permit, one will be able work/live in all EU without any other permit. (like an EU Citizen)
2-) This kind of permit will not be unvalid, if the person is still in EU. (A permit taken in Germany will not become invalid, if one starts to live in another EU-State and hence stays more than 6 months out of Germany)
3-) For the holders of this kind of permit, the unvalidity will become effective after they leave EU territory for more than 12 months..(not 6 months)
4-) For this kind of permit(and also for "normal" Niederlassungserlaubnis) the time spent under Student residence permit will be counted.. but the duration of these kind of student residence permits will be divided by 2 for the calculation of the needed 5 years..
Interesting stuff.. huh ? let's see, when this draft becomes reality..
but I guess it should be voted in German Parlement this month or so..
If you guys know more about it, please do share..
and as a last note, this new kind of "Niederlassungserlaubnis" does not require any new conditions compared to the old one.. so basicly the people who are/were in the position of getting the old Niederlassungserlaubnis can get the new one as well.. (there are exceptional cases for asylum seekers & co though)
Regards,
Lacrima