Hi,

If someone gets a German Permanent Residence Permit and sometimes later leaves Germany, does his or her absence from Germany cause to lose the Permanent Residence Permit?
or is it like he or she has to visit Germany once a while or must keep a residence address in Germany for ever?

Any hint would be appreciated.

Sara

You will lose it if you are away for more than 6 months outside EU or more than 1 year within EU.

You could get a special approval from the Ausländeramt to get an exceptional ok to stay outside for longer. The approval is discretionary.

Visiting now and then, like the US Green card will not keep the PR alive. Sorry. 

Thanks a lot for the answer.
To my understanding it means, the possibility to keep it alive would be to stay registered with an address in Germany (and probably have a health insurance) and visiting Germany every 6 month. Is this true?

regards,
Sara 

Since I am not  a lawyer, I cant advise you further. You need to check with the authorities here.

Of course, based on common sense, if you are registered here and continue to pay insurance, then nothing should change as you continue to be present here........ However, if the sham gets found out, you are in big trouble.

No. It is not enough that you are registered here, you need to be living here. Your permit automatically becomes void if you emigrate or are out of the country for more than 6 months with the permission of your local ABH (see §51 Abs. 5 & 6 AufenthG).

Hello,
I am a student doing Masters in Germany and I moved from Germany to Serbia for my master thesis under the erasmus+ program and I have been staying in Serbia for the past 5 months and 2 weeks. When I left Germany I cancelled my city registration. My residence permit card has validity till March 2017. Will there be any problems when I re-enter Germany as long as it has not been 6 months since I cancelled the city registration?

Thank you!

This could be an Issue. You need to check with ABH where you resided.