Your city's Ausländerbehörde (immigration office)
The Aufenthaltstitel application, field by field
Every Ausländerbehörde uses its own version of this form, but they all ask the same things, because they all implement the same law. What decides your case is rarely the form itself — it is the pack of evidence around it, and whether you applied before your current permit expired.
Official name: Antrag auf Erteilung / Verlängerung eines Aufenthaltstitels
Who needs it: Non-EU citizens applying for, or extending, a German residence permit — including Blue Card, skilled worker and family reunion permits.
Where to get the official form
We don't host government forms — they are revised without notice, and an outdated copy gets rejected. These links go to the issuing authority.
- Find your Ausländerbehörde and its form ↗
The permit forms are published by each city's immigration office — search your city's site for “Antrag auf Erteilung eines Aufenthaltstitels”. The BAMF pages explain which permit fits which situation.
- Berlin — Landesamt für Einwanderung ↗
Berlin publishes its forms and its online appointment system here; other large cities follow the same structure.
- Make it in Germany — official portal ↗
The federal government's own English-language guidance on which permit applies and what evidence it needs.
Have these ready before you start
- Your passport, valid well beyond the permit you are asking for
- A biometric photo to German specification (35 × 45 mm, frontal, neutral expression)
- Your Meldebescheinigung (proof of registered address)
- Proof of health insurance covering the whole period
- Proof of how you support yourself: employment contract, or the Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis your employer fills in, or evidence of funds for a study or job-search stay
- For regulated professions: the recognition decision for your qualification
Personal and passport data
Familienname, Geburtsname, Vornamen
Surname, birth name, given names
Exactly as in the passport, in the passport's order and spelling.
Geburtsdatum, Geburtsort, Geburtsland
Date, place and country of birth
As in the passport.
Staatsangehörigkeit(en) — jetzige und frühere
Current and former nationalities
List all, including any you have given up.
Pass: Art, Nummer, ausstellende Behörde, gültig bis
Passport: type, number, issuing authority, valid until
Copy from the data page.
Watch out: A permit is generally not issued for longer than the passport is valid. If your passport expires soon, renew it first — otherwise you get a short permit and have to repeat the whole process.
Anschrift in Deutschland
Address in Germany
Your registered address. This also decides which Ausländerbehörde is responsible for you.
Purpose of stay
Zweck des Aufenthalts
Purpose of stay
Employment, study, family reunion, job search, self-employment. This selects the legal basis for the permit, so it must match your evidence.
Watch out: Do not put “employment” while attaching a study enrolment, or vice versa. Mismatched purpose and evidence is the most common cause of a request for further documents.
Angaben zur Beschäftigung / Arbeitgeber
Employment details / employer
Employer, job title, gross salary, start date and weekly hours. Most offices want this confirmed on the federal Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis, signed by the employer.
Beabsichtigte Aufenthaltsdauer
Intended length of stay
How long you plan to stay — normally aligned with your contract.
Lebensunterhalt / Krankenversicherung
Means of support / health insurance
How you cover living costs, and which insurer covers you. Public insurance is proven with the fund's confirmation; private insurance must meet the statutory minimum cover.
Angaben zu Familienangehörigen
Family members
Spouse and children, whether or not they are in Germany. Family permits are decided in relation to yours.
Declarations
Angaben zu Vorstrafen und Ausweisungen
Criminal convictions and previous expulsions
Answer truthfully. A false statement here is a separate offence and, unlike most mistakes on a form, one that can cost you the permit outright.
Belehrung und Unterschrift
Legal notice and signature
You confirm your statements are complete and true, and sign by hand. Minors are signed for by a parent.
The mistakes that cost people
- Applying after the current permit has expired. Apply before it runs out and the office issues a Fiktionsbescheinigung that keeps your stay — and usually your right to work — legal while they decide.
- A photo that is not biometric to German standard. It is refused at the counter and wastes the appointment.
- Purpose of stay that does not match the attached evidence.
- Leaving the employer declaration blank because the contract is attached — many offices require both.
- Assuming a passport-length permit. If the passport expires in eight months, expect a permit of about the same length.
How to submit it
- 1Book the appointment as early as you can — in large cities the first free slot can be months out, which is itself a reason to apply well before expiry.
- 2Fill the form, collect the evidence pack, and bring originals as well as copies.
- 3Pay the fee at the appointment; it varies by permit type and is published by the office.
- 4If you applied before expiry but the decision is pending, ask for the Fiktionsbescheinigung and carry it with your passport.
What happens next
The card is produced centrally and typically arrives some weeks after approval; the office tells you whether to collect it or wait for the post. Check the printed conditions on the back as soon as you have it — restrictions on employment appear there, and correcting an error is far easier immediately.
Common questions
How early can I apply for an extension?
Most offices accept applications a few months before expiry, and applying early is the whole point: an application filed before the permit expires keeps your stay lawful even if the decision takes longer.
What is a Fiktionsbescheinigung?
A provisional certificate issued when you applied in time but no decision has been made. It bridges the gap and states what you may do meanwhile — check whether it allows work, because that varies by case.
Can I fill the form in English?
The form is German; your entries are names, dates and numbers, so this is rarely the obstacle. Where a free-text explanation is required, a short German sentence is safer, and offices generally accept an English attachment alongside.
Do you submit the application for me?
No. We explain the form and what goes with it; the application is yours to file, and individual immigration advice is regulated in Germany.
Next
Last checked 2026-07-25. Practical guidance on filling in a form — not legal advice, and we do not submit applications on anyone's behalf. Forms and requirements change; the issuing authority's own page is always the authority.