Anyone who forges integration documents has no right to be granted a permanent residence permit. The Administrative Court in Karlsruhe rejected the urgent application of a man who tried to use document forgery to obtain a permanent settlement permit, the court announced on Thursday. He had challenged a decision by the immigration authority, which had refused to issue him either a temporary residence permit or a permanent settlement permit. (Case No. 2 K 3621/26)
According to the court, there is an overriding public interest in not issuing the man an unlimited residence title because he submitted forged integration documents. The applicant had lived and worked in Germany since 2018. His wife and children joined him in 2019 through family reunification.
In 2023, the man applied for a permanent settlement permit, the court said, but the documents required for the application were forgeries, for which he had already been sentenced to a fine of 60 daily rates. Although the foreign national subsequently submitted genuine integration documents, the immigration authority refused to issue him either a permanent or a new temporary residence permit, and he was also ordered to leave the country.
Given his professional and family situation, and in particular for the sake of his children's welfare, he challenged the decision. According to the court, however, the man's conduct justifies a serious interest in his deportation. The state also has a preventive interest in deterring others from committing comparable offenses. A return to his home country, the court found, is compatible with the family's welfare.
The decision is not yet legally binding. An appeal can still be lodged with the Baden-Württemberg Administrative Court of Appeal (Verwaltungsgerichtshof).
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