Both the Federation and the individual federal states have created humanitarian admission programmes. These programmes indicate that they are willing to take in a certain number of people in need of protection. The legal requirements for federal humanitarian admission programmes are governed by section 23 (2) of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz, AufenthG): “In order to safeguard special political interests of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community may ... order the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees to grant foreigners from specific states or certain categories of foreigners defined by other means approval for admission.” Since 2017, the Federation has carried out an admission programme for Syrian nationals and stateless persons from Turkey seeking protection. In 2022, it launched a federal admission programme for Afghanistan.

Federal admission programme for Afghanistan

Since the Taliban seized power, many people in Afghanistan have been threatened and persecuted, among other things due to their efforts to promote democracy and human rights or to their cooperation with Western states or international organisations, or based on their gender or sexual orientation.

The federal admission programme for Afghanistan was created in order to provide a long-term and structured procedure for Germany to take in additional Afghan nationals who are particularly at risk. This programme was one of the projects listed in the Federal Government’s coalition agreement.

The programme for the first time draws heavily on the expertise of civil-society organisations which are in contact with the groups of people to be admitted to Germany. More than 100 organisations are already participating in the programme. They suggest likely candidates for the programme.

This is the only federal admission programme so far to rely on this form of involvement and cooperation with civil-society organisations. The Federal Government therefore found it important to strengthen the structures of the civil-society organisations at the same time. To do so, a coordination office of the civil-society organisations was created and was in operation until the end of 2024. The programme is now focused on enabling those persons to leave Afghanistan who have received approval for admission in Germany.

Humanitarian admission programme for people from Turkey

In the EU–Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016, the members of the European Council agreed with their Turkish counterparts on a variety of measures, including the resettlement of Syrian nationals from Turkey to the EU. Since then, the goal has been to reduce irregular migration from Turkey to the EU, to break up the business model of migrant smugglers and to offer people in need of protection an alternative to the dangerous Mediterranean crossing.

The admission programme for Syrian nationals and stateless persons in Turkey seeking protection has admitted up to 3,000 people to Germany each year since 2017.

Admission programmes of the federal states

In addition to the federal admission programmes, Germany’s federal states can also establish their own programmes for humanitarian admissions. According to section 23 (1) of the Residence Act, doing so requires the approval of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community in order to ensure a nationwide uniform approach.

Some federal states had their own admission programmes for refugees mainly from Syria, but also from Iraq and Afghanistan, which allowed them to come to Germany legally to rejoin relatives here. The relatives in Germany had to make a formal declaration that they would pay for the refugee’s living expenses for a certain length of time. There are currently no active admission programmes of this kind at state level.

Some federal states have implemented programmes to admit refugees from countries of first refuge such as Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. These state-level programmes rely on pre-selection by the UNHCR and close cooperation with the relevant local stakeholders and the organisations in Germany which are involved in humanitarian admissions. These state-level programmes are part of Germany’s resettlement admissions within the EU’s resettlement programme. Berlin is currently implementing this kind of resettlement programme for people from Lebanon, but it has been suspended due to the uncertain security situation.

Individual admissions on special humanitarian or political grounds

Under the Residence Act, foreigners may be granted a residence permit in individual cases, if the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community has declared that the person concerned is to be admitted “in order to uphold the political interests of the Federal Republic of Germany”. Section 22 sentence 2 of the Residence Act limits this possibility to exceptional cases of special political significance, for example high-profile activists who have long advocated human rights or opposed government injustice and as a result face serious threats to their physical integrity which can only be avoided by coming to Germany. The Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community have developed an expedited admission procedure based on section 22 sentence 2 of the Residence Act for people who are especially at risk due to their opposition to war and their advocacy of democracy and human rights, or due to their activity critical of the regime in Russia, Iran or Belarus, and who are not eligible for a visa on other grounds.

Section 22 of the Residence Act does not constitute a general hardship or catch-all provision, and there is no legal entitlement to approval for admission.

Admission of Afghan local employees and other persons from Afghanistan

Based on the duty of care for Afghan locals employed by German agencies in Afghanistan, a special procedure for their admission to Germany has been created. (Former) Afghan local employees and their core family members can be approved for admission under section 22 sentence 2 of the Residence Act if the German ministry that employed them recognises that they are at individual risk due to their previous employment.

Local employees who are eligible for admission under this procedure are those who were employed directly by a German ministry or indirectly by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development with an institution of German bilateral development cooperation, or indirectly by the Federal Foreign Office with the cultural mediation organisations Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Goethe-Institut or Deutsche Welle or with a political foundation between 1 January 2013 and August 2021 and face a direct and specific or latent threat due to this employment.

Further, at the time of the evacuations from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Federal Government decided to admit people active in the fields of science, politics, the judiciary, culture and the media and in NGOs whose personal activities in Afghanistan left them particularly exposed to acute threat following the Taliban’s seizure of power. These people included for example human rights activists and journalists. The list was closed when the evacuations ended in late August 2021.

In spring 2022, the Federal Foreign Office and Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community also agreed to carry out additional admissions in particularly urgent cases on the basis of section 22 sentence 2 of the Residence Act until the federal admission programme for Afghanistan was fully established.

Since then, these procedures have enabled 34,700 at-risk Afghan nationals to enter Germany (as at January 2025).