The right of permanent residence under the Withdrawal Agreement arises according to special rules, not according to the rules of the right of free movement. The following applies:

• In principle, five creditable years of residence in Germany are required; periods spent in other EU member states do not count. There are some exceptions, which are listed below.
• Only periods of residence by persons with the right of free movement will be counted. Periods of residence on another basis (for example, third-country nationals with a residence permit under the Residence Act (Gesetz über den Aufenthalt, die Erwerbstätigkeit und die Integration von Ausländern im Bundesgebiet) are not counted.
• Creditable times of residence before and after 31 December 2020 are added together.
• You also have a right under the Withdrawal Agreement if you completely fulfilled these periods of residence at some previous time, but left Germany less than five years before 31 December 2020. In this case, it is not necessary for you to be living in Germany on 31 December 2020 in order to assert this right. However, your right of residence under the Withdrawal Agreement expires on the date when you have no longer been living in Germany for five years, even if this date is after 31 December 2020.
• If you interrupted your residence in Germany and none of the cases described above applies, the counting begins again from the beginning. Periods of residence before such an interruption cannot be credited later, even if you return to Germany.
• Permanent residence status can be acquired after the required five-year residence period on or after 1 January 2021.
  
  

Note:
By way of derogation from the above five-year rule, some exceptions may apply. These relate to the following cases:

- UK nationals who pursued an economic activity and resided in Germany under the right of free movement, and who retire under certain conditions (including old age, early retirement, incapacitation for work) or who are no longer pursuing an economic activity for some other reason, or

- family members of a deceased UK national who had an entitlement under the Withdrawal Agreement or – in the case of death before 31 December 2020 – who was pursuing an economic activity or had the right of free movement, when these family members permanently resided at the UK national’s address at the time of his or her death. This applies if the UK national had continuously resided in the federal territory for at least two years at the time of his or her death or died as a result of an occupational accident or an occupational disease or

- family members residing in Germany of a UK national who himself or herself acquired the right of permanent residence under the previous right of free movement.