With the admissions directive from December 21, 2018, the Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community continues the German commitment in the field of humanitarian admissions. Coordinating with the highest federal authorities, the continuation of the admissions order from December 29, 2017, which expired on December 31, 2018, was agreed upon. In addition to the admissions order, further details are delineated in an accompanying letter.

In this way, it was made possible to continue accepting up to 500 persons a month until December 31, 2019. In doing so, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees grants persons with Syrian citizenship and their relatives, who are staying in Turkey, an admissions acceptance. In reasonable special cases, stateless persons can also be admitted under certain conditions. After their arrival in Germany, they receive a residence permit initially limited to three years as defined by § 23 Abs. 2 Residence Act. The admissions program is based on the EU-Turkey Statement of March 18, 2016. Pursuant to the previously mentioned December 21^st admissions order of the Ministry of the Interior, the EU and Turkey have set a goal with their statement “to end the irregular migration from Turkey to the EU, in order to disrupt the business model of smugglers and to offer an alternative to those seeking refuge, so that they do not have to risk their lives through irregular migration.”

The admissions occur in the context of the German resettlement quota for 10,200 vulnerable persons.

Further Reading:

Decree of the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior and Sport

https://www.bmi.bund.de/DE/themen/migration/asyl-fluechtlingsschutz/humanitaere-aufnahmeprogramme/humanitaere-aufnahmeprogramme-node.html

https://resettlement.de/eu-resettlement-programm-deutschland-beteiligt-sich-mit-10-000-plaetzen/

http://resettlement.de/fortsetzung-der-humanitaeren-aufnahme/