Landesamt für Einwanderung
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Online appointment scheduling currently unavailable
The LEA’s online appointment scheduling will unfortunately not be available in the next few days.
This is due to extensive and complex maintenance work by our IT provider (ITDZ), which is taking longer than expected.
Is your residence permit / Aufenthaltsgestattung / Duldung expiring within the next 4 weeks or has it already expired?
- Then please contact the department responsible for you using the contact form to make an appointment.
Is there an emergency and you urgently need an appointment?
- Then please also use the contact form of the responsible department. Please note the information on appointments in an emergency.
We are working closely with the ITDZ to be able to offer the online appointment scheduling service again as soon as possible. We very much regret the inconvenience caused and ask for your understanding.
For most residence titles, you can book an appointment at the Berlin Immigration Office:
- Services for which you can book an appointment
- Direct link to the online appointment agreement
Online application instead of booking an appointment in certain cases:
- For some services (e.g. EU Blue Card) please use the special online applications.
For people in an ongoing asylum procedure or with an obligation to leave the country:
- You are in possession of a certificate confirming permission to remain pending an asylum decision (Aufenthaltsgestattung), have temporary suspension of deportation status (Duldung), a border crossing certificate, a supplementary sheet under Section 84(2) of the German Residency Act, or a certificate on the confiscation of a passport? Then please note our information from 15.05.2023.
For some services you can go to any Berlin citizens’ office (Bürgeramt):
- Services for which you can book an appointment at a citizens’ registration office
Emergency appointment
In an emergency we can offer help, either by sending a Fiktionsbescheinigung (temporary residence permit) or by making an appointment as soon as possible. Once we have received the contact form, the responsible department will review your case and decide whether an emergency exists. An emergency must always be proven.
We can only help if you:
- urgently have to travel within the next four weeks and this can be proven by means of a booking.
- can prove, through a letter from your employer, that without a valid document there is a risk of job loss.
- can prove, through a letter from your job centre or social welfare office, that without a valid document there is a threat of benefits being discontinued.
Please only select the subject “Urgent appointment/emergency” (Eiliger Termin / Notfall) in your department’s contact form if at least one of the three criteria applies to you. Attach your proof to the contact form.
Unfortunately, for technical legal reasons, in cases where
- no valid passport is held
- a travel document for foreigners, stateless people or refugees must be issued or
- the previous residence title has been lost
we cannot offer any immediate help. Your contact form will still be read and processed, even if immediate help is not possible.
We ask for your understanding that a response will take longer in this case.
FAQ about making an appointment
- When should I book an appointment?
As a rule, residence titles can be extended at the earliest 8 weeks before they expire.
The appointment itself should preferably be 4-6 weeks before the residence title expires. The appointment can be booked earlier.
In some departments, you may not be able to get an appointment at short notice, but may have to wait a few months. Therefore, try to find an appointment well before your residence title is due to expire.
Important: Book your appointment before your residence title becomes invalid.
Your residence title is about to expire and you are unable to book an appointment? Please note the information under “No appointments available?”
- My residence title will expire before my appointment. Is that a problem?
Was your residence title still valid on the date on which you booked your appointment?
If so, your residence title will be considered as continuing in the federal territory until the scheduled date of your appointment. This also applies to the ancillary provisions for your visa.
This means: You can continue to work or study until your appointment.You can present your booking confirmation to the authorities and employers as appropriate proof. Please use this service to avoid long waiting times.
Important:
- This applies only on condition that you attend the appointment you have booked.
- Moreover, you can travel abroad only within the scope of validity of the residence title most recently granted to you.
- My query is not covered by the options offered in the appointment booking system. What should I do now?
For certain residence titles and services, it is not possible to book an appointment.
If the service that you require is not offered in the online appointment booking system, please contact department responsible.
For some services (e.g. EU Blue Card) please use the special online applications.Important: Do not book an appointment for a “false” service. If you book an appointment despite the fact that the service that you require is not offered in the online appointment booking system, we cannot serve you, even though you have made an appointment.
- Can I change or delete my appointment?
Appointment slots are in short supply, so please delete your appointment if you do not need it. Many thanks.
You can also change your appointment if other slots are available.
To change or delete your appointment, please use the online appointment booking system of the Berlin Immigration Office.
- No appointments available?
It happens regularly that the appointmentsare fully booked. This does not mean that there is a technical fault.
If no appointments can be booked, we ask you to try the booking again the next day. New appointments are activated every day.
You tried to get an appointment online several times unsuccessfully and your residence title expires in few days? In this case, please apply for an extension via e-mail.
For this purpose, please contact the department responsible for you.Your message will count as an application. This means that your previous residence permit will be considered as still valid (see above under “My residence title will expire before my appointment. Is that a problem?”).
- You hold a national visa (D-Visa) issued for 12 months?
Holders of this sort of long-term D-Visa are issued with a different residence title (residence permit, EU Blue Card) six weeks before the visa expires at the earliest.
Is your stay not expected to be longer than the period for which the visa is valid?
Then an application does not have to be made. An interview at the Berlin Immigration Office (Landesamt für Einwanderung) is also unnecessary.Is your stay expected to be longer than the period for which the visa is valid?
Then apply within the validity period of your visa for the residence title to be issued. This application should be made four to six weeks before the expiry of the visa.Working with the national visa?
It says in your visa whether and to what extent you are permitted to work.
You can begin to work to the permitted extent immediately after entry, even if you still do not have a residence permit or an EU Blue Card.
Holders of a one-year visa for study purposes are permitted to work in accordance with Section 16b paragraph 3 AufenthG. This means that, with this visa, you are permitted to work a maximum of 120 whole days or 240 half days per year as well as to undertake part-time student work. - You hold a residence permit for employment purposes that is valid for even longer?
If you have a residence permit for employment purposes that is still valid for a longer period of time (for example, Blue Card):
- You want to change companies or are looking for a new job?
- Or your employment has changed in some way, for example the name of the company or your job description?
If so, you may not need an appointment to change or reissue your residence permit at all. Please read
- our information on applying for a change of employer and
- our Information sheet for foreign employees.
- Can I come even without an appointment?
No, for the time being service will in general only take place by appointment.
- Will an appointment be sent to me?
The Berlin Immigration Office does not send out any invitations to extend residence titles.
Therefore, you need to ensure that you book an appointment in a timely manner.
- What should I bring to my appointment?
After the appointment booking procedure, you will receive per e-mail an appointment confirmation, which you must print out. This confirmation lists all the required documents and fees. Please bring all of these in full – together with your appointment confirmation.
Important: Please do not cling, staple or stick the documents you bring with you. This helps us to save time with your operation.
- When can you be refused a service?
We can only attend to you if a binding appointment has been booked for the correct service through the LEA’s online appointment system.
We will not be able to attend to you in the following cases:
- if you are unable to present an appointment confirmation or if this confirmation is forged, or
- if the appointment was evidently and mistakenly booked for a completely different issue (for example, for the extension of a permission to remain pending an asylum decision (Aufenthaltsgestattung) instead of the residence permit for employment purposes actually needed).
- I have a Schengen visa. Can I book an appointment for the extension?
A Schengen visa (Visa Category C) is issued for short stays, e.g. for visits, tourism purposes or business trips.
A visa of this kind always expires as soon as its expiry date has ended.
Schengen visas can be extended only in exceptional cases, e.g. in the event of serious illness.- Information about the prerequisites, documents and fees
- Please note: The extension of a Schengen-Visa is only possible at the location Keplerstraße
- Please make an appointment by e-mail: b5@lea.berlin.de
As a rule, a Schengen visa cannot be converted into a residence permit.
Therefore, with a Schengen visa, you cannot extend your permitted stay by booking an appointment or applying for a residence permit. More information - I would like to travel but my temporary residence permit expired or expires very soon. What can I do?
If possible, please book an appointment to extend your residence permit.
If there are no available appointments before your travel and you are in possession of a valid travel document (passport or an equivalent), please send an email including your travel dates and the reason for your travel to the unit responsible for you.
We will process your request promptly and check if you can receive a certificate that enables you to travel.
Please notice that due to the long production we cannot issue travel documents for tourist travel.
- The Federal Office of Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has granted me asylum or refugee status or complementary protection. I do not yet possess a residency permit and my electronic residency permit (eAT) has not yet been ordered. Can I make an appointment to order an eAT?
No, please do not seek unasked an appointment.
If the Federal Office of Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has granted you asylum or refugee status or complementary protection and you do not yet possess a residency permit, the matter will be examined on the circ*mstances of the case.
The responsible office department will then invite you to attend an appointment as soon as possible.
Further information about this
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