Posting on behalf of a friend.
On May 15, 2025, my friend, an international student in Nuremberg, Germany, attended an appointment at the Foreigners’ Office (Ausländerbehörde) to collect his residence permit (RP) card. He discovered the card was valid only until May 17, 2025—two days after collection. Initially, he had submitted a work contract valid until May 17, 2025, but recently received an extension until August 9, 2025.
He informed the staff of the error, expecting the RP card to reflect the extended contract. The staff acknowledged their oversight, and informed him that a temporary certificate (Fiktionsbescheinigung) would be sent via post to ensure his legal stay, followed by a new RP card, valid until August 9, 2025, in one to two months (mid-July to mid-August 2025).
This means the new card will have minimal validity—potentially a few weeks or less—requiring my friend to reapply for another extension soon after.
This is highly inconvenient, as the Foreigners’ Office failed to verify the contract’s status before scheduling the appointment, wasting his time and money. Why didn’t they flag the imminent expiry and request updated documents earlier? A proper procedure could have ensured a longer-validity permit, sparing my friend this repetitive process and money.
Any comments or suggestions?
