Immigration law: A foreign national who has committed a criminal offense can be deported despite being the father of a German child.

Administrative Court of Osnabrück, February 13, 2013, Case No.: 5 B 8/13

The deportation of foreign nationals from Germany is regulated in §§ 53, 54, 55, and 56 of the Residence Act (AufenthG).

German immigration law provides for the following types of deportation:

• Mandatory Deportation
• Regular Deportation
• Mandatory expulsion

Mandatory deportation of a foreigner from Germany is regulated in § 53 AufenthG. According to this, a foreigner must be mandatorily deported from Germany if they have committed the criminal offenses specified in § 53 AufenthG (cases of particularly serious crimes, such as murder, manslaughter, robbery, etc.).

Regular deportation of a foreigner from Germany is stipulated in § 54 AufenthG. According to this, a foreigner is deported in cases of serious criminal offenses or drug-related crimes (e.g., trafficking or possession of narcotics).

Discretionary deportation, on the other hand, is established in § 55 AufenthG. According to this, a foreigner may be deported if their stay endangers public safety and order or other significant interests of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Overview of Deportation:

In cases of deportation, the deportation protection also stipulated in the Residence Act must generally be observed.

In the case mentioned above, the Administrative Court of Osnabrück had to decide whether a foreign national, sentenced to over 5 years of imprisonment, could be deported from Germany despite being the father of a German daughter.

Facts of the Case:

The applicant, born in 1987, entered the Federal Republic of Germany in 1988 with his parents. He is the father of a minor daughter who possesses German citizenship. Until February 2011, he committed, after already having been convicted of other offenses, over one hundred serious crimes as the main perpetrator of a gang. These included numerous burglaries into company and office buildings, mainly in the Emsland region.

Conviction and Imprisonment

On August 10, 2011, the Regional Court of Osnabrück sentenced the applicant to 5 years and 2 months in prison for these offenses. The applicant is currently serving his sentence in the Lingen correctional facility.

Deportation and Removal

In light of the imposed prison sentence, the district of Emsland ordered the applicant’s deportation from the Federal Republic of Germany. Additionally, the district ordered his removal directly from custody and imposed a re-entry ban for four years.

Judgment of the Administrative Court of Osnabrück

The Administrative Court of Osnabrück dismissed the applicant’s appeal against these measures. The court stated that the immigration measures were legally unobjectionable. The deportation was a mandatory consequence of the imposed prison sentence. The applicant’s fatherhood of his German daughter did not grant him protection from deportation, as no protective family relationship with his daughter existed. His behavior, especially the large number of crimes committed in a short time, showed that he had no genuine interest in his daughter. The removal directly from custody was justified to enforce the deportation. The four-year re-entry ban did not violate the applicant’s rights either.

Source: Administrative Court of Osnabrück

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