Being allowed to stay in Germany: no permit, no certificate — but a condition that counts after three months

Yes, as a Dutch citizen you may stay in Germany, and there is no counter you have to ask: no visa, no residence permit, and since early 2013 no Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung either — the Berlin immigration office adds that such certificates were never needed to work or to arrange anything. What there is, stands in the Freizügigkeitsgesetz: a condition. You have the right of residence as an employee, as a self-employed person, as a jobseeker (six months), or as a non-worker with sufficient means of subsistence and comprehensive health insurance. Three months after entry the Ausländerbehörde may ask you to make that plausible, and after five years of uninterrupted residence the right becomes unconditional. For most Dutch people that is a formality; for whoever comes without an income, it is the question the whole journey rests on.

Who has the right of residence, according to the law?

Section 2 of the Freizügigkeitsgesetz lists it. You have free movement as an EU citizen who is:

Your situation	Condition	How long
Employee, or in vocational training	a job	as long as you work, and six more months after involuntary dismissal following less than a year of work; longer after more than a year
Jobseeker	actively looking	six months; beyond that only with proof that you are looking and have a real prospect of a job
Self-employed	an established self-employed activity	as long as you carry it out
Non-working (retired, partner without a job)	sufficient means of subsistence and comprehensive health insurance	as long as both exist
Family member	accompanying someone from the rows above	as long as that person has the right
After five years	uninterrupted lawful residence	unconditional

Two things stand out. An employee who becomes involuntarily unemployed after more than a year of work keeps the status if the Agentur für Arbeit confirms it; after less than a year of work that is six months. And the law names no amount for non-workers: "ausreichende Existenzmittel" is the term, and the Landesamt in Berlin translates it as sufficient own means for living costs plus health insurance.

What does this mean if I come on a pension?

Then you fall under section 4: non-working, with sufficient means and insurance. Your AOW and pension are the means; the insurance you arrange via the S1 from the CAK at a Krankenkasse, or otherwise — see GKV or PKV. You must be able to show both if asked. That is the whole right of residence: no application, no card, but two documents in the drawer.

Where does "after three months" come from?

From section 5, paragraph 2: the Ausländerbehörde may require that you make the conditions plausible three months after entry, and it may have the details collected at the Anmeldung at the Bürgeramt, which passes them on. In practice that rarely happens to someone with a job or a pension, but it is the reason the Bürgeramt sometimes asks for more than your passport at a first registration. Your Europe adds the European floor: in the first three months no EU country may require a residence document from you.

If the conditions lapse within five years — no more work, no more means, no more insurance — the loss of the right can be determined. That is the flip side of a right without a permit: it exists as long as the condition exists.

Without health insurance, no right of residence as a non-worker. Whoever falls between two systems — the Dutch insurance ended, the German one not yet in place — does not meet section 4 in those weeks. Arrange the German cover before deregistering in the Netherlands, not after.

When does the right become unconditional?

After five years of uninterrupted lawful residence, says section 4a: then you have the Daueraufenthaltsrecht, regardless of whether you still work or have means. Employees who retire reach it sooner: after three years of residence and twelve months of work, if they are 65 when they stop or stop under an early retirement scheme. Absences of up to six months a year don't count against you; one absence of up to twelve months for a weighty reason doesn't either. Whoever is then away for more than two consecutive years loses the permanent right again.

If you want it in writing, the Ausländerbehörde confirms the permanent right of residence on request without delay. That is the only residence paper Germany still gives an EU citizen, and you only need it after five years — if you need it at all.

So what do I arrange?

The Anmeldung. That is not a right of residence but a duty to register that applies to everyone, Germans included, and it is the domino that tax number, Krankenkasse and employer hang on. The right of residence itself asks nothing of you, except that you can show it.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Germany or go straight to step 1.1 in the open plan.