German residence permit - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The German residence permit (German: Aufenthaltstitel) is a document issued to non-EU

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

citizens

Citizenship of the European Union

Citizenship of the European Union was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty . European citizenship is supplementary to national citizenship and affords rights such as the right to vote in European elections, the right to free movement and the right to consular protection from other EU states'...

(so-called third-country nationals) living in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Prior to 1 September 2011, residence permits and additional provisions were affixed to pages inside the passport (in sticker form). Today, residence permits are issued as ID-1 (credit card size) plastic cards and the additional provisions are printed on a separate sheet of paper, so that residents have to possess (but not carry around) up to three different documents: a passport from their country of citizenship, their residence permit, and the supplementary sheet (if applicable). Carrying passports and residence cards is only compulsory when crossing borders. Within Germany, it is sufficient to know where they are and to show them to the police within a reasonable amount of time, when requested.

Limited residence permit

A limited residence permit (a so-called Aufenthaltserlaubnis, literally residence permit) is valid for a certain period of time and is issued for a certain purpose:

residence for educational purposes
residence for the purpose of economic activity
residence under international law or on humanitarian or political grounds
residence for family reasons

The Aufenthaltserlaubnis does not automatically grant the right to work; instead the permission to work must be explicitly mentioned in the document.

Unlimited residence permit

An unlimited residence permit (a so-called Nierderlassungserlaubnis, literally settlement permit) is a permanent residence permit. It grants the right to live and work in Germany. A foreigner receives a settlement permit if:

he or she has held a residence permit for five years
his or her livelihood is secure
he or she has paid compulsory or voluntary contributions into the statutory pension scheme for at least 60 months
he or she is permitted to work
he or she has an adequate knowledge of the German language
he or she possesses a basic knowledge of the legal and social system and the way of life in Germany
he or she possesses sufficient living space for himself or herself and the members of his or her family forming part of his or her household

Additional provisions

Additional provisions (e.g. whether the resident is allowed to work) are stored on the chip and are printed on a supplementary sheet which must be kept together with the residence permit.

Physical appearance

Since 1 September 2011, the residence permit is issued as ID-1 (credit card size) plastic cards with an embedded RFID chip. It is covered with multi-colour guillochés and appears pink-blue from the distance. All information on it is given only in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

(except for the English words residence permit).

Front side

The front side shows the symbol for biometric travel documents

Biometric passport

A biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...

, the German Eagle, the European bull

Europa (mythology)

In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician woman of high lineage, from whom the name of the continent Europe has ultimately been taken. The name Europa occurs in Hesiod's long list of daughters of primordial Oceanus and Tethys...

, and the words "AUFENTHALTSTITEL" and "RESIDENCE PERMIT". It contains the following information:

Photo of ID card holder (biometric photo)
Document number (9 alphanumeric
Alphanumeric
Alphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to...

digits)
Access number for RFID chip (6 decimal
Decimal
The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations....

digits)
Surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
Given name(s)
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
Validity of residence permit: date of expire or "UNBEFRISTET" (unlimited)
Place of issue
First day of validity (dd-mm-yyyy)
type of document ("AUFENTHALTSERLAUBNIS" or "NIEDERLASSUNGSERLAUBNIS")
Notes:
- Document number of corresponding passport
  Passport
  A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
- Date of expire of corresponding passport (dd-mm-yyyy)
- If holder is permitted to work: "ERWERBSTÄTIGKEIT GESTATTET" (employment permitted)
- If additional provisions exist: "SIEHE ZUSATZBLATT" (see supplementary sheet)
Signature
Signature
A signature is a handwritten depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying...

of holder

Back side

The back side contains the following informaion:

Place of birth
Place of birth
The place of birth is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. The place of birth is not necessarily the place where the parents of the new baby live. If the baby is born in a hospital in...
Date of birth (dd-mm-yyyy)
Nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....

(three-letter code
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes are three-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...

)
Sex (M or F)
Height in cm
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
Colour of eyes
Residence
Hauptwohnsitz
In German-speaking countries, Hauptwohnsitz denotes the primary place of residence. In Germany and Austria, the concept of Hauptwohnsitz has special legal ramifications, primarily involving tax....

(postal code
Postal codes in Germany
Germany introduced postal codes on July 25, 1941, in the form of a two-digit system that was applied initially for the parcel service and later for all mail deliveries. This system was replaced in 1962 in West Germany by a four-digit system; three years later East Germany followed with its own...

, town, street, house number)
Issuing authority
Machine-readable zone
Machine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....

Machine-readable zone

The three-line machine-readable zone on the back side contains the following information:

First line

positions	text	meaning
1-2	AR	residence permit
3	D	issuing country: Germany (Deutschland)
6-14	alphanumeric Alphanumeric Alphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to... digits	document number
15	decimal Decimal The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations.... digit	check digit Check digit A check digit is a form of redundancy check used for error detection, the decimal equivalent of a binary checksum. It consists of a single digit computed from the other digits in the message.... over 6-14

Second line

positions	text	meaning
1-6	decimal Decimal The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations.... digits	date of birth (YYMMDD)
7	decimal digit	check digit Check digit A check digit is a form of redundancy check used for error detection, the decimal equivalent of a binary checksum. It consists of a single digit computed from the other digits in the message.... over 1-6
8	alphabetic digit	sex (M or F)
9-14	decimal digits	date of expire of corresponding passport (YYMMDD)
15	decimal digit	check digit over 9-14
16-18	alphabetic digits	nationality of holder (three-letter code ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes are three-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest... )
30	decimal digit	check digit over 6-30 (first line), 1-7, 9-15, 19-29 (second line)

Third line

positions	text	meaning
1-30	alphabetic digits<	SURNAME<< Surname A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"... GIVEN Given name A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...

Empty spaces are represented by "<".

Chip

The residence permit contains a RFID chip. The chip stores the information given on the document (like name or date of birth), the holder's picture and, if the holder is at least six years old, also his/her fingerprint

Fingerprint

A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...

s. The additional provisions are also stored on the chip. In addition, the new ID card can be used for online authentification (e.g. for age verification or for e-government applications). An electronic signature

Electronic signature

An electronic signature, or e-signature, is any electronic means that indicates either that a person adopts the contents of an electronic message, or more broadly that the person who claims to have written a message is the one who wrote it . By comparison, a signature is a stylized script...

, provided by a private company, can also be stored on the chip.

The document number, the photo and the fingerprints can be read only by law enforcement agencies

Law enforcement in Germany

Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system. Therefore, unlike France, Italy, the United States, Canada or many other countries, Germany has no federal police force comparable to the Italian...

and some other authorities.

To use the online authentification function, the holder needs a six-digit decimal

Decimal

The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations....

Personal identification number

A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...

. If the holder types in the wrong PIN, he has to type in the six-digit decimal access code given on the document to prove he/she really possesses the document. If the wrong PIN is used three times, a PUK

Personal Unblocking Code

A PIN Unlock Code , also known as a PIN Unlock Key , is used in GSM mobile phones and some smartcards to unblock a blocked card.Most mobile telephones offer the feature of personal identification number protection...

must be used to unlock the chip.
The data on the chip are protected by Basic Access Control

Basic Access Control

Basic Access Control is a mechanism specified to ensure only authorized parties can wirelessly read personal information from passports with an RFID chip. It uses data such as the passport number, date of birth and expiration date to negotiate a session key. This key can then be used to encrypt...

and Extended Access Control

Extended access control

Extended Access Control is a mechanism specified to allow only authorized Inspection system to read sensitive biometric data such as fingerprints from ePassports...

Security features

The residence permit contains the following security features:

multicoloured guillochés
microprinting: EU and DEUTSCHLAND
fluorescent
Fluorescence
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore lower energy, than the absorbed radiation...

elements:
- UV overprint: stars, lines, and EU luminesce in various colors under UV light
  Ultraviolet
  Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
- randomly distributed fluorescent fibres which luminesce under UV light
tactile features:
- access number for RFID chip is tactile
- surface embossing: map of Germany and microlettering
security thread
Security thread
A security thread is a security feature of many bank notes to protect against counterfeiting, consisting of a thin ribbon that is threaded through the note's paper....

: colour changes when viewed under different angles; is personalized: NNNNNNNNNN<
changeable laser image
Lenticular printing
Lenticular printing is a technology in which a lenticular lens is used to produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles...

: shows either the date of expire or the holder's portrait depending on angle
color-changing ink
Optically Variable Ink
Optically variable ink is an anti-counterfeiting measure used on many major modern banknotes.The ink displays two distinct colors depending on the angle the bill is viewed at. The United States fifty-dollar bill, for example, uses color shifting ink for the numeral 50 so that it displays copper at...

: the colour of the biometric travel documents
Biometric passport
A biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...

symbol changes from green to gold to red
2D and 3D holographic security elements
Security hologram
Security holograms are very difficult to forge because they are replicated from a master hologram which requires expensive, specialized and technologically advanced equipment. They are used widely in several banknotes around the world, in particular those that are of high denominations...

:
- colour-changing holograms colour changes depending on angle (violet-blue-turquoise-green-yellow-orange-red)
  - holographic portrait: holographic reproduction of the holder's picture
  - four eagles at the left side of the holographic portrait: change their colour under a different angle than the portrait itself
  - document number: NNNNNNNNN, 9 digits
  - holder's name: SURNAME<
- green kinematic structures above the conventional picture:
  - EU Kinegram: bright E on dark background changes to dark E on bright background when document is tilted
  - hexagon: moves across the picture when document is tilted
  - stars: change their size when document is tilted
  - text on the left side of the picture; visible only under a certain angle
    - macrolettering: BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
    - microlettering: BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
- machine-verifiable structure: a red spot which can be checked by machines
- 3D eagle: a red-gold eagle visible only under a certain angle

External links

Gerneral information about the new ID-1 residence permit on the homepage of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees
Gerneral information about the new ID-1 residence permit on bundesdruckerei.de
Bundesdruckerei
The Bundesdruckerei is a German manufacturer for banknotes and stamps, identity cards, passports and visas, driving licences and vehicle registration certificates....

Security features of the new ID-1 card residence permit on bundesdruckerei.de
Old ID-2 sticker Aufenthaltserlaubnis on PRADO
Old ID-2 sticker Niederlassungserlaubnis on PRADO