Project: Evaluation of the residence obligation in accordance with section 12a of the Residence Act , Date: 2023.08.29, format: project (finished), area: Authority

An evaluation of the residence obligation (Wohnsitzregelung) in accordance with section 12a of the Residence Act (AufenthG), which has been in place since 2016 for refugees who have temporary protection status, is legally required. The Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees is supervising this project on behalf of the Federal Government, and has commissioned a consortium consisting of the empirica AG research and consulting company and the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) to conduct the evaluation.

The residence obligation in accordance with section 12a of the Residence Act, which came into force in 2016 with the Integration Act (Integrationsgesetz), regulates the residence of foreigners entitled to protection. This particularly includes people who have been recognized in the asylum procedure as persons entitled to asylum, as refugees, or as persons with subsidiary protection status, or who have been granted a residence permit from the humanitarian area of the Residence Act for the first time. For a period of three years from the recognition of their protection status, the regulation obliges them to take up residence in the respective Federal Land to which they have been assigned in order to carry out the asylum or reception procedure. There are exceptional and hardship arrangements, e.g. in the case of employment subject to social security contributions in another Federal Land. In accordance with section 12a subsections (2) and (3) of the Residence Act, the Länder are also empowered to further specify the statutory residence obligation in accordance with section 12a subsection (1) of the Residence Act. They can impose an obligation to take up residence at a specific place within the Land ("positive" residence obligation), or "negatively" prohibit taking up residence at a specific location.

The residence obligation aims to integrate the persons concerned into the living conditions of the Federal Republic of Germany in a sustainable manner, especially with regard to the acquisition of the German language, opportunities for integration into the training and labour market, and the provision of adequate housing. At the same time, social and societal exclusion has to be prevented. The evaluation project aims now to ascertain the extent to which these objectives are actually achieved in the practical implementation of the residence obligation.

As part of a procedure for an expression of interest, the empirica AG research and consulting company and the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) successfully applied to carry out the evaluation, and will implement it by the end of 2022 under the supervision of the BAMF Research Centre. A mix of different methods and research approaches (qualitative surveys, quantitative and multivariate data analyses and local case studies) will be applied.

The evaluation report (in German) can be found under "Downloads".