Germany: government demands more money from some citizens who sponsored refugee families

Not reported outside of a few German legal publications, a decision by the country's constitutional court on Jan 26 2017, finally put an end to an issue that had upset many residents who had entered into an official "sponsorship agreement" to help refugees bring their family to Germany.

The instrument of "sponsorship agreement" (Verpflichtungserklärung) is codified in German immigration/integration law and allows legal residents or citizens to help a foreigner gain or maintain residence by taking over the costs of the process and - more importantly - by covering the living expenses of the sponsored person once he/she/the family has arrived in the country.

A sponsorship agreement is a big deal, physically expressed as a poster covering literally about 3 by 5 feet of the wall outside the "foreigners office" in the hallway of the blogster's county administration.

While is is being used, for example, by migrant workers or couples where one is a foreigner and the other a German, it was extensively used during the refugee crisis, especially by Syrians.

The problem with sponsorship lay in the fine print: the absence of an end date.

Termination of a sponsorship agreement was thus interpreted differently by different local governments.

Many cities would consider the agreement to terminate once a sponsored foreigner was granted residence. Other officials would insist that the law stipulated no condition under which the agreement would end.

Cities and jobcenters would use the agreement to claw back any social benefits claimed by a sponsored person or family years after they had been granted residence, for example after unemployment insurance ended and a person became eligible for social benefits.

Numerous examples of basically arbitrary decisions made local, sometimes national, news in 2016 when the law was amended to specify a maximum duration of five years.

For refugees, the largest sponsored group, jobcenters insisted on the continued obligation of the sponsor even after an asylum seeker was given refugee status, which entitles a refugee to receive government benefits under the asylum seeker, or "integration", law.

The case decided by the constitutional court was one such case, and the court upheld the continued responsibility of the sponsor after an "adjustment of status".

So, if you live in Germany or move here and feel a humanitarian urge to put your money towards helping a fellow foreigner, don't forget: you will be one the hook for five years.

Please note that the same conditions apply to any sponsorship of a foreigner, including sponsorship intended only for the duration of a short visit.