What does the Hesse ruling mean for Opportunity Residence cardholders?

A court in Hesse has ruled that pending Opportunity Residence card applications can be dismissed even if the 2025 deadline was met. Here’s what applicants and cardholders need to know:

Hesse rules on Opportunity Residence applications

The Opportunity Residence permit (Chancen-Aufenthaltsrecht) provides a route for people with insecure migration status to obtain a German residence permit. Confusingly, it is separate from the Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte) for skilled workers.

The Opportunity Residence permit gives people with “tolerated status” (Duldung) legal residence in Germany for up to 18 months, during which they can get their ducks in a row to meet the requirements for a temporary residence permit, such as finding work, a rental contract and registering for health insurance.

“Tolerated status” applies to people who do not have a residence permit or the right to remain but cannot be deported for legal reasons, for example, if it would mean unjustifiably separating a family or if deportation to the person’s native country would put them in danger.

The Opportunity Residence scheme was introduced in 2022 to move the large number of people on “tolerated status” to more secure status, and expired at the end of 2025. Now, the Higher Administrative Court in Hesse has found that lawmakers did not include protections for pending applications.

The court ruled that the expired law should not apply to applications which were submitted before the 2025 deadline but are still pending. Applicants who received their permit in late 2025 may also be nearing their 18-month maximum deadline.

According to Section 25a and 25b of the Residence Act, Opportunity Residence holders should take steps to transition to a more permanent residence permit in good time before their Opportunity Residence expires. 

Immigration authorities in Berlin recommend applying for the follow-up permit at least four to six weeks before the 104c permit expires. Opportunity Residence permit holders who do not qualify for a follow-up permit risk returning to “tolerated status”. 

While the ruling directly applies to authorities in Hesse, it is still unclear what it means for migration administration offices in other federal states. Immigration law is regulated at federal level, rather than state level, in Germany.

How successful was the Opportunity Residence scheme?

According to figures from Germany's Central Register of Foreigners, between 2022, when the scheme was introduced and when it closed in late 2025, around 90.800 people used the Opportunity Residence scheme to transition from “tolerated status” to a residence permit.

However, around 10.000 people who obtained an Opportunity Residence card did not meet the requirements for a more secure residence permit and fell back into having “tolerated status”. According to Mediendienst Integration, 199.271 people with “tolerated status” were living in Germany in June 2026. 

Introduced by Germany’s previous SPD-Greens-FDP coalition government, the current CDU/CSU-SPD coalition could have extended the Opportunity Residence scheme when it took office in February 2025.

But the government decided to further limit migrants' pathways to secure immigration status and settle long-term. This shift was mirrored in the decision to scrap citizenship eligibility after three years of legal residence and reduce federal funding for integration courses from 1,1 billion euros to 590 million euros.