What is the situation during the asylum procedure regarding matters of family law (right to determine the place of residence, right of care and custody, visitation rights, right of maintenance in case of divorce)?

Regarding issues related to family law, there are generally no particularities that apply to persons whose asylum applications are being processed. Any person who seeks asylum can file a motion at a family court in order to obtain the right to determine the place of residence, to care and custody, to maintenance and to protection against violence. Difficulties may arise as the persons concerned do not hold German citizenship, so that due to their different nationalities, there is often the question of which particular legislation applies.

Such questions likewise have to be approached by other non-German couples or families.

Moreover, couples and families whose asylum application is still being processed have consider and clarify whether the asylum procedures are handled separately and what this implies as tothe authority to represent the children. If, for example, a woman breaks up with her partner and takes the children with her, then she would actually have to file a request, along with her application to custody rights, to obtain the right to act as the sole representative regarding all matters pertaining to the children during the asylum procedure. Or, in the opposite case, the woman would have to file a motion to the effect that she will also be informed about decisions pertaining to her children, even if she has no access to information regarding her husband’s asylum application. In this context, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, lawyers and administrative courts frequently create legal facts that rest on shaky foundations in terms of family law.