The number of tolerated people in Germany is increasing significantly

The number of migrants living as tolerated people in Germany is now increasing significantly again after a decline in the years 2023 to 2025. As the federal government said in response to a question from Green MP Filiz Polat, 200,601 people were staying in Germany with a tolerated permit at the end of September. According to information from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 256,873 people were required to leave the country as of September 30th.

Tolerated people are people who are generally obliged to leave the country but cannot be deported for certain reasons - for example for family reasons, because they do not have any identification documents or are ill. Toleration is always limited. As of December 31, 2025, 190,974 of 232,067 people required to leave the country had a toleration permit.

Traffic light government created a new way out of toleration

At the end of 2022, around 248,000 migrants were living in Germany with a toleration permit. The fact that their number fell in the following years is due, among other things, to the opportunity residence law that the coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP introduced. The corresponding law came into force on December 31, 2022 and was valid for three years. It affected people who had been tolerated, permitted or had a residence permit in Germany for at least five years as of October 31, 2022. They and their relatives were able to receive a kind of probationary residence permit for 18 months.

At the end of the period, anyone who mainly supports themselves, has sufficient knowledge of German, has not committed a crime and can show a clear identity, or has “taken all measures necessary and reasonable for them to clarify their identity” could receive a permanent right of residence. Not everyone succeeded.

More than 13,000 minors are tolerated

In addition to the expiry of the right to temporary residence, lower recognition rates in the asylum procedure could also be a reason for the recent increase in the number of tolerated people. As the federal government further announced in its response to Polat, around 45,000 migrants received toleration for the first time in 2026. According to the information given, around 13,460 of them were minors as of September 30th.

A so-called training toleration was entered in the central register of foreigners for 402 people, and an employment toleration was entered for 17 people.

In addition to the safe countries of origin already identified in Germany, Egypt, Bangladesh, India, Colombia, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey have also been considered safe countries of origin at the EU level since mid-June - which is accompanied by a ban on employment for asylum seekers.