Section 6 - Loss of the entitlement to entry and residence

(1) Without prejudice to Section 2 (7) and Section 5 (4), loss of the entitlement pursuant to Section 2 (1) can only be determined and the certificate confirming the right of residence under Community law and the EU residence permit withdrawn for reasons of public order, security or health (Article 45 (3), Article 52 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). Entry may also be refused on the grounds stated in the first sentence. Loss of the entitlement on grounds of public health can only be declared in the cases of illnesses with epidemic potential as defined by the International Health Regulations of the World Health Organisation or other infectious diseases or contagious parasitic diseases provided they are the subject of protection provisions in the federal territory, and if the illness concerned arises within the first three months after entering the federal territory.

(2) A criminal conviction alone shall not constitute sufficient grounds for the decisions or measures specified in subsection 1. Only criminal convictions which have yet to be deleted from the Federal Central Criminal Register may be taken into consideration, and these only insofar as the circumstances pertaining to the said convictions indicate personal behaviour which constitutes a current threat to public order. There must be a real and sufficiently serious threat to the public order, affecting the basic interests of society.

(3) For the purposes of the decision pursuant to subsection 1, special consideration shall be accorded to the duration of the foreigner’s residence in Germany, his age, state of health, family and economic situation, social and cultural integration in Germany and the extent of the foreigner’s ties to his country of origin.

(4) Following acquisition of the right of permanent residence, a loss of entitlement pursuant to subsection 1 may be declared on serious grounds only.

(5) In the case of EU citizens and their dependants who have been resident in the federal territory in the past ten years and in the case of minors, a loss of entitlement pursuant to subsection 1 may only be declared on compelling grounds of public security. This shall not apply to minors if loss of the right of residence is necessary to the child’s well-being. Compelling grounds of public security can only be invoked if the person concerned has been sentenced non-appealably to a prison term or a term of youth custody of at least five years for one or more intentionally committed offences, or if preventive detention has been ordered in connection with the most recent non-appealable conviction, if the security of the Federal Republic of Germany is affected or if the person concerned poses a terrorist threat.

(6) Decisions or measures concerning the loss of the right of residence or of the right of permanent residence must not be undertaken for economic purposes.

(7) Should a passport, identification card or other passport substitute become invalid, this cannot constitute grounds for termination of the holder's residence.

(8) The person concerned should be heard prior to the decision pursuant to subsection 1. The decision must be issued in writing.