Legal judgment has been administered. - Plans for tighter regulations against False Paternity in place.
The traffic light government is trying once more to tackle the issue of fake fatherhood to ensure residency in Germany, a problem that has persisted for years. Men who don't have jobs often claim to be fictitious fathers. Some may be doing it out of friendship or political conviction. However, many of these supposed fathers are secretly collecting money to help a woman and her child obtain German citizenship or a long-term residence permit.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) commented on this in Berlin on Tuesday, stating, "We're now shutting down this gateway for illegal immigration into the social security system."
Buschmann and Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) recently drafted a bill that could be debated by the cabinet in June. It states that, in the future, immigration authorities should check for any attempts at fraud before certifying paternity if there's a "difference in residence rights" between the father and mother. This occurs, for instance, if the father is German and the mother only has a tourist visa or a tolerated stay permit. If it's determined that the man is not the biological father or doesn't have a permanent relationship with the child, the registration of recognition will be denied.
If there's evidence that the man is the biological father or that the mother and father have been living together for a long time, an investigation will not be conducted. Conversely, there should always be suspicion if the supposed couple cannot communicate linguistically, if there are indications that the "father" received money, or if a man has already recognized other children of foreign mothers. The draft was initially reported on by ARD-Hauptstadtstudio.
Attempts to change the law
Lawmakers have already tried twice since 2008 to put a stop to fictitious fatherhood. However, the first attempt was overturned by the Federal Constitutional Court due to the hardship for children who could become stateless as a result. The second change, which requires notaries and youth welfare offices to report suspected cases of abuse to the immigration authorities, proved to be less effective. This is because cases of abuse are usually only noticed late, if at all. Correction after the fact is not possible.
For some time, the justice ministers of the federal states have been advocating for a change in the law. They argue that the men who typically acknowledge a child for a few thousand euros often rely on state benefits. Since they're uncooperative regarding child maintenance, the state has to step in, costing it a significant amount of money. Buschmann mentioned cases where a man had recognized several children of different foreign mothers.
The draft also includes criminal liability for the first time. Anyone who makes false statements to obtain consent for the recognition of paternity, which affect the residence status of the mother and child, will now face a fine or a prison sentence of up to one year. According to the findings of the federal government, the immigration authorities processed a total of 1769 suspected cases between 2018 and 2021, and they identified 290 instances of false recognitions. The actual number is likely higher, it said.
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Source: www.stern.de
