Residence permit copy: how long you keep it on file as an employer

How long must an employer keep a copy of a residence permit in Germany?

You must keep the copy for the duration of the employment. German residence law names no fixed number of years for this copy. You may keep it electronically or on paper; both forms are allowed. This follows from Section 4a(5) of the Residence Act (AufenthG). Legal position as at 1 September 2026.

The law does not only mean the residence permit card. It also names the work permit issued by the Bundesagentur für Arbeit and the certificate confirming permission to stay (Aufenthaltsgestattung) or suspension of deportation (Duldung). Whichever of these documents allows the person to work for you belongs in your file.

Which document shows that a foreign employee is allowed to work for you?

The residence document itself must show whether gainful employment is allowed and whether it is subject to restrictions. That is a requirement of the Residence Act for every residence permit. Where employment is prohibited or limited, taking up the job needs a permission. That permission can require the approval of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit.

The Bundesagentur für Arbeit describes the employer's starting point in plain terms. You may employ a foreign national who holds a residence permit, a work permit for seasonal employment, or an Aufenthaltsgestattung or Duldung from which it is clear that employment is permitted. Nationals of EU member states, the EEA and Switzerland need no work permit at all.

For third-country nationals, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit decides on admission to the labour market in the individual case. Nationality, qualification and the type of job all play a part in that decision. No employer can treat the outcome as settled in advance. More on the division of roles is in our overview of what the employer does and what the authorities decide.

Why the eAT card alone is often not enough for your file

The electronic residence permit (eAT) is a chip card in credit-card format, and its conditions are printed on a separate supplementary sheet. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), the ancillary provisions — conditions and requirements attached to the permit — are stored on the chip and printed on a supplementary sheet (Zusatzblatt) that is handed over together with the card.

For your personnel file that has a simple consequence. If the card refers to the supplementary sheet, the sheet belongs in the file with the card. Without it, the scope of the permitted employment is not documented on your side.

• Copy the card and, where it exists, the supplementary sheet that was handed over with it.
• Read what the documents say about employment and about limits on it.
• Keep the file for the duration of the employment, electronically or on paper.
• Ask the employee for an updated document as soon as the permit is replaced or extended.

The permit expires and the extension is still pending — what counts as proof then?

If the employee applies for an extension or another residence title before the old one expires, the existing permit is deemed to continue from the expiry date until the immigration authority decides. That rule is in Section 81 of the Residence Act and does not apply to a visa under Section 6(1). The immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) decides on the application itself.

The foreign national is issued a certificate confirming the effect of the application, known as a Fiktionsbescheinigung. That certificate is the document you can put in your file while the decision is pending. Ask for it in good time before the old permit runs out.

If the application is filed late, the immigration authority may order the continued effect of the old permit to avoid undue hardship. That is a decision at the authority's discretion, not an automatic result. Treat a late application as an open question until the authority has responded.

What you must report if the job ends earlier than planned

You must inform the competent immigration authority within four weeks of becoming aware that the employment for which the residence permit was granted has ended early. This duty sits in the same provision as the copy requirement, Section 4a(5) of the Residence Act. Legal position as at 1 September 2026.

The duty applies whoever ends the contract. A resignation during the probation period, a termination by you or an agreement to part all trigger the same four-week clock. Build the step into your offboarding routine so it does not depend on one person remembering it.

Note the date on which you learned of the end of the employment and keep the notification with the rest of the file. Our page on onboarding foreign employees covers the documents you create at the start of the job.

What customs checks — and the second retention duty many employers miss

The Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit, the customs unit against undeclared work, checks whether foreign employees hold the work permits or residence titles required for the job. According to Zoll, such checks can take place without notice, do not have to be ordered in writing and can cover past periods. The officers may enter business premises and inspect documents and data. The Residence Act provides for fines in cases of infringement.

A second, separate retention duty applies in certain sectors under Section 2a of the Act to Combat Undeclared Work. Persons working there must carry an identity card, passport or a substitute document and show it to the customs authorities on request. The sectors named in the provision include construction, the catering and accommodation trade, passenger transport, forwarding, transport and associated logistics including platform-based delivery services, and the showman's trade.

In those sectors you must inform every employee of this duty in advance, in writing and verifiably. You must keep that written notice for the duration of the work and present it during checks. It is a different document from the copy of the residence permit, with its own retention period.

Data protection: the copy is required, but the file still has limits

Keeping the copy is a legal duty, and how you store it is governed by data protection law. Employee data may be processed for the purposes of the employment relationship where this is necessary for its establishment, performance or termination, or to fulfil a legal obligation. That is the rule in Section 26 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).

Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the GDPR, adds the principles of data minimisation and storage limitation. In practice that means a clear purpose for the file and no wider collection than the duty requires. Decide access rights and deletion routines with whoever advises you on data protection.

Residence law ties the copy to the duration of the employment, and it does not set a deletion date for you. If you are unsure what happens to the file afterwards, get advice rather than fixing a period yourself. Related employer duties are set out on our page about employing a third-country national in Germany.

If you are hiring from Albania or Kosovo and want support with the employment documents, you can register as an employer with us.