Important information for people fleeing Ukraine who are not Ukrainians:
20/03/2022
The following notes apply to LGBTI people who were still living in Ukraine (e.g. for study or work) on February 24, 2022, but do not have Ukrainian citizenship:
There are first reports that some foreigners authorities (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany urge non-Ukrainian people, who had lived in Ukraine before fleeing to Germany, to use the IOM return programme to leave Germany or to file a conventional application for asylum.
However, this group of people should not allow themselves to be urged into a conventional asylum procedure if they fear persecution and discrimination if they were to return to their country of origin. They should rather insist that the immigration authorities issue them a preliminary certificate (Fiktionsbescheinigung) stating that they have applied for a residence permit in accordance with Section 24 of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz).