In Germany, preliminary checks at the border differ depending on whether individuals are entering through Schengen external or internal borders. They are carried out in line with Article 8 of the Schengen Border Code. Additionally, those entering irregularly or violating entry conditions can be subject to checks or refusal of entry as per §14 and §15 AufenthG (see Access to the territory and push backs).
The Federal Police conduct these preliminary checks. Third-country nationals entering Germany by air or sea from non-Schengen countries have traditionally been subject to continuous checks.[1] Additionally, within a 30-kilometer radius of the border, random checks on people and vehicles are conducted as part of security measures. This practice (Schleierfahndung) is carried out by both federal and state police. Border checks and surveillance can occur by land, sea, or air, including at international airports, ports, and train stations near borders. States like Bavaria also maintain their own border police, particularly at airports and for regional checks. The checks generally take place on highways, rural roads, at border-crossing train stations, and airports. The locations and duration of these controls may vary, and not all border crossings are subject to uniform checks. The intensity of the controls will differ regionally.[2]
In preliminary border controls, the Federal Police checks the validity of identity and travel documents such as passports or national ID cards. Travelers may also be questioned about the purpose and duration of their stay, particularly when entering non-EU countries, and may need to provide supporting documents like hotel reservations. Vehicles, including registration and insurance, are inspected, as well as baggage for illegal or restricted items. In some cases, health checks, such as proof of vaccinations, are required, especially when traveling to countries with specific health risks.[3]
There is no maximum time limit by which the checks must be completed.
The checks occur at the border, using the fiction of non-entry, or at airports. Germany applies systematic border checks at both land borders and airports. Effective September 16, 2024, border checks were implemented at all land borders[4] (see Access to the territory and push backs). They extend to countries including France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. This expansion builds upon existing controls at borders with Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Poland. The newly elected German federal government extended and intensified border controls in May 2025.[5] Since then the Federal Police have reportedly been turning away asylum seekers at the borders with exceptions for members of vulnerable groups, such as the sick or pregnant.[6] Between 8 May 2025 and the end of the year, the Federal Police recorded 33,338 unauthorized entries, and 242 vulnerable individuals were said to have expressed an asylum claim.[7]
According to Section 13(2) of the Residence Act (AufenthG), a person is legally considered to have entered Germany only after passing through an authorised border crossing point. The mere crossing of the state border does not constitute entry unless the designated crossing point is passed. If a person is temporarily allowed to pass the crossing point for specific purposes, such as awaiting a decision on deportation, legal entry has not yet occurred. Similarly, under Section 18a of the Asylum Act (AsylG), travellers in transit areas at airports are not considered to have entered Germany legally until border controls are completed.[8]
The preliminary checks do not entail particular restriction of the freedom of movement or detention, neither in law nor in practice. Applicants during the preliminary checks are allowed to leave the transit zone to the country they entered from.
The outcomes of preliminary checks at the German border may include entry, entry for the examination of an asylum application, or entry for determining which state is responsible for processing the asylum request. A direct refusal of entry or deportation is typically not possible if asylum is requested at the border or within Germany, as the Dublin procedure must first determine the responsible country. Deportation or refusal is only considered if no asylum request is made or if a request has already been definitively rejected in Germany. The refusal of entry (Zurückweisung) is solely the responsibility of border control authorities under § 71 Abs. 3 Nr. 1 of the German Residence Act (AufenthG). It does not require a prior administrative act, such as a warning or deadline. However, the refusal itself constitutes an administrative act (Verwaltungsakt) as it involves a legal regulation under § 35 Abs. 1 VwVfG. This means it is subject to the legal framework governing administrative actions, including the possibility of legal challenges.
People seeking protection can apply for asylum regardless of identity checks at the German border. To initiate an asylum procedure, it is sufficient to state in writing, verbally or in any other way to a federal police officer that you are seeking asylum.[9] Although German asylum law cannot be invoked by anyone entering Germany from an EU member state or a safe third country (Article 16 (2) of the Basic Law), it must first be determined which member state is actually responsible for the asylum procedure. This is checked in the Dublin III procedure, which is an upstream part of the German asylum procedure (see Dublin). To carry out this procedure, the asylum applicant is therefore first admitted to Germany.
During preliminary border checks at the airport, if a third-country national expresses the intention to apply for asylum, they may be subject to a special procedure. This is known as the “airport procedure” where the asylum claim is processed while the individual remains in the transit area. For a decision on the asylum claim to be taken in the airport procedure under Section 18a Asylum Act, the applicant must: not possess a passport/passport substitute or be from a safe country of origin, accommodation on the airport premises must be possible. The only decision the BAMF can take in the airport procedure is to reject the asylum application as manifestly unfounded within two days. Otherwise, the Federal Police (BPOL) must allow the foreigner to enter the country. If the BAMF rejects the asylum application as manifestly unfounded within the 2-day deadline, the BPOL issues a rejection decision (Zurückweisungsentscheidung) against the person. The person can challenge the BPOL’s rejection decision and, incidentally, the BAMF’s asylum decision, before the competent administrative court though expedited legal channels. Moreover, legal aid and thus legal representation in urgent legal protection proceedings in the airport procedure is available free of charge to the person.[10]
As of March 2026, Germany is preparing to implement the new EU Screening Regulation, part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which will introduce mandatory, rapid identity and security checks at EU external borders for irregular entrants, allowing quicker allocation to asylum or return procedures.[11] On 27 February 2026, the German parliament voted in favour of the CEAS Adjustment Act (GEAS Anpassungsgesetz), to transpose these rules into national law.[12] 309 parliamentarians voted in favour, 260 against the draft legislation, 2 abstained.[13] .Following the cabinet’s approval of the draft CEAS Adjustment Act in September 2025, its passage through the German Bundestag proved highly contentious, with sharp divisions among political parties and civil society actors.[14] In parliamentary debate, critics from across the spectrum attacked the bill’s substance and implications: some opposition lawmakers condemned it as ineffective or as abandoning core asylum protections, while human rights organizations and expert bodies warned that elements of the draft risked undermining constitutional and international safeguards, particularly for vulnerable groups, and that implementation measures extended beyond what the EU reform strictly requires.[15] Supporters within the governing coalition argued the legislation was necessary to provide legal clarity and align national law with the upcoming EU-wide CEAS requirements, but the intense and polarized discussion underscored deep controversy over the direction of German asylum policy.[16]
Under the reform, arrivals at airports and seaports may undergo a border procedure to decide on asylum claims, followed, if protection is denied, by a return border procedure to ensure return to the country of origin within 12 weeks.[17] All irregular entrants will be subject to screening, including identification, health and security checks, collection of biometric data, and registration in EURODAC, which is being expanded into a comprehensive migration database storing biometric, identity, and travel document information to improve monitoring of migratory movements.[18]
[1] Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung ‘Border Controls when Entering Germany’, 25 September 2024 available in German here.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, ‘Border Controls when Entering Germany’, 25 September 2024 available in German here.
[4] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs, ‘Internal border controls ordered at all German land borders’, 16 September 2024, available in German here.
[5] Handelsblatt ‘Deutlich weniger unerlaubte Einreisen nach Deutschland 2025’, 1 January 2026, available in German here.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] For further assessment see in German: Research Service, German Bundestag, On the fiction of non-entry pursuant to Section 13 (2) of the Residence Act and on the airport procedure under Section 18a of the Asylum Act, WD 3 – 3000 – 255/18, 2018, available in German here.
[9] Informationsverbund Asyl und Migration, ‘Grenzkontrollen’, February 2023, available in German here.
[10] For details see: Research Service, German Bundestag, Questions on the airport asylum procedure according to § 18a AsylG, Implications of the decisions of the European Court of Justice on Hungarian and Lithuanian transit zones at land borders, 2022, available in German here. This explanation is also based on input provided by the BAMF on 28 May 2025.
[11] Beck Aktuell, Zweiter Anlauf für EU‑Asylreform – Kabinett beschließt Entwurf 3 September 2025, available in German here.
[12] German Parliament, ‘Bundestag macht Weg für Reform des Europäischen Asylsystems frei‘, 27 February 2026, available in German here. The law is available on this website.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Deutscher Bundestag ‘Kontroverse um Umsetzung des Gemeinsamen Europäischen Asylsystems‘, 9 October 2025, available in German here.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Bundesministerium des Innern, Bundeskabinett beschließt nationale Umsetzung des Gemeinsamen Europäischen Asylsystems (GEAS) 3 September 2025, available in German here.
[18] Ibid.