The maximum duration of pre-removal detention (Abschiebungshaft) is 6 months, subject to a possibility of extension to a total of 18 months if the person hinders removal.[1]
The maximum time limit for the duration of custody pending departure (Ausreisegewahrsam) was previously limited to 10 days but has been extended to 28 days following the enactment of the Act on Improving Deportation Procedures (Rückführungsverbesserungsgesetz) on 27 February 2024.[2]
Between 2018 and the first quarter of 2021, the average duration of detention was 22.1 days (see previous updates to this country report[3] for a breakdown by year and Federal State). More recent practice data remain fragmented and are not compiled into a single nationwide average; however, some Federal States’ facility reports provide updated figures. For example, the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag advisory board report on the Glückstadt removal detention facility indicates an average detention duration of around 21.2 days in 2024.[4] For the facility in Darmstadt, the average detention duration is reported to be 20 days but with a wide range of one to 145 days[5], for the facility in Pforzheim 23 days.[6] In Büren, the duration of detention has increased to 28 days over the last years.[7]
[1] Section 62(4) Residence Act.
[2] Section 62b (1) Residence Act.
[3] AIDA, Country report: Germany – Update on the year 2024, June 2025, available here, 215.
[4] State Advisory Board for the enforcement of deportation detention in the Glückstadt deportation detention facility, Jahresbericht 2024, available in German here.
[5] Interior Ministry Hessen, Innenminister Poseck besucht Abschiebungshafteinrichtung in Darmstadt, 6 September 2024, available in German here.
[6] Refugee Council Baden-Württemberg, Zahlen zu Abschiebungen und Abschiebehaft 2024, 21 August 2025, available in German here.
[7] WDR, ‘Abschiebehaft Büren: Kritik an Bedingungen’, 23 March 2025, available in German here.