Overview
- Interior and Justice ministries put a draft before the cabinet that targets paid paternity recognitions used as a route to residence and social support.
- Under the plan, registrars and notaries could not validate a recognition without immigration‑authority consent when an "aufenthaltsrechtliches Gefälle" exists.
- Biological fathers would be exempt upon proof, and listed safe‑harbor scenarios aim to avoid burdening bona fide binational families, including longer cohabitation, marriage after birth, or fathering another child with the same mother.
- The draft allows authorities to withdraw prior consent and correct records if deception later emerges, introduces penalties for false statements, and sets a five‑year window for revocation.
- Officials cite limited but telling data from 2018–2021 showing 1,769 suspicious procedures and about 290 abuses, with regional hotspots such as Dortmund reporting clusters, seven men tied to roughly 122 recognitions, and annual public costs in the mid seven figures.