Suppose you received asylum or refugee protection in Greece (or another EU country) and filed a new asylum application in Germany. In this case, Germany can still threaten to deport you back to your home country.
Germany’s highest administrative court, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (BVerwG), made this clear in two rulings handed down on February 19, 2026.
What happened?
The cases concerned two Iraqi nationals who had been recognized in Greece either as refugees or granted subsidiary protection. After traveling to Germany, they filed new asylum applications. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) rejected the applications and issued deportation warnings, including deadlines for voluntary departure.
Lower courts had diverged on the issue.
The Administrative Court in Stuttgart ruled that Greece’s decision to grant protection was partially binding on Germany and cancelled the deportation warning (VG A 14 K 1866/23). The Administrative Court in Cologne took the opposite view (Case No. 27 K 6361/20.A).
The BVerwG confirmed Cologne’s approach. It ruled that Germany is not automatically bound by a protection decision issued by another EU member state.
What does this new ruling about asylum protection mean in practice?
Under German law, Section 60(1), sentence 2, of the Residence Act (AufenthG) generally prohibits deporting someone to their home country if another EU state has already granted them protection. This means if Greece granted you refugee status, Germany should not send you back to the country you fled.
But the BVerwG drew a line here.
The court ruled that this protection only applies as long as the other EU state is actually protecting you. If conditions in Greece are so bad that returning you there would amount to inhumane or degrading treatment under Article 4 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, then Germany cannot send you back to Greece.
In that situation, Germany must examine your case from scratch. And once Germany conducts that full review and rejects your application. In this case, the legal barrier to threatening deportation to your home country no longer applies.
In short: the protection you received in Greece does not automatically shield you from being deported to your home country if Germany independently determines you do not qualify for protection.
Why does this new deportation ruling matter?
According to a federal government reply to parliament, a total of 110,696 people in Germany had applied for asylum (as of September 30, 2025). These people already hold a protection status in Greece. The new ruling affects this group.
The court anchored its reasoning in a June 18, 2024, European Court of Justice ruling (case C-753/22), which held that EU member states are not required to automatically recognize refugee status granted by another member state when assessing a new application.
The court held that binding Germany to Greece’s decision, while Greece simultaneously fails to adequately protect the person, is a legal contradiction.
What are the limits of this ruling?
The new court ruling is not a blank check to deport everyone. The BVerwG was clear that Germany must:
- Conduct a full, individual, and updated review of your case
- Take the prior Greek decision and the reasons behind it fully into account
- Verify independently that you do not meet the criteria for protection
If Germany skips any of these steps, the deportation warning can still be challenged in court.
The decision comes amid broader political pressure in Germany to increase returns and reform the EU responsibility framework for asylum cases.
The current Dublin III Regulation is being phased out. It will be replaced by the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) from July 1, 2026.
What should you do if you are affected?
If you hold protection status from another EU member state and have filed, or are considering filing, a new asylum application in Germany, this ruling changes your legal position.
- Get legal advice immediately. The interaction between your earlier EU protection status and German asylum law is now more complex. An immigration lawyer can assess whether the BAMF’s review of your case met the full procedural requirements the court set out.
- Check whether the BAMF conducted a proper individual review. The BVerwG was clear: the deportation warning is only lawful if Germany fully and individually reassessed your protection need, including the basis for the other EU country’s earlier decision. If this was not done, the warning may be challengeable.
- Be aware of appeal deadlines. If you have received an asylum rejection with a deportation warning, you typically have very short deadlines (one to two weeks) to challenge it. Do not wait.
- If you need an immigration lawyer, you can check with LegalWeg*.
WARNING: The ruling applies regardless of which EU country first granted you protection, not only Greece. If you moved to Germany after receiving status in Italy, France, or any other EU member state under similar circumstances, your situation may be affected.
