Germany

Borders, customs and immigration in Germany

A federal police force holding border protection except where a Land agrees to do it, a customs administration exercising the same federal police tasks at listed crossing points, immigration administration left with the Länder — and above all of it a Union layer the German statutes name themselves.

Fact-checkedSafety review clearedLast updated 19 September 2026Last reviewed 19 September 2026

Facts verified: September 2026

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Two layers govern the German border at once, and the German statutes name the Union layer themselves rather than leaving a reader to infer it. At Union level, Regulation (EU) 2016/399 — the Schengen Borders Code — "provides for the absence of border control of persons crossing the internal borders between the Member States of the Union" and "lays down rules governing border control of persons crossing the external borders". Article 22 puts it plainly: "Internal borders may be crossed at any point without a border check on persons, irrespective of their nationality, being carried out." Article 23 adds that this does not affect the exercise of police or other public powers.

The Union layer decides what is checked and leaves who checks it to national law. A "border guard" under Article 2(14) is "any public official assigned, in accordance with national law, to a border crossing point … who carries out, in accordance with this Regulation and national law, border control tasks". Article 15 requires Member States to "deploy appropriate staff and resources in sufficient numbers to carry out border control at the external borders", and Article 16(1) requires that control to be carried out by border guards. Goods are a separate regime: the Union Customs Code applies "uniformly throughout the customs territory of the Union", and its customs authorities are "the customs administrations of the Member States".

Note

Two Union regimes, two different maps — and a list that has not caught up

Schengen governs checks on PERSONS and the customs union governs GOODS, and the two are not the same territory or the same set of participants. Article 4 of the Union Customs Code enumerates the customs territory Member State by Member State. Some entries carry an express exclusion: the Faroe Islands and Greenland from Denmark, “the Island of Heligoland and the territory of Büsingen” from Germany, Ceuta and Melilla from Spain, Livigno from Italy, and the French overseas countries and territories from France. OTHER ENTRIES ARE BOUNDED RATHER THAN EXCEPTED — the Netherlands appears as “the territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe”, which includes a part rather than excluding one. The consolidated list also still enumerates the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, which is a property of a consolidation that states of itself that it has no legal effect. A reader who takes this list for the current map of either regime will be wrong in more than one way. Which states apply the Schengen acquis, and how these maps differ in detail, is not established on this page.

At national level the border police function is federal, and the statute immediately qualifies it. The Bundespolizei "wird in bundeseigener Verwaltung geführt" and is "eine Polizei des Bundes im Geschäftsbereich des Bundesministeriums des Innern" (§ 1(1) BPolG). Section 2(1) gives it border-police protection of federal territory — "soweit nicht ein Land im Einvernehmen mit dem Bund Aufgaben des grenzpolizeilichen Einzeldienstes mit eigenen Kräften wahrnimmt": except where a Land, by agreement with the Federation, does that work with its own forces. Which Länder have such an agreement was not researched and is not claimed here.

What "Grenzschutz" covers is listed rather than left general. Section 2(2) gives police surveillance of the borders; police control of cross-border traffic, including checking border-crossing documents and entitlement to cross, border search, and averting dangers; and averting dangers to the security of the border in the border area to a depth of 30 kilometres inland and 50 kilometres from the seaward boundary. Beyond the German territorial sea, § 6 has the Bundespolizei take the measures Germany is entitled to take under international law — "unbeschadet der Zuständigkeit anderer Behörden oder der Streitkräfte", without prejudice to other authorities or the armed forces.

Analysis

The customs administration exercises federal police tasks, and neither website has to say so

This is the arrangement a reader would not find by reading either agency. A regulation — the BPolZollV — provides that "unbeschadet der Aufgaben der Bundespolizei" the customs administration is given the tasks of police surveillance of the borders, police control of cross-border traffic at the crossing points listed in an annex and outside them, and the removal of disturbances and averting of dangers to border security — each cross-referenced to the subsection of § 2(2) BPolG that creates it. So the same statutory border-police tasks are exercised by two federal administrations, and the word "unbeschadet" means the Federal Police does not lose them. The annex was not read, so which crossing points are listed is not established here.

Goods are the customs administration’s own subject, and its statute ties itself to the Union instrument. Section 1(1) ZollVG subjects traffic in goods across the border of the customs territory of the European Union to customs supervision, securing "die Erhebung der Einfuhr- und Ausfuhrabgaben sowie die Einhaltung des Zollrechts" — and defines the Union Customs Code by name as "die Verordnung (EU) Nr. 952/2013 … in der jeweils geltenden Fassung". The national and Union layers are joined by the German text itself, not by inference here.

Immigration administration sits somewhere else again, and it is not federal. Under § 71(1) AufenthG, "für aufenthalts- und passrechtliche Maßnahmen und Entscheidungen nach diesem Gesetz … sind die Ausländerbehörden zuständig", with each Land government determining which authority is competent and each Land designating a central body for carrying out removals. Section 71(3) gives the authorities charged with police control of cross-border traffic competence for refusal of entry and turning back at the border, and for removals at the border in listed circumstances — and identifies an internal border by citing "Artikel 2 Nummer 1 der Verordnung (EU) 2016/399". Administering who may stay is therefore a Land function; acting at the border is the border authorities’.

Analysis

A fourth way to divide a border

All four systems described here are set side by side in who guards the border, where Germany is the only one with a supranational layer above it. The three systems described here before this one each drew one line. Canada divides by organisation — one agency at the ports of entry, the federal police between them. The United States draws that same line inside one agency and splits the immigration function across three. Australia puts one force inside a department holding customs, migration and maritime powers together, and keeps biosecurity out entirely. Germany divides by STATUTORY TASK rather than by organisation: the same border-police tasks, created once in § 2(2) BPolG, are exercised by two federal administrations at once, while the question of who may remain is not a federal question at all. And it is the first of the four with a supranational layer above it that its own statutes cite by number.

Uncertainty

What we could not establish

Which Länder perform border-police duties with their own forces under § 2(1) BPolG was not researched. The statute provides for the arrangement; nothing read establishes who uses it, and no Land is named on this page.
The annex to the BPolZollV listing the crossing points where customs exercises Federal Police tasks was NOT read. Which crossing points those are is not established.
The powers themselves were not researched. These pages establish which body holds which task, not what a border guard or customs officer may do, and nothing here should be read as describing a power.
The Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge is not described. Section 71 AufenthG does not make it competent for the measures set out above, and its own functions were not researched.
Asylum procedure is not described anywhere on this page, and neither is detention, refusal at the border in any individual case, or any visa requirement.
Which states apply the Schengen acquis, and the precise differences between the Schengen area and the Union customs territory, were not established. Both maps are named as different; neither is drawn here.
The Union texts relied on for current wording are the consolidated versions, which state of themselves that they are "meant purely as a documentation tool" with "no legal effect". The authentic instruments are the Official Journal versions, which are cited beside them and carry no later amendment.
Land police forces, the Zollkriminalamt, and any maritime body other than the Bundespolizei were not researched, and their roles at the border are not established here.
No figure of any kind appears on this page. Staffing, crossing counts and traffic volumes were not established and are not published.

Sources

Bundespolizeigesetz (BPolG), §§ 1, 2 and 6 — the Federal Police, border protection, and tasks at sea
Bundesministerium der Justiz / Bundesamt für Justiz — gesetze-im-internet.de · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: what the Federal Police is and which border tasks the Act gives it — nothing about customs, nothing about residence law, and nothing about how any power is used. The official consolidated text, read directly. Supports § 1(1), that "Die Bundespolizei wird in bundeseigener Verwaltung geführt. Sie ist eine Polizei des Bundes im Geschäftsbereich des Bundesministeriums des Innern" — a federal police force in the Interior Ministry’s portfolio. Supports § 2(1), that border-police protection of federal territory falls to the Bundespolizei "SOWEIT NICHT EIN LAND IM EINVERNEHMEN MIT DEM BUND Aufgaben des grenzpolizeilichen Einzeldienstes mit eigenen Kräften wahrnimmt" — the statute itself provides for a Land doing border-police work with its own forces by agreement. WHICH LÄNDER DO SO IS NOT ESTABLISHED by this record and is not claimed anywhere. Supports § 2(2), that Grenzschutz comprises police surveillance of the borders; police control of cross-border traffic, including checking border-crossing documents and entitlement to cross, border search and averting dangers; and averting dangers to border security in the border area to a depth of 30 km inland and 50 km from the seaward boundary. Supports § 6, that at sea beyond the German territorial sea the Bundespolizei takes the measures Germany is entitled to take under international law, "unbeschadet der Zuständigkeit anderer Behörden oder der Streitkräfte". Establishes nothing about the powers themselves, nothing about their exercise, and nothing about any Land police force.
Zollverwaltungsgesetz (ZollVG), § 1 — tasks of the customs administration
Bundesministerium der Justiz / Bundesamt für Justiz — gesetze-im-internet.de · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: what the German customs administration supervises, and the Union instrument its own statute names. The official consolidated text, read directly. Supports § 1(1), that traffic in goods across the border of the customs territory of the European Union is subject to customs supervision, which "sichert insbesondere die Erhebung der Einfuhr- und Ausfuhrabgaben sowie die Einhaltung des Zollrechts". THE UNION LINK IS IN THE GERMAN STATUTE ITSELF: § 1(1) defines "Zollkodex der Union" as "die Verordnung (EU) Nr. 952/2013 … zur Festlegung des Zollkodex der Union (ABl. L 269 vom 10.10.2013, S. 1) in der jeweils geltenden Fassung" — so the national and Union layers are connected by the national text rather than by inference here. Note that the object is GOODS and the territory is the UNION customs territory, neither of which is the same as the Schengen regime for persons. Establishes nothing about checks on persons, nothing about the customs administration’s organisation, and nothing about border-police tasks, which reach customs through a separate instrument.
Verordnung über die Übertragung von Bundespolizeiaufgaben auf die Zollverwaltung (BPolZollV), § 1
Bundesministerium der Justiz / Bundesamt für Justiz — gesetze-im-internet.de · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: the transfer of named Federal Police border tasks to the customs administration, and nothing else. The official consolidated text, read directly. Supports § 1, that "Unbeschadet der Aufgaben der Bundespolizei werden der Zollverwaltung die Aufgaben 1. der polizeilichen Überwachung der Grenzen (§ 2 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 des Bundespolizeigesetzes), 2. der polizeilichen Kontrolle des grenzüberschreitenden Verkehrs (§ 2 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 des Bundespolizeigesetzes) an den in der Anlage aufgeführten Grenzübergangsstellen sowie außerhalb dieser Grenzübergangsstellen und 3. der Beseitigung von Störungen und der Abwehr von Gefahren, die die Sicherheit der Grenzen beeinträchtigen" übertragen. THIS IS THE INSTITUTIONAL FINDING AND NO AGENCY PAGE STATES IT: the customs administration exercises tasks the Federal Police Act gives the Federal Police, at crossing points listed in an annex, and it does so WITHOUT the Federal Police losing them — "unbeschadet" preserves both. The annex itself was NOT read, so which crossing points are listed is not established and is claimed nowhere. Establishes nothing about customs duties, nothing about how either body is organised, and nothing about practice.
Aufenthaltsgesetz (AufenthG), § 71 — competent authorities under residence law
Bundesministerium der Justiz / Bundesamt für Justiz — gesetze-im-internet.de · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: which authorities are competent under German residence law, and nothing about what they decide or how. The official consolidated text, read directly. Supports § 71(1), that "Für aufenthalts- und passrechtliche Maßnahmen und Entscheidungen nach diesem Gesetz … sind die AUSLÄNDERBEHÖRDEN zuständig", with the Land government or the body it designates determining which, and each Land designating a central body for carrying out removals. THE IMMIGRATION ADMINISTRATION IS THEREFORE A LAND FUNCTION, not a federal one and not the border police’s. Supports § 71(3), that the authorities charged with police control of cross-border traffic are competent for refusal of entry and turning back at the border, and for removals at the border in the circumstances listed. THE UNION LINK IS AGAIN IN THE GERMAN TEXT: § 71(3)(1a) speaks of a border "im Sinne des Artikels 2 Nummer 1 der Verordnung (EU) 2016/399 (Binnengrenze)", and § 71(1)(8) of the external border of "eines Mitgliedstaates, der den Schengen-Besitzstand vollständig anwendet". Establishes nothing about the Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, which this section does not make competent for the measures above and which is not described on these pages. Establishes nothing about asylum procedure, nothing about detention, and nothing about any individual decision.
Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code) — consolidated text as at 12 October 2025 (02016R0399 — EN — 12.10.2025 — 006.001)
Publications Office of the European Union (Cellar) — consolidated text · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: the current wording of the Schengen Borders Code, and only what it says at Union level. Read directly from the Publications Office. The publisher’s own metadata records the latest consolidation of the whole act — as distinct from its individually consolidated segments — as 2016R0399/20251012, dated 12 October 2025 and marked final. It consolidates the original act, Regulation (EU) 2017/2225, Regulation (EU) 2024/1717 and corrigenda, over the previous 10 July 2024 consolidation. LEGAL EFFECT, STATED BY THE DOCUMENT ITSELF: "This text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. … The authentic versions of the relevant acts … are those published in the Official Journal of the European Union." It is cited for current wording, never as the authentic instrument. Supports Art. 1, that the Regulation "provides for the absence of border control of persons crossing the internal borders between the Member States of the Union" and "lays down rules governing border control of persons crossing the external borders". Supports Art. 2(1) and 2(2), defining internal borders (common land borders, airports for internal flights, ports for regular internal ferry connections) and external borders (land, sea, air and port borders "provided that they are not internal borders"). Supports Art. 22, that "Internal borders may be crossed at any point without a border check on persons, irrespective of their nationality, being carried out", and Art. 23, that this "shall not affect … the exercise of police or other public powers". Supports Art. 5(1), that external borders "may be crossed only at border crossing points and during the fixed opening hours", with Member States notifying their list to the Commission. Supports Art. 15, that "Member States shall deploy appropriate staff and resources in sufficient numbers to carry out border control at the external borders", and Art. 16(1), that border control "shall be carried out by border guards". Supports Art. 2(14), that a "border guard" is "any public official assigned, in accordance with national law, to a border crossing point … who carries out, in accordance with this Regulation and national law, border control tasks". THE AGENCY APPEARS EXACTLY ONCE in the whole consolidated text, and only as a recipient of Member State risk assessments and six-monthly reports: this record does NOT support any claim that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency carries out border checks or replaces a national authority. Establishes nothing about which states apply the Code, nothing about customs, and nothing about any national institution.
Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code) — the act as published in the Official Journal, OJ L 77, 23.3.2016
Publications Office of the European Union (Cellar) — Official Journal of the European Union · Legislation · 2016-03-23 · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: the authentic text of the Schengen Borders Code as enacted, and nothing about how any Member State implements it. Read directly from the Publications Office. THE ENGLISH TEXT WAS IDENTIFIED FROM THE PUBLISHER’S OWN LANGUAGE METADATA, which names the EU authority-list concept for English, and NOT from the URL — where the English item is numbered .0006 and item .0001 is Bulgarian, so anything that took the first item or read a language off an address would be wrong by accident. The retrieved document opens "L_2016077EN.01000101.xml … Official Journal of the European Union L 77/1 … REGULATION (EU) 2016/399 … of 9 March 2016 … (codification)", which confirms instrument, language and Official Journal placement together. THIS IS THE AUTHENTIC VERSION: the consolidated text disclaims legal effect and points here. It does NOT carry later amendments — Regulation (EU) 2017/2225 and Regulation (EU) 2024/1717 amend it, and the current wording is on eu-sbc-2016-399-consolidated. Establishes nothing about national institutions, nothing about Frontex, and nothing about which states apply the Code.
Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 (Union Customs Code) — consolidated text as at 12 December 2022 (02013R0952 — EN — 12.12.2022 — 004.001)
Publications Office of the European Union (Cellar) — consolidated text · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: the current wording of the Union Customs Code, and only what it says at Union level. Read directly from the Publications Office; the publisher’s own metadata dates this consolidation 12 December 2022 and marks it final. LEGAL EFFECT, STATED BY THE DOCUMENT ITSELF: it "is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect", the authentic versions being those in the Official Journal. Supports Art. 1(1), that the Code lays down "the general rules and procedures applicable to goods brought into or taken out of the customs territory of the Union" and "shall apply uniformly throughout the customs territory of the Union". Supports Art. 5(1), that "customs authorities" means "the customs administrations of the Member States responsible for applying the customs legislation and any other authorities empowered under national law to apply certain customs legislation" — THE BODIES ARE NATIONAL AND ARE DESIGNATED NATIONALLY, which is the customs counterpart of the Schengen definition of a border guard. Supports Art. 4, the customs territory of the Union, enumerated Member State by Member State WITH EXPRESS EXCLUSIONS: the Faroe Islands and Greenland, Heligoland and Büsingen, Ceuta and Melilla, the municipality of Livigno, the French overseas countries and territories to which Part Four of the TFEU applies, and "the territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe". That enumeration is what refutes the assumption that the customs territory is the sum of the Member States’ territories. Establishes nothing about border checks on persons, nothing about Schengen — which is a different regime with different participants — and nothing about any national customs body beyond the definition above.
Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 laying down the Union Customs Code — the act as published in the Official Journal, OJ L 269, 10.10.2013
Publications Office of the European Union (Cellar) — Official Journal of the European Union · Legislation · 2013-10-10 · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: the authentic text of the Union Customs Code as enacted, and nothing about how any Member State administers customs. Read directly from the Publications Office, with the English text identified from the publisher’s own language metadata rather than from the URL. THIS IS THE AUTHENTIC VERSION, and it does NOT carry later amendments — the current wording is on eu-ucc-952-2013-consolidated. Establishes nothing about national customs administrations beyond the Code’s own definition, and nothing about border checks on persons, which are a different regime under the Schengen Borders Code.