Rights category Police and detention

Are the police allowed to enter my house without reason?

Normally the police need the residents’ approval before entering a residence or a room that serves as housing accommodation; they are only allowed to do so if they have a warrant to enter a dwelling. But the authorities are allowed to enter the housing accommodation without such a warrant if there is a ‘reasonable suspicion of illegal residence’. In the following cases a ‘reasonable suspicion of illegal residence’ is assumed: if there is information provided by government services, the police, by traffic police or by the labour inspectorate or if there are tips.

It is also allowed to examine places where undocumented migrants had been found before, and to investigate whether other people who are present in a house, room or car if one of the people present is an undocumented migrant.

The police are also always allowed to search premises if there is a suspicion that somebody is present whose application for a residence permit has been denied.