Since December we have had a crowdfunding platform at CORRECT!V. The investigation on the Invisibles is the first publication that you have financed there. We kindly thank you for that. Now we are beginning with the second part of our investigation: we want to grasp the Invisibles not only as individual fates, but understand their problems through as many contacts as possible.

If you come to Germany as a foreigner from outside the EU you require a visa. Only a few countries are exempt from this obligation. When you apply for a visa you have to explain why you want to enter the country and prove that you have enough money, that you have health insurance and want to return to your home country. Your visa is always limited. If you overstay your visa you count as illegal. Follow the story of a Colombian who came to Germany to study.

If you request asylum in Germany you must be prepared to wait. First you register with the immigration authorities. Where are you from? Why are you seeking refuge in Germany? Then they decide whether you can stay – but that can take a long time. Half a year, a year, or longer. If they reject your application you have to leave the country. Follow the story of a young man from Pakistan who waited over two years for his decision.

If you enter a country without permission, your first step across the border makes you count as illegal. And it stays that way if you never register with the authorities. Follow the story of a Nigerian woman who came to Germany by boat.

Undocumented people living in Germany have given up all their rights – in the hope for a better life. That makes many things difficult: employment, their children’s education or health care. They live with the constant fear of discovery and deportation. Hundreds of thousands of people live like this in Germany. Soon, a new law could push even more people into illegality.

Hundreds of thousands of undocumented people live in Germany. The academic Dita Vogel estimates their number at up to half a million. That is greater than the number of people who visit the stadiums on a German Bundesliga match day. They all live without basic rights, work off the books and have no health insurance or pension plan.

Nobody knows how many undocumented people live in Germany and Europe. For that reason our investigation is called “The Invisibles”. Dita Vogel, an academic at the University of Bremen, conducted a study several years ago that sought to determine the number of Invisibles. Her conclusion: hundreds of thousands of people are not allowed to be in Germany – and millions in Europe.