In recent months, the Federal Foreign Office has also brought second wives to Germany to join their families. But can they also apply for basic income support?
Yes, confirms the Federal Employment Agency at the request of NIUS: “The second wife can of course apply for a citizen’s allowance for herself. The relevant eligibility requirements and need for assistance will then be checked for her.”
Islamic law provides for the possibility of polygamous marriages (up to four wives), explains the Federal Agency spokeswoman. However, this is generally not recognised in the German legal system. In a household “only one person can be accepted as the partner of the person entitled to benefits (eLb)”. A so-called benefit community can consist of one or more people. Basically, this refers to a household.
Couples receive 451 euros each in a household. Single people receive 502 euros. However, as the second wife cannot be taken into account as a partner in a household, she should receive the rate of a single person: 502 euros. If the application is approved by the Federal Employment Agency.
Actually, the arrival of second wives is expressly excluded in the context of family reunification. However, there is a loophole in the Residence Act: it is possible for the woman to join their children as their parent.
In September, the Aliens Office of the Hochsauerland district confirmed two such cases of bigamy to the newspaper Westfalenpost. The migrants were local Afghan labourers who had worked for Germany in Afghanistan. They were now allowed to take their second wives and their children to Germany.
It is unclear whether and how many such cases involving citizens’ benefits exist. “As we do not record the second wife as such, there are naturally no statistics available on this,” says the Federal Employment Agency.
And with this national suicide, Germany no longer existed.