The Federal Police Inspectorate Ludwigsdorf (Saxony) announced on the morning of 21 October 2026 that its officers uncovered eight separate breaches of Germany’s Aufenthaltsgesetz (Residence Act) in just 48 hours. Mobile patrols operating along the A4 motorway around Görlitz, as well as secondary roads leading from Poland and Czechia, stopped several small vans and private cars. Officers found passengers who had no legal right to enter or remain in Germany, including two Georgian nationals who had already been turned back to Czechia the previous day. The surge follows Berlin’s decision in mid-September to prolong temporary border controls with neighbouring Schengen states until at least 15 March 2027. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Reichelt justified the extension with “persistently high irregular migration pressure and smuggling activity.” Since the latest controls began, the Bundespolizei says it has detected more than 2 300 unauthorised entries—-a 37 percent rise on the same period last year. Under the Residence Act, migrants caught without status are fingerprinted and either placed in accelerated asylum procedures or returned to the first EU state of entry under Dublin III rules. In the Ludwigsdorf cases, passports were seized and those concerned were ordered to report to the Görlitz foreigners’ office; failure to comply can trigger detention and a re-entry ban of up to five years. For employers moving staff across the border, the message is clear: carry valid travel documents even for short intra-Schengen trips. Companies that routinely shuttle technicians from Polish service hubs to German client sites are already reporting longer journey times—-an operational headache when tight service-level agreements apply. Mobility managers are advised to build 30-45 minutes of additional buffer time into road transfers and remind travellers that random ID checks can now occur well inside German territory. Immigration lawyers add that repeat offenders risk criminal prosecution. “If a worker is caught twice within six months, prosecutors will usually press charges for illegal re-entry,” warns Dr Silke Hauptmann of Kanzlei Mobillex in Dresden. Penalties range from fines to one-year custodial sentences, which also jeopardise future work-permit applications.
