You sort of stitched yourself up with this...
As Wanderer said, you could have applied for the
Daueraufenthalterlaubnis-EG whilst you were still working and resident in Germany.
Read this for more information:
http://www.duesseldorf.de/auslaenderamt ... ndex.shtml
But in particular, this is important:
Eine Aufenthalts- oder Niederlassungserlaubnis erlischt unter anderem, wenn nach einer Ausreise die Wiedereinreise nicht innerhalb von sechs Monaten oder einer von der Ausländerbehörde bestimmten längeren Frist erfolgt ist. Eine "Erlaubnis zum Daueraufenthalt-EG" erlischt aber erst
nach 12 Monaten bei Ausreise aus dem Gebiet der EU
nach 6 Jahren bei einem Aufenthalt in einem anderen EU-Staat (ausgenommen Großbritannien, Irland und Dänemark).
Basically, even if you had got this long term permit whilst in Germany, it would be of limited use to you now in the UK. It does not confer you with any residence rights here. Moreover, it would be expiring a year after your leaving Germany. It only lasts for six years if you had taken up residence in any EU State APART FROM the UK, Ireland and Denmark.
The only reason you should have got it is if you planned to return to a participating EU country within a year after leaving Germany. It would have given you considerable freedom of movement around the EU apart from the UK, Ireland and Denmark.
One last point, you cannot apply for this permit now that you're in the UK. Your qualifying period for it in Germany has been interrupted by your move to the UK. As someone who was once in a similar position to you, this is quite bad luck.
The only slight bright light may be if you are still registered (
gemeldet) in Germany. Even better if you are still on a German payroll and are paying German taxes. If that's the case, you would need to apply at your local
Ausländerbehörde in Germany and perhaps consult a German immigration lawyer. If you're now based in the UK, I'm sorry...that ship has sailed.
