I am a naturalized german citizen who has been posted abroad from dec 2022-March 2023. This has been extended till the end of June 2023. It looks like this posting abroad might be extended further for a few years. My wife is from a non-EU country and has a PR. We are applying for a *Fortbestandsbescheinigung* for her *Niederlassungserlaubnis* and i have the following 2 doubts:
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1. Should we have applied for this before leaving Germany? I see that being mentioned in this [post.](https://www.frag-einen-anwalt.de/Verlust-der-Aufenthaltserlaubnis–f65255.html) We will have not known about this extension when we left in December 2022. Should my wife come back to Germany before May and then apply and get this Fortbestandsbescheinigung and then come abroad again instead of applying now and getting rejected?
2. If they provide the Fortbestandsbescheinigung, we will like it to be not bound by time as my current posting be extended for a few years. This is a field in the application in my wife’s application which says “Begrundung”. Will the following explanation look convincing ?
> My husband(German citizen) is abroad on a work assignment for his employer and i am living with him. His assignment has already been extended a couple of times. We are now provided with an option to extend this for a longer duration. So, I am requesting for Fortbestandsbescheinigung for my Permanent Residence so we could consider our options without stress. We request this based on [section 51 sub-section 2](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_aufenthg/englisch_aufenthg.html?fbclid=IwAR3kUIbWX1zLXIYWKurXnzzHCmUwn11UMG0MEGPhSDfcp7O9XYDcG3u2xEg)which states the following:
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>”Die Niederlassungserlaubnis eines mit einem Deutschen in ehelicher Lebensgemeinschaft lebenden Ausländers erlischt nicht nach Absatz 1 Nr. 6 und 7, wenn kein Ausweisungsinteresse nach § 54 Absatz 1 Nummer 2 bis 5 oder Absatz 2 Nummer 5 bis 7 besteht. Zum Nachweis des Fortbestandes der Niederlassungserlaubnis stellt die Ausländerbehörde am Ort des letzten gewöhnlichen Aufenthalts auf Antrag eine Bescheinigung aus.”