Following the passing of the “Law Concerning the Emergency Reception of Germans in the Federal Republic” in 1950, the federal government installed a twelve-step emergency reception procedure to examine the criteria for citizens of the GDR to stay in West Germany. This procedure was carried out in emergency reception centres. While resettlers from East Germany were permitted to stay in West Germany even if their application for residence was rejected, they were only entitled to specific integration support if they were proven to be political refugees. This procedure was supposed to regulate and harmonise the accommodation and provisions for the large number of resettlers and refugees from East Germany. The multistep procedure included health examinations, determinations whether the applicant might be spying for the East German state and determination of the reasons to leave the GDR.