Keeping my Niederlassungserlaubnis while studying abroad? Need advice

Hey guys,

I am in a tough spot and need some brutal honesty. I have a German Niederlassungserlaubnis but I absolutely need to finish my two-year medical residency in my non-EU home country to ever work as a doctor in Germany.

Getting married isn’t on the table right now and I can’t risk losing my permanent residency. So I am planning to force this through with a strict commuting strategy.

The plan is to keep my apartment in Germany, stay registered here, and keep my German health insurance active. I am going to work a part-time block job here to show steady income and ties. I will track every single day on a calendar to make sure I am physically inside Germany for at least 185 days a year, flying back and forth every couple of weeks. My partner will back me up financially, and all money and savings will move strictly through German bank accounts to keep the paper trail clean. To the authorities, I am just a part-time worker traveling a lot to visit family. I will never mention the residency abroad to anyone in Germany.

I know this is going to be a brutal grind, but I don't see another way.

Has anyone actually managed to pull off this level of high-frequency commuting without getting flagged by the Bundespolizei at the border? Do the border guards actually count the exact days if you cross the Schengen border every few weeks but never break the six-month rule? What are the biggest traps I am missing here?

Appreciate any solid input.