OASIS · Lifting an exclusion

How to lift an OASIS block

An OASIS exclusion never expires by itself. It ends only when the excluded person applies in writing, only after the minimum period has run, and only when the Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt acts on the application — one week after it arrives if you excluded yourself, one month if somebody else brought the case. No operator can shorten any part of that, and the application costs nothing.

By the Casinohafen deskUpdated: 8 October 2026Checked: September 2026

In brief

Only on your own written application. There is no automatic end and no operator route.
Admissible only once the minimum period has run: three months or one year for a self-exclusion, depending on what you asked for; one year for an exclusion brought by a third party.
An application filed too early is ineffective — it is not held on file until the date arrives, so you have to send it again.
The lifting takes effect one week after receipt for a self-exclusion, one month for a third-party exclusion.
Signature by hand plus a copy of a passport or German identity card. No driving licences, no counselling certificate, no reasons.
Free of charge under § 8c, and confirmed to you in writing.

Self-exclusion: effective after: 1 week from receipt (§ 8b)
Third-party exclusion: effective after: 1 month from receipt
Cost: 0 € (§ 8c GlüStV)
Bodies that can decide: 1 RP Darmstadt, for the whole country

One authority decides, and it is not your operator

Entries into the register can be made by operators as well as by the authority. Removing one is different: § 8b assigns the lifting exclusively to the Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt, the Hessian regional authority that runs OASIS for all sixteen federal states. A casino, a betting shop or an online operator may hand you the form and forward it, but has no power over the outcome and no way to speed it up.

This matters because the promise to "get you unblocked" is a standard line from unlicensed sites. Nobody outside Darmstadt can touch the register, and any offer to arrange it for a fee is a scam with no mechanism behind it.

When your application becomes admissible

§ 8b permits the application only once the minimum period under § 8a has run. For a self-exclusion that is the period you requested, with three months as the shortest available and one year applying automatically if you left the field blank. For an exclusion applied for by a third party it is one year, and there is no way to shorten it.

An application that arrives before the minimum has run is ineffective. This is the practical trap: it is not queued, not noted, not converted into a reminder. It simply has no legal effect, and the clock on your release does not start until a fresh, admissible application arrives.

So the sequence to follow is: work out the date on which your minimum period ends, and send the application on or after that date. If you are unsure which period was recorded, the written notification you received when the entry was made states it.

One week or one month, depending on how you were entered

The waiting period between the application arriving and the exclusion actually ending is set by § 8b and differs by type. A self-exclusion is lifted one week after the application is received. An exclusion brought by a third party is lifted one month after receipt.

The gap is not administrative slowness dressed up as policy. A self-exclusion is the person's own instrument, so the law puts only a short pause in the way; an exclusion imposed at someone else's instigation involves other people's interests, and the longer period leaves room for them to react.

Dates run from receipt, not from the postmark and not from the day you signed. If the timing matters to you, a route that produces a receipt — the portal, or a registered letter — is worth the effort.

What you send, and doing it without much German

The form requirements mirror the entry. The application must be in writing and carry your own handwritten signature, and a copy of a valid Personalausweis (German identity card) or passport must be attached. A driving licence is not accepted, foreign or German. A passport of any nationality is.

You do not have to justify anything. There is no requirement to produce a counselling certificate, a medical opinion, proof of income or any account of how you have spent the intervening months. The authority checks that the minimum period has run, that the form is complete and that you are who you say you are.

Since November 2024 the lifting application also exists as a digital form in the Hessen-Portal, the online administration platform of the state of Hesse. As with the entry form, the fully digital route requires a BundID account and the online identification function of a German electronic identity document, so most foreign residents will use the paper form instead. The result is the same either way.

Who else finds out

For a self-exclusion, nobody. The application goes to Darmstadt and concerns only you.

Where the exclusion was brought by a third party, § 8b requires the authority to inform the body that made the entry and the third parties who initiated it, without delay, both about your application and about their own right to apply for a fresh exclusion. Relatives who brought the original case therefore learn that you are seeking to come back, and can act on that.

Nothing in this reaches an employer, a bank or a credit agency. The register is queried only by licensed operators and only for the admission check before play.

What resumes afterwards, and what carries on unchanged

Once the lifting takes effect the entry can no longer be retrieved by operators, and you can register again in the licensed market. Old accounts do not simply reappear: operators close them on entry, and § 6a in any case requires verification on opening and a re-verification every year, so expect to go through registration properly rather than logging back in.

The deposit limit is untouched by all of this. The cross-operator ceiling of 1,000 euro per calendar month under § 6c attaches to the person and continues to apply; a lifted exclusion does not reset it, and a lowered personal limit you set earlier stays where you put it until you raise it, which only takes effect after a seven-day protection period.

Your data do not disappear with the lifting either. Under § 23 the personal data in the register are deleted six years after the exclusion ends. What changes at the moment of lifting is retrievability by operators, not storage.

Reasons to leave the entry where it is

The one week that the law inserts before a self-exclusion ends exists because the decision to come back is often made at the worst possible moment. If the application was written in one of those moments, doing nothing is a complete and reversible answer: an unsought exclusion simply continues.

A fresh self-exclusion can be applied for at any time after a lifting, and starts its own minimum period from the beginning. Nothing about having been excluded once counts against you, and nothing limits how often it can be done.

If what you want is to play again but on a shorter leash, the lighter tools are there: a lowered deposit limit takes effect immediately, and the panic button under § 6i paragraph 3 locks you out for 24 hours at a click. And free, anonymous counselling is on 0800 1 37 27 00 from the Bundesinstitut für Öffentliche Gesundheit (BIÖG), with information at check-dein-spiel.de.

Step by step

From application to release
Step	What happens	Who acts	Time frame
01	Check the date	Work out when the minimum period ends: the requested period for a self-exclusion, one year for a third-party exclusion.	You
02	Choose the form	Paper application, or the digital form in the Hessen-Portal (German eID required).	You
03	Sign and document	Handwritten signature plus a copy of a passport or German identity card.	You
04	Receipt	The application reaches the Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt. An early one is ineffective and must be resent.	RP Darmstadt
05	Notification of third parties	Only for a third-party exclusion: the initiators are informed, with their right to apply again.	RP Darmstadt
06	Lifting takes effect	One week after receipt for a self-exclusion, one month for a third-party exclusion.	RP Darmstadt
07	Written confirmation	You receive confirmation that the exclusion has been lifted.	RP Darmstadt
08	Deletion	Not retrievable by operators; the data are deleted six years after the exclusion ends.	RP Darmstadt

Frequently asked

Can my operator lift the exclusion?

No. § 8b gives that power to the Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt alone. An operator may accept and forward your application but cannot decide it, and no one can lift an entry for a fee.

How long until I can play again?

One week after your application is received if you excluded yourself, one month if a third party brought the exclusion. The law fixes both periods; neither can be shortened.

What happens if I apply too early?

The application is ineffective. It is not stored until the date arrives, so nothing happens and you have to submit it again once the minimum period has run.

Do I have to prove I have had counselling?

No. Neither a counselling certificate nor any other evidence about your situation is required. The authority checks the minimum period, the form and your identity.

What does it cost?

Nothing. § 8c makes both the exclusion application and the application to lift it free for the person concerned.

Will my family be told that I applied?

Only where the exclusion was brought by a third party. In that case the authority informs the initiators of your application and of their right to apply for a new exclusion. A self-exclusion concerns no one but you.

Can I change my mind after applying?

You can apply for a fresh self-exclusion at any time, including immediately after a lifting has taken effect; it then runs its own minimum period from the start. There is no limit on how often this can be done.

Does my old account come back?

No. Accounts are closed when the exclusion is entered, and § 6a requires verification at registration and a re-verification each year, so you register again from scratch.

Sources

Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021, § 8b — ending an exclusion: written application only, competence of the authority, effect after one week or one month, notification of third parties.
Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021, § 8a (minimum period), § 8c (free of charge for the player), § 23 (deletion six years after the exclusion ends), § 6a (player account and re-verification), § 6c (deposit limit), § 6i paragraph 3 (panic button).
<a href="https://rp-darmstadt.hessen.de/sicherheit-und-kommunales/gluecksspiel/spielersperrsystem-oasis/spielerinnen-und-spieler" rel="nofollow noopener">Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt — OASIS, lifting an exclusion</a> (form requirements, accepted identity documents).
<a href="https://rp-darmstadt.hessen.de/presse/spielersperrsystem-oasis-neues-digitales-antragsformular-freigeschaltet" rel="nofollow noopener">Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt — digital application form</a>; the form for lifting an exclusion has been available since November 2024.
<a href="https://www.check-dein-spiel.de/" rel="nofollow noopener">check-dein-spiel.de</a> — Bundesinstitut für Öffentliche Gesundheit, free and anonymous helpline 0800 1 37 27 00.