OASIS block duration: 3 months, 1 year or indefinite

The duration of an OASIS block is not an expiry date but a minimum period. Until it is over, no application to lift the block may be filed; once it is over, the block still does not end on its own. How the application works, which documents are needed and how long the Regierungspräsidium (RP) Darmstadt takes is covered on the page explaining how to lift an OASIS block; this page deals with the question before that: which duration applies, which one can be chosen and what happens once it has run out.

The rules are set out in Section 8a(6), Section 8b and Section 23(5) of the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling 2021 (GlüStV 2021) and in the FAQ of RP Darmstadt, sources as of 07.10.2026.

Under Section 8a(6) GlüStV 2021, a block lasts at least one year. There is exactly one exception: for a self-exclusion, the person can request a different period, which may not be shorter than three months. The law also covers a period that is too short, word for word: “If a duration shorter than three months is stated, this counts as a statement of three months.” RP Darmstadt gives an example: anyone who applies for two months is blocked for three.

• Self-exclusion without a stated period: one year as a rule.
• Self-exclusion with a stated period: from three months, no upper limit.
• Third-party block: always at least one year, no shorter period is provided for.
• 24-hour block via the panic button: ends without an application after 24 hours (Section 6i GlüStV 2021).

According to the Joint Gambling Authority of the German States (GGL), the request via OASIS is free of charge. A third-party block is requested by the operator or by third parties such as relatives; before it is entered, the person concerned must be given the opportunity to comment (Section 8a(3)). For the duration this makes no difference: the one-year minimum applies regardless of who filed the request.

The period runs from the moment of entry. A player who had chosen five years online asked: “How quickly is it active?” According to gutefrage.net, a gaming hall operator replied in another case that the block is valid upon entry. Whoever entered the block must inform the person in text form without delay under Section 8a(5) and explain the procedure for ending it.

The law sets no upper limit. A self-exclusion can be entered for five or ten years or without an end date, which players often call “lifelong” or “unlimited”. One player wrote on gutefrage.net that he had selected five years as the minimum when excluding himself online. Another found out afterwards that the gaming hall had blocked him for ten years instead of one, so that he may only file an application in 2033. A third person reported that an acquaintance had had them blocked “for 30 years”.

The sources (GlüStV, RP Darmstadt) do not regulate an indefinite self-exclusion separately; the block status request shows which minimum duration is registered. If, on the other hand, a longer period such as five or ten years was expressly entered, that is the minimum duration, and the application is only admissible once it has expired. According to RP Darmstadt, a block can be lifted no earlier than after the chosen minimum duration.

Which duration is actually registered is shown by a block status request to RP Darmstadt (form “SpSS”). It states whether a block exists and who entered it. A personally signed application and a copy of an identity card or passport are required; a driving licence is not enough.

The most common misunderstanding about block duration: many expect to be allowed to play again automatically after three months or a year. Section 8b(1) GlüStV 2021 says the opposite: “If no application under sentence 1 is made, the block does not end.” This expressly applies even if a period was stated when the block was requested. A player with a 99-day block asked whether he would then be “out of OASIS again”; without a written application he remains blocked.

The end of the minimum duration is followed by two further periods. First, the statutory waiting period under Section 8b(3): lifting takes effect no earlier than one week (self-exclusion) or one month (third-party block) after the application reaches the authority. For a third-party block, the authority also informs the operator that entered it and, if the block was based on information from third parties, those third parties as well. Second, the actual processing at RP Darmstadt, for which there is no statutory deadline.

Filing early does not help: according to RP Darmstadt, an application made too early is invalid, is not put on file and must be filed again after expiry.

Operators only receive “blocked” or “not blocked” as an answer from the OASIS block register; which bodies enter blocks and which data the register at RP Darmstadt stores is covered on the register page.

Once lifted, the block disappears for operators: according to RP Darmstadt it can no longer be viewed. The data are not deleted at that point, though. Section 23(5) GlüStV 2021 states: “The data are to be deleted six years after the block has expired.” Stored data include name, date of birth, address, reason and duration of the block and the reporting body (Section 23(1)).

The 24-hour block is an exception: under Section 6i GlüStV 2021 and according to RP Darmstadt, its data are deleted two weeks after expiry. Deletion via the General Data Protection Regulation is not possible according to RP Darmstadt; lifting is governed solely by the Interstate Treaty on Gambling. OASIS does not pass data to credit agencies such as Schufa. After lifting, Section 8(4) also applies: operators may not grant players whose block has been lifted any benefits such as bonuses or discounts.

Not every question about duration concerns the block. How long withdrawals without OASIS take, which limits apply and which payment methods are used is covered on the dedicated payout page.

How strongly a limit shapes the duration of a payout is shown by the example of Sportaza: according to casino.guru, the withdrawal limit there is €500 per day and €7,000 per month, and AskGamblers gives the same figures. A win of €3,000 is therefore paid out in at least six instalments at this daily limit, and an amount above €7,000 even extends into the following month. Unlike the block duration, this period is not a statutory requirement but an operator rule, set out in its terms and conditions and open to change at any time.

A separate question is money from the period of an existing block. One player wrote that he had been blocked at a gaming hall but had still been able to play there, and wanted to know whether he could reclaim his stakes. How such cases, chargebacks and legal routes stand is summarised on the page about getting money back, as of 2026.