The West German government was very quick to realize that the dividing of Germany and subsequent deprivations under the GDR would lead to defections and made numerous accommodations for defectors. Among these was the practice of "welcome money" essentially a small stipend paid to defectors to help them get on their feet, since defection almost always entailed leaving all of one's physical possessions behind. The West Berlin government was also known to subtly help in the act of defection from time to time, insofar as doing so wouldn't strain the already-tenuous relations with the East. One particular example of this is from early defector Conrad Schumann; when he hopped the concertina wire that demarcated the border during the construction of the wall, there was a West Berlin police car on standby to ferry him away from the scene.

Once over and settled defectors were as a rule granted West German citizenship and the identity documents that came with. Because of the high stakes of Cold War diplomacy the East generally did not seek to apprehend West German citizens travelling from West Berlin to West Germany proper via the Inner-German Border; the fact that some of these may have been defectors was immaterial.