Maria (34) is from South America and, since she has no papers, she is illegally resident in Germany. Like thousands of others, she lives in the shadow world with rules of its own: she must constantly try not to be noticed, she can't simply go to a doctor when she needs to, and she is completely at the mercy of tricksters and con artists, because if she is discovered without a residence permit she could well be deported immediately.  
Maria had to leave her children Pablo and Isobel back in Honduras when she came here to look for. Now her only connection with them is by telephone calls and the occasional video chat from an Internet cafe.
One day Maria discovers that Pablo and Isabel had been mistreated by her stepmother, so she is forced -- without having made any preparations -- to bring them to Germany as quickly as possible. She has to borrow the money for their air tickets from a loan shark, she is only able to find the larger apartment on completely unsuitable terms, and without being officially resident here she can't find a school for the children -- which means she has to leave them alone during the day, because she certainly can't afford a babysitter. But above all, life with the children becomes significantly more expensive, and Maria is obliged to work even harder than before. As well as her daily cleaning jobs in private houses she now also takes the risk of cleaning in large restaurants and inns. When Maria's only friend, a Moroccan woman called Sami, is arrested and deported even though she is pregnant, it looks as though Maria is finally about to collapse under the constant psychological pressure. She realises that things can't go on like this, and she seriously considers returning to Honduras despite all the problems there. But then Peter, a rather eccentric insurance assessor whose house she cleans, surprises the desperate Maria with an offer completely out of the blue …