Berlin Faces Crisis in Citizenship Applications

2,000 Lawsuits Filed in 10 Months Over Processing Delays

The Berlin State Office for Immigration (LEA) is struggling to process citizenship applications within the three-month period stipulated by law.

Due to a significant surge in applications, processing times have slowed dramatically.

The primary reason for the delays is said to be the extraordinary increase in the number of applications.

Over the past 22 months, 75,000 new applications have been submitted, and an additional 40,000 older applications—taken over from the districts at the beginning of 2024—are still awaiting processing.

It was also noted that the rise in citizenship applications and “failure-to-act” lawsuits is not unique to Berlin, with a similar trend observed nationwide.

According to the Interior Administration, lawsuits filed by certain law firms promising to “speed up the naturalization process” are actually slowing operations even further, adding both delays and extra costs.

The unit responsible for handling the rising number of “failure-to-act” cases has reportedly been reinforced with additional staff.

Source: ANKA