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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

Berlin’s immigration office ‘processing citizenship applications 3x faster’

Earlier this year Berlin’s immigration office promised to move faster on naturalisations after digitalising old applications. It appears those efforts are paying off.

Published: 23 July 2024 12:39 CEST
Berlin's LEA
The entrace to the Berlin Landesamt für Einwanderung, previously known as the Ausländerbehörde. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

The immigration office in Berlin (LEA) has significantly reduced the processing time for citizenship applications thanks to its new digital system, Tagesspiegel reported this week. 

According to statements from the LEA, the office processed as many applications in the last three months as it handled in the nine months before that.

The LEA has served as the central processing point for naturalisations since the beginning of this year. 

Previously, district offices were responsible and had accumulated an estimated 40,000 unprocessed applications between them in previous years.

How many applications are being processed?

The LEA reported to Tagesspiegel that as of July 14th, more than 6,500 people had been naturalised in Berlin this year. 

That’s about 2,500 less than were processed in the entire year of 2023. The vast majority of those had been processed since April 1st, and more than one thousand of them in just the first two weeks of July.

These figures suggest that the LEA’s speed has ramped up significantly in recent weeks.

An LEA spokesperson said these figures showed that the office was equipped to meet the goal of 20,000 naturalisations annually – a target set by Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD).

But the LEA’s new system is currently being tested by a surge of new applicants who have applied to naturalise following the introduction of the dual citizenship law.

READ ALSO: Requirements, costs and permits: 6 essential articles for German citizenship

This year more than 24,000 applications for naturalisation had been received as of July 14th, and they have significantly ramped up since the new citizenship law came into effect.

In the second week of July, the LEA received an average of 139 applications per day.

Old applicants left waiting for years

As The Local previously reported, director of the Berlin LEA, Engelhard Mazanke, held a conference in March in which he apologised to applicants who hadn’t heard back about analogue applications submitted years prior, and promised that those unprocessed applications would be digitalised by June and then handled more quickly.

At the time Mazanke’s statements were disparaging. Discussing the old applications, he claimed they were “still in some securely locked warehouse in Brandenburg”.

But to his credit, it appears the LEA has delivered on its promise to digitalise the old files.

The approximately 40,000 old applications have now been fully digitalised, according to the LEA. The oldest unprocessed application is roughly 19 years outdated – dating back to 2005. 

Applicants who filed under the old system have complained that they are left waiting while newer applicants in the digital system are being processed at speed. 

Those tired of waiting may consider submitting a new digital application, but that would require paying a further €255 – as well as any costs for other new documentation that may be required. 

READ ALSO: What are citizenship offices around Germany doing to prepare for the new law?

Asked about this tactic, Mazanke had previously told The Local: “We can’t directly recommend you do that. But if you were to do that of your own accord, it may be helpful to both you and us.” 

Regardless, naturalisation in Germany, at the moment, is a waiting game.

Responding to a readers’ survey, Vaughn from the US told The Local that he’d already applied twice – once in paper and then again with the digital form in hopes that it would speed up the process.

“Prepare to wait to wait even when you have done everything perfectly,” he warned.

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READER INSIGHTS

‘Told to leave the country’: How foreigners in Germany face xenophobia and racism

In a recent survey, the majority of The Local readers said they felt xenophobia and racism was on the rise in Germany, but personal experiences varied dramatically. Here's what readers said.

Published: 5 September 2024 16:42 CEST
'Told to leave the country': How foreigners in Germany face xenophobia and racism

The word xenophobia comes from the Greek words xénos (foreign) and phóbos (fear), and is defined as the dislike of anything foreign or strange. 

It tends to stem from the perception of a conflict between an in-group and an out-group, and often is related to the fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.

While xenophobia itself refers primarily to the fear experienced by someone, the danger is that xenophobic sentiments lead to racist behaviour–and sometimes violence.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has promoted xenophobic rhetoric for years.

In an investigation into the party earlier this year, Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) identified numerous statements made by AfD officials that questioned if foreign nationals belonged to the German nation, regardless of their level of integration, or even German citizenship.

Partly due to their propensity for promoting xenophobic ideas, the BfV labelled the AfD as an “suspected extremist” organisation – and in the state of Saxony, the local AfD branch was found to be a “confirmed extremist” organisation.

READ ALSO: Germany labels Saxony branch of far-right AfD as extremist

Given the AfD’s strong showing in the recent state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, some are concerned that xenophobia and related racist acts could be on the rise in Germany. 

In a recent survey, we asked our readers if they have experienced a rise in xenophobia or discrimination towards foreigners in Germany.

Of the readers who immediately responded, 58.3 percent said they had noticed a rise, whereas 41.7 percent said they had not.

xenophobia graph

What does xenophobia look like?

In its most raw and ugly form, xenophobia manifests as grotesque acts of racism.

A 35-year-old from Kenya who chose not to share their name told The Local that they were called a racial slur and “shown the Hitler salute” recently while on a boat ride in Lübbenau.

For the record, demonstrating a Hitler salute (also called a Nazi salute or Hitlergruß) is illegal in Germany, along with hate speech, and is punishable by up to three years in prison.

READ ALSO: FACT CHECK – Are people punished for using Nazi slogans in Germany?

But xenophobia is also often expressed with more subtlety.

Jamey, 45, from the US described a situation while camping in Saxony where the campground hosts talked down to him and those he was with, implying they were stupid because they were not German.

Another reader from India explained that xenophobia doesn’t always lead to direct confrontations, but can lead to a palpable sense that people are avoiding you: “Be it at a grocery store, a bus stop or a walk in the neighbourhood,” they said. 

The reader estimated that in their experience roughly 25 percent of people might avoid them or engage in some form of evasion, but that it was enough to make them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Many respondents who said they felt xenophobia was increasing cited indirect acts like this, or otherwise verbal altercations, as being the primary example of racism they had experienced.

“It is mostly about smaller things so far,” said a 35-year-old from the Balkans, “But I’ve heard people shout hostile things at foreigners in the street a couple of times in the past year, which I personally didn’t experience before.” They added that they’ve lived in Germany for six and half years.

You might not notice it if you ‘look German’

A number of respondents who said they had not observed a rise in xenophobia or racism directly also noted that they might not immediately be perceived as foreigners themselves.

One respondent who told The Local that she had “not experienced any racism myself,” added that she’s a “white American” with German heritage.

For his part Ali, 56, from London said, “Only once or twice have I ever felt negatively treated as a foreigner here. But it’s not obvious I’m foreign until I open my mouth.”

Another respondent from Finland said that “as a white immigrant” that experience xenophobia “far less than people of colour”.

How does xenophobia affect work and day to day life?

Of those who had experienced xenophobia or racist acts in Germany, quite a few cited experiences in the workplace.

Elvis, who didn’t offer details about his age or location, said that one of his co-workers had referred to him as a “bush man”, and another had reacted with obscenities after seeing him with his wife.

He added that he’s worried rhetoric used by AfD leaders is increasing fear and intolerance of foreigners.

In less severe instances–though still hurtful and problematic–xenophobia in the workplace can come in the form of indirect comments. In some cases people might not even realise that their comments are rooted in xenophobic ideologies.

Carla, 47, from Portugal told The Local that “In the early days at my job, it was common to hear that ‘it was cheaper to hire a southerner than a German for my position’ and ‘I don’t understand why [the company] would hire someone that doesn’t speak German’”.

She added that she has since learned to speak German.

Beyond the workplace, some readers reported experiencing prejudice or racism in other public spaces.

“In the hospital some nurses were behaving in an openly racist manner”, said Hilary, 77, from the UK. Fortunately in her case, others stepped in “to ‘correct’ them”.

Erdi, 35, from Turkey, was also the victim of racist speech recently. He told The Local, “After my two-year-old son had a conflict with a German kid, their parents threatened us, telling us to leave the country if my son would continue to behave like this.”

READ ALSO: ‘I’m worried for my kids’: Foreigners in Germany fearful over rise of far right

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