Berlin citizenship application process accelerated through a new digital system
30. Juli 2024

According to the ‚Tagesspiegel‘, Berlin is naturalizing citizens much faster thanks to new digital applications. This development is crucial, as the backlog of unprocessed applications had some of them dating back to 2005. But the introduction of a digital naturalization process at the beginning of the year is paying off. The State Office for Immigration LEA reports that as of July 14, they had already naturalized 6534, with 5900  of those naturalizations occurring since April 1 alone. This significant increase is attributed to the digitized processing system which has led to a noticeable reduction in delays. Interior Senator Iris Spranger of the SPD has set a target of 20,000 naturalizations per year, and the LEA is on track to meet this goal. The state authority recorded over 24,000 applications for naturalization by mid-July, processing an impressive average of 139 applications per day in the second week of July. To manage the backlog efficiently, the Lea has fully digitized all 40,000 old applications from the districts, some of which were over a decade old. However, applications submitted before the start of the year still take longer to process. If you submitted a new digital application this year, you can expect accelerated processing. But, if you want your older application processed at the new speed, you’ll need to resubmit it in digital form and pay a fee of 255 euros.

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