Immigration authorities in Bavaria's major cities often overwhelmed

Survey - Immigration authorities in Bavaria's major cities often overwhelmed

According to a survey by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the immigration authorities in major Bavarian cities are often overloaded and cannot keep up with processing applications. "The situation is dramatic, this applies nationwide, especially at the larger immigration authorities," said a spokesperson for the city of Nuremberg, summarizing the situation. Depending on the prioritization, the processing time is between one week and several months, but in "some cases" there are also delays of one to two years.

The state capital of Munich said that around 45,000 emails are received in the foreigners authorities' mailboxes every month. In addition, there are further applications by post. However, it is not possible to say how many applications remain unanswered. "The backlog was at a similar level to the same period last year." A year ago, there were 25,000 unanswered emails and applications.

Augsburg, Bavaria's third largest city, said that although there was a high volume of applications, there were no "unusually long processing times" at the foreigners authority. "However, our colleagues manage to keep the processing time within reasonable limits as a rule," said Frank Pintsch, head of public order. Most inquiries and applications are processed quickly.

According to the information provided, around 20,000 people are dealt with by the City of Würzburg 's Foreigners' Registration Office. The focus is on residence permits, visa procedures, settlement permits and family reunification. 14 main clerks are on duty to sift through and process around 100 emails or electronic applications per day. As a result, there are waiting times of around three months and sometimes longer, it said. In addition to the increased number of cases, staff shortages, staff changes and sickness absences also caused problems.

Regensburg and Landshut also complained of such challenges. A timely processing of up to 300 emails per day was not possible due to a lack of staff, according to Regensburg. Landshut stated that "where possible, inquiries are answered promptly, usually within a few days. In individual cases, however, there may be waiting times of up to several weeks."

In Bayreuth, the Immigration Office answers email inquiries according to the urgency of the content. It is therefore not possible to provide general information on processing times. This varies between a few hours and eight to twelve weeks. The workload is "very high". While the number of case workers has not changed since 2014, the number of foreigners for whom the authority is responsible has almost doubled in the same period.

The staffing situation is better at Aschaffenburg's immigration office, which is why there are reportedly "no real backlogs". Unlike in the past, all posts are now filled. In the past two years, the number of employees has been increased by two positions, but the number of naturalizations has more than tripled.

The workload in Schweinfurt is also very high: around 880 applications are currently pending at the foreigners authority, 130 of which are unprocessed. Thanks to the great commitment of the employees, backlogs that had accumulated during the coronavirus pandemic have now been almost completely cleared, according to the statement. "It was only thanks to the willingness of all employees to work overtime that the challenges of recent years could be gradually overcome."

The city of Kempten also reported no particularly high backlog in processing. "As a rule, inquiries are answered within a week," said Andreas Hummel, Head of the Office for Citizen Services. There are no unusual backlogs and the processing of cases is on target. In contrast to simple inquiries, however, application procedures can take several months, depending on the circumstances.

Regardless of the respective workload, all authorities agree on one point: the ongoing staff shortage or the problems in filling vacancies will not improve the situation in the foreseeable future. At the same time, it is clear that the number of applications will not decrease in the foreseeable future. "However, due to staff fluctuations, we realistically assume that we will not be able to maintain the current very good quantity and quality, at least temporarily," said Hummel.

He went on to say that the changes to the law that are now known and the necessary digitalization will demand a lot from the employees of the immigration authorities. And the authorities agree on one more thing: the global crises and the refugee crisis will further exacerbate the situation.