About 27,000 people in Berlin expect citizenship applications

A high number of citizens are waiting to review their applications for German citizenship.

The worst situation is in Berlin, writes theocal.de.

By the end of 2022, about 27,000 applications for German citizenship were pending processing in Berlin, with local capital burcrats able to process only a few more than 8,000 per year in recent years, albinfo.ch conveyed.

Citizens applying now for German citizenship can expect an average of 2.4 years before finally receiving their first German passport, the data from local authority shows.

Although applicants who submitted in 2023 are warning that their applications have been suspended while the city-state centralises service in a new city immigration office instead of each district responsible.

The new office is expected to open in 2024, and the city government is pledging that 200 members of its staff are committed and will be able to process applications more quickly, with resources equipped to process 20,000 applications annually instead of 8,000 currents, theocal.de writes.

Part of the reason for the setback is simply increased volume: 17,600 people in Berlin applied to become Germans in 2022, compared to 9,000 in 2010.

The situation is expected to deteriorate until the federal government is working to adopt a law this year that would allow dual citizenship and reduce the time someone must have been in Germany from eight years to five, authorities expect an influx of applications after the bill is adopted, albinfo.ch conveyed.

As it is now, city authorities estimate that as many as 250,000 Berlin citizens can already meet the requirements for German citizenship, legal stance for at least eight years.

Many of these people may have been residents for a long time, but they just haven't applied to become Germans because of the general demand to give up any other non-state citizenship. The EU.