Berlin's Centralized Citizenship Office Struggles to Keep Up with Surging Applications

Despite doubling naturalizations in 2024, the agency faces a backlog of tens of thousands of cases and aims for 40,000 approvals in 2025.

Berlin's new centralized citizenship office processed over 21,800 naturalizations in 2024, exceeding its initial goal of 20,000.
The office inherited 40,000 backlog cases from district offices in early 2024, many of which remain unresolved despite a fully digital workflow.
A record 43,800 new applications were submitted last year, outpacing the agency's processing capacity and adding to the backlog.
Staffing shortages persist, with 40 of 179 positions still vacant, though hiring processes are nearing completion.
Officials anticipate further challenges in 2027, as Ukrainian war refugees who arrived in 2022 may become eligible to apply for citizenship under new federal residency rules.