Applications for asylum in Germany are being processed increasingly rapidly, thanks in particular to the additional staff now employed by the Federal Office for Migration and refugees. The German government is aiming to further reduce processing time.
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New figures published by the Federal Interior Minister indicate that on average 5.3 months is required to process a request for asylum. This marks a significant reduction when compared to the 7.1 months required only last year. "We are not resting on our laurels though. We intend to speed things up further," declared a spokesperson of the Federal Interior Ministry on Monday (27 July).
Processing times are already much shorter for applicants from some high-priority countries of origin. Applications from citizens of Kosovo, for instance, are already processed within two months.
One reason for this trend is the improved human resources now available to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
At a meeting on 18 June, the federal and state governments agreed on an action plan. Asylum proceedings are to be accelerated and the existing backlog of applications cleared. In many cases staffing levels are to be increased to this end.
This year alone 1,000 additional jobs are to be created at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. Of this total 650 already exist. Another 1,000 jobs are planned for 2016. If everything goes according to plan, the workforce of the Office will then have doubled by the end of next year.
The Federal Interior Ministry spokesperson also pointed to the Law on the Classification of other Countries as Safe Countries of Origin. Since November 2014 this status has applied to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia. The rising numbers of applicants from these countries has been braked strongly, reported the spokesperson.