Naturalizations to be carried out centrally in Berlin

An important change to the naturalization procedure in Berlin: from January 01, 2024, the State Immigration Office (Landesamt für Einwanderung / LEA) will be the central responsible authority, instead of the districts as before.

"Our goal is to noticeably increase the naturalization rate in Berlin," Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) told the German Press Agency. "Recently, procedures in the districts have continued to pile up and the waiting times were clearly too long. This has put many people off. Centralization will give naturalization a new significance in our city."

Immigration office takes over around 34,000 pending cases

After taking over responsibility for the procedures, the LEA will have to deal with a considerable backlog of applications. According to the Senate Department for the Interior, a good 34,000 procedures in so-called citizenship matters were still open at the end of November, the vast majority of which involve applications for naturalization.

120 new jobs created

Not all of the positions planned for this area in the LEA have been filled yet. According to the Senate Department for the Interior, 120 new positions have been created for centralization, with a further 90 or so being transferred from the districts to the LEA - making a total of around 210. Around 70 of these were recently still vacant and will reportedly be filled in the near future. Nevertheless, the central citizenship authority is fully guaranteed to start work on January 1, according to a spokesperson for the Senate Department for the Interior.

Naturalization as key to social inclusion and participation

In 2022, 8875 foreigners were granted German citizenship in Berlin. In 2023, 8640 people were naturalized by 30 November, according to the Senate Department for the Interior. This is around six percent more than in the same period last year. Spranger pointed out the importance of naturalization for the people concerned. "Only with naturalization is comprehensive social participation and involvement possible, for example by participating in elections," she said. "We want to encourage the many Berliners who are eligible to apply to take this step and help shape our city on an equal footing."