A report by local public broadcaster rbb has found that Berlin’s new citizenship office has been naturalising 100 new German citizens per day.
Since it opened in January 2024, Berlin’s new, centralised naturalisation office (Einbürgerungsbehörde) has been naturalising an average of 100 new German citizens per day, according to a report from rbb.
During 2024, the office in Berlin-Mitte - which took over administrative work previously done at 12 separate district offices - has processed 21.000 German citizenship applications, exceeding its target of 20.000 over the course of the year.
More than 600 Berliners were naturalised in the first quarter, nearly 5.000 in the second and over 8.000 in the third quarter. After a lag as the office moved from the old system to a new one, employees are said to have reached a new “Turbo-Tempo”, with most applications being processed in four to six weeks.
With Germany’s dual citizenship law having passed in June 2024, the country is seeing a sharp rise in the number of long-term residents applying for a German passport.
Speaking to rbb, department head Weibke Gramm said the office will aim even higher in 2025. 40 additional employees will start work at the centralised office. “Next year we are aiming to process 40.000 applications,” Gramm explained.
If this goal is reached, Berlin would be the federal state with the highest number of processed applications.
Thumb image credit: Tomas Nuehen / Shutterstock.com