Courts in Germany have contrasting views on how long an authority can reasonably take to process a naturalisation application. Immigration lawyer Nihat Kaygalak explains recent rulings in different states, and what they mean for people still waiting.
If you’re among the hundred of thousands waiting to hear back from the authorities about your application for German citizenship, it can feel like you’re at the mercy of a slow moving bureaucratic machine.
But, as The Local has reported, there are things you can do to try and speed that process along. First of all by making sure your application is complete and well-organised from the start, and then later by bringing a legal challenge against an authority’s unreasonably long delay if necessary.
Before you resort to that second step, however, it’s worth considering previous cases that have succeeded or failed, says Nihat Kaygalak, a Neuss-based immigration lawyer specialising in citizenship law.
Here’s a look at a number of rulings on legal challenges brought by applicants for German citizenship, and what the cases suggest regarding reasonable timelines for naturalisation.
‘Failure to act’
Kaygalak told The Local that courts across Germany have not taken a uniform approach when it comes to determining a reasonable amount of time for an authority to reach a decision on a citizenship application.
Understanding where courts have ruled in favour, or against, citizenship applicants who tried to challenge the authorities may be helpful for people who are considering doing the same.
For the uninitiated, the keyword to know here is Untätigkeitsklage, which is often translated as a “failure to act” lawsuit. This is basically a legal challenge that can be brought against a German authority when they take too long to take action on something that is their responsibility.
These challenges are not specific to the citizenship process, but can be brought against immigration offices when they haven’t moved forward on an application for months or years.
That said, choosing to challenge the authorities isn’t without risk – applicants can end up on the hook for significant legal fees if the court ultimately rules against them.
Nihat Kaygalak, LL.M., lawyer based in Neuss specialising in migration law. Photo provided by Kaygalak.
Asked for his own advice on when to bring a lawsuit, Kaygalak stressed the importance of starting with other steps, such as asking the authority for an update and asking if any documents are missing.
He added that, as a general guideline, “a lawsuit deserves serious consideration” when applications are complete and have been pending for over 18 months.
READ ALSO: ‘Indispensable’ – Experts explain how to speed up your German citizenship application
‘Strict’ vs ‘accommodating’ states
Looking at court rulings from around Germany, Kaygalak suggests some German states take a “stricter approach” in their expectations of the immigration authorities while others have been “more flexible”.
He notes that in North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein, courts have “emphasised that persistent staffing shortages are generally the authority’s responsibility,” for example.
On the other hand, courts in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland have been “more accommodating” with the authorities.
Courts in Bavaria and Saarland, for example, have considered delays of around 18 months reasonable in some cases, Kaygalak told The Local.
This is not to say that legal challenges should always be brought by applicants left waiting in the first group of states, or cannot be brought in the latter.
“A more lenient approach does not mean that courts accept unlimited waiting times,” Kaygalak says. But applicants in these places should carefully weigh the strength of their challenge against the financial risk involved.
Relevant cases to consider
Kaygalak flags the following recent cases, from the ‘stricter’ states listed above, in which higher district and administrative courts ruled against immigration authorities.
- North Rhine-Westphalia, September 17th 2025: The court ruled that staff shortages, holidays and sickness were not sufficient reasons for delay. The court emphasised that the ministry or the authority’s management must ensure adequate cover. It rejected the authority’s appeal against the decision not to suspend the proceedings.
- North Rhine-Westphalia, September 25th 2025: The court ruled that the naturalisation authority must also take responsibility for unjustified delays caused by other agencies, for example when police take several months to check a passport.
- Saxony-Anhalt, November 7th 2025: The authority itself had calculated an average processing time of 2.8 years per application. The court considered this excessive.
- Schleswig-Holstein, January 8th 2026: Structural understaffing was not accepted as a sufficient reason for delay. The court overturned a decision to suspend the lawsuit.
- Saxony, February 14th 2023: An on-going excessive workload was not considered a valid justification for the delay.
By contrast, the next two cases show how courts from the more ‘accommodating’ states have defended immigration authorities.
- Baden-Württemberg, August 4th 2025: The court accepted that the surge in applications following the 2024 reform constitutes a valid reason for delays, provided that the authority was taking steps to address the increased workload. It also confirmed that authorities may generally process applications in the order in which they were received, while bringing urgent cases forward.
- Rhineland-Palatinate, February 18th 2025: The court noted that the increase in applications affected authorities across the country and did not, at that time, establish a structural staffing deficit.
“It is important to understand what these decisions actually establish,” Kaygalak says. “They concern whether an authority should be granted additional time to process an application.”
This does not mean that cases in the ‘stricter’ states will definitely succeed, or that those in the more ‘accomadating’ states will not.
“Naturalisation still depends on whether the applicant meets the legal requirements,” he adds. “There are also no official statistics showing the overall success rate of these lawsuits.”
READ ALSO: How to appeal if your application for German citizenship is rejected
This article is for informational purposes and should not be considered legal advice.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
