Asylum cases are taking longer again—Saxony ranks last

After years of acceleration, the duration of legal proceedings regarding asylum decisions is now increasing again. According to a response from the federal government to a question posed by Member of Parliament Clara Bünger (The Left), proceedings in German courts regarding appeals against decisions by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) lasted an average of 15.3 months in the first half of this year. For the previous year, the federal government had reported an average duration of 14.3 months in a response to an earlier parliamentary inquiry, although data for the month of December was not available at that time.

The average duration of proceedings declined for four years

One thing is certain: After an average duration of 26.5 months in 2021, legal proceedings had become shorter year after year. In 2024, court proceedings involving lawsuits against initial or subsequent asylum applications lasted an average of 16.7 months.

Furthermore, in some federal states, these legal proceedings take twice as long as in others. According to the federal government, Saxony ranked last in the first half of this year, with an average duration of 20.4 months. In Lower Saxony (20 months), too, those who filed a lawsuit against an asylum decision had to wait a particularly long time for a court ruling. In Rhineland-Palatinate, a decision was reached on average after 9.2 months, and in Bavaria after 10.7 months.

However, while the duration in Bavaria either decreased or at least did not increase over the past three years, the opposite trend was observed in Rhineland-Palatinate. In 2023, asylum litigation proceedings there had already been concluded after an average of five months.

More Cases—Complex Situation in the Country of Origin

One reason for the longer duration of proceedings is the increase in the number of asylum lawsuits. Another factor influencing the duration of proceedings is whether a particular administrative court receives a particularly high number of cases from people from certain countries of origin where it is difficult to decide whether to grant or deny protection in Germany. Nationwide, administrative courts had a particularly high number of asylum cases involving people from Turkey pending in November. In Saxony at that time, the courts were most frequently dealing with cases in which Venezuelan nationals had filed lawsuits against a decision by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

Bünger points to the poor human rights situation in Iran

Bünger also attributes the fact that asylum proceedings are taking longer again Bünger also attributes this to the fact that in 2025, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) rejected a growing number of refugees from countries where the human rights situation had tended to deteriorate. “This applied, for example, to countries of origin such as Iran, Russia, Afghanistan, and Turkey,” says the member of parliament from The Left. Roughly one in two asylum decisions reviewed regarding Iran as the country of origin was overturned by the courts. 

In recent years, some federal states have taken measures to speed up asylum appeal proceedings. Among other things, they are relying on additional staff, specialized chambers, the consolidation of cases, and centralized documentation databases. 

More than 196,000 cases were pending in court in August

As of August 15, 196,315 asylum lawsuits were pending nationwide; while on January 15, there were 191,566 asylum cases pending. It is not only people whose asylum applications have been rejected who go to court. Asylum seekers who have been granted subsidiary protection also sometimes file lawsuits—for example, so they can bring their family members to join them. This is because family reunification is currently suspended entirely for this group, after a quota system had been in place in previous years allowing for 1,000 family members per month.

The BAMF is making decisions somewhat faster again

Unlike administrative court proceedings on asylum claims, the proceedings at the BAMF in the first half of this year were somewhat shorter than last year. However, this is unlikely to be due to the new European asylum rules. The reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) did not take effect until June 12. 

According to the federal government, the Federal Office processed asylum applications in the first six months of this year within an average of 11.3 months. Last year, BAMF staff took an average of 12.2 months—significantly longer than in previous years.

The increase in processing times last year—in 2024, they took an average of 8.7 months—is due to the fact that the BAMF was processing many applications that had been submitted quite some time ago. Applications from Syrians were not processed at all for several months, citing the situation in the country of origin, which remained unclear following the change in government in December 2024.

According to the federal government, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) reviewed the protection status of 10,064 people from Syria between early January and late August. In just under 27 percent of the cases, protection status was revoked.