Einbürgerung/Citizenship process Prenzlau berg/Pankow

[CaptainKurt 20]

On 8/17/2020, 5:45:34, MrLuigi said:

Haha, yeah, I know. The old information on their website is a joke. Out of curiosity, have you considered contacting them directly?

I was thinking about sending them an email "to celebrate" the first year anniversary of my application but that is when I learned about the questionnaire and I discarded the idea. 

 

Hahaha, no I haven't. From my experience, it's a bit pointless. They'll get in touch when they start working on your case and they'll let you know if it's good to go or if they need something else (usually updated documents like payslips because your previous one is outdated due to THEIR slowness).

 

I just wouldn't recommend sending passive aggressive emails. Germans don't have that sense of humor. I used to work on the public sector in my home country and telling the public about our deficiencies with empathy and proving it's beyond our own personal control was generally not frowned upon. But since Germans take every word with the utmost literal seriousness and no sense of humor at all, it's not something I'd expect them to react positively here.

 

Someone who claims to be "in-the-know" among my circle of online friends said things will radically change in November. For the better, it seems. But she didn't disclose much more than that.

[Halohalo 2]

I hired a lawyer to do it and it was done in just under six months. 

[Eskay 0]

I also have a question regarding the application process duration of Einbürgerung in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.

 

I sent the Amt an email in July2020 and recieved after 4 weeks an email that I have been put in a waiting list. Recently I came to know that the process duration vary from Bezirk to Bezirk in all of the steps ranging from waiting periods, application start and process duration.

 

I also came to know for example that in Bezirk Steglitz it is a bit quicker as compared to in Charlottenburg. 
 

Would any one share his/her experience regarding this?

 

Is it practical to change the residence and live in another Bezirk where the process might not take that long??

 

Would be looking forward to your opinions!

[john_b 3,387]

There do seem to be great differences in the speed that different Bezirk process Einbürgerung applications. As you can see from the posts in this thread Prenzlauer Berg/Pankow has a particularly bad reputation for being slow, whereas Neukölln can be super efficient. It also depends a lot on the official who is handling your case.

 

The problem is that if you have started the process in one Bezirk you have to stick with it. Your email was presumably an initial enquiry? Re-registering/moving to another Bezirk is like changing lanes on the Autobahn  - no guarantees you won't get stuck. 

 

Covid has also slowed everything down, understandably.

[MrLuigi 5]

Hello!

 

There is a new questionnaire sent by Dr. Clara West to the different districts:

https://www.clara-west.de/content/schriftliche-anfrage-aktuellen-entwicklung-wartezeit-termin-antragstellung-erwerb-deutsche-0

 

For Pankow in particular:

- No online appointments can be made since April 2020 (we all know why)

- There is a new person in the Team (and they are still looking for someone else)

- The average processing time is still around 18 to 22 months and they are (still) blaming Brexit

 

Other than that, I had a change in my personal situation and reached out to Pankow to let them know if I should submit any documentation. They came back to me within days (quite surprisingly), I sent them everything they asked for the day after I received their letter but then again no news after that (that was at the end of October 2020).

 

For me it is month number 19 already and other than the response to my communication I have not heard anything from them. So December is here and unless there is a Christmas miracle, I can forget about getting this done in 2020.

[Berlinexpatnine 28]

I am also in month 19 with the Pankow office. Thanks for posting this link to the survey. At least that is more info than I am getting from Pankow or my lawyer.

[CaptainKurt 20]

On 12/9/2020, 9:57:26, Berlinexpatnine said:

I am also in month 19 with the Pankow office. Thanks for posting this link to the survey. At least that is more info than I am getting from Pankow or my lawyer.

 

 

Any updates in your case?

I decided to threat with Ungültigkeitsklage.

It's just ridiculous that they take 2 years sitting on cases despite having 4 workers now, while Neukölln gets it all done in 6 months,

[Neudarmstaedter 103]

16 hours ago, CaptainKurt said:

 

 

Any updates in your case?

I decided to threat with Ungültigkeitsklage.

It's just ridiculous that they take 2 years sitting on cases despite having 4 workers now, while Neukölln gets it all done in 6 months,

Untätigkeit

[CaptainKurt 20]

10 hours ago, Neudarmstaedter said:

Untätigkeit

I stand corrected. 
Glad I only mentioned the §, not the actual wrong word. #Scheißepassiert

[itsthejb 3]

Hi everyone,

 

Updates from me - I sent my application by mail in December. No Bestätigung received. Recently tried a few times to call to at least get some confirmation that they received it. No answer, during the Sprechzeiten.

 

Should this be expected?

 

I admit to feeling wishy-washy about the whole thing. I at least got everything in before the deadline, but not sure if I even care...

[iqrarian 0]

18 hours ago, itsthejb said:

Hi everyone,

 

Updates from me - I sent my application by mail in December. No Bestätigung received. Recently tried a few times to call to at least get some confirmation that they received it. No answer, during the Sprechzeiten.

 

Should this be expected?

 

I admit to feeling wishy-washy about the whole thing. I at least got everything in before the deadline, but not sure if I even care...

 

We submitted our documents in December, 2019 and got Bestätigung letter in January, 2020. After that, we haven't received any letter. As usual processing times are between 18-22 months, I am unfortunately not surprised

[itsthejb 3]

On 18/05/2021, 10:29:46, iqrarian said:

 

We submitted our documents in December, 2019 and got Bestätigung letter in January, 2020. After that, we haven't received any letter. As usual processing times are between 18-22 months, I am unfortunately not surprised

 

Thanks for your response! I'm certainly surprised to have heard nothing back in response, not even a confirmation 🤷‍♂️

 

Fun facts: at this rate, I'll probably have quit Germany by the time they respond...

[CaptainKurt 20]

So my technique did work. Once the magical words "Untätigkeitsklage", "Frist" and "Akteneinsicht" are dropped, my application went turbo speed.

So dear PankowerInnen, don't settle for endless years of silence while your neighbors from Mitte and Neukölln get their Einbürgerung in 6 months.

[iqrarian 0]

1 hour ago, CaptainKurt said:

So my technique did work. Once the magical words "Untätigkeitsklage", "Frist" and "Akteneinsicht" are dropped, my application went turbo speed.

So dear PankowerInnen, don't settle for endless years of silence while your neighbors from Mitte and Neukölln get their Einbürgerung in 6 months.

 

@CaptainKurt Could you kindly provide reference to lawyer you used for this activity and rough estimate about how much it cost ? Would appreciate it!

[CaptainKurt 20]

On 7/30/2021, 3:46:55, iqrarian said:

 

@CaptainKurt Could you kindly provide reference to lawyer you used for this activity and rough estimate about how much it cost ? Would appreciate it!

I sent you a private message. Check your inbox.

[MrLuigi 5]

Hello Everyone!

 

I hope you all are doing good these days.

 

About our "favorite" topic, there is an article that appeared in the BZ a few weeks ago:

https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/mensch-metropole/einbuergerung-wer-in-berlin-deutscher-werden-will-braucht-viel-geduld-li.174392

 

And Frau Clara West asked a really good question (but as usual got a crappy answer):

https://www.clara-west.de/content/schriftliche-anfrage-kommunikation-pankower-einbuergerungsbehoerde

 

An update from my end, I had to leave Germany at the end of February (personal issues in my home country) and weeks after doing that the always hard-working people of Bezirk Pankow transferred my case to the BVA in Cologne (I am still surprised how fast they transferred my case... if only they had processed it like that!).

 

If you are not aware, this agency (the BVA) deals with super extreme naturalization cases for people abroad. Considering that I am just a regular Guy who lived in Germany for 10 years, never caused any trouble, never claimed any social benefits and happens to be the father of a German born little girl... I am obviously not that "special" to them.

 

They recently sent me a letter asking for another 255 Euro to continue the process but at the same time they told me that I have zero chances and the money will be used just to send me an official rejection letter (haha, can you believe it?).

 

So, in my case, our friends for Pankow had my complete application for 23 freaking months and did not do sh!t with it.

 

@CaptainKurt If you don't mind, could you please share the Lawyer's contact information just to have a quick chat with him/her/they? I am sure mine is almost a lost case but I would like to check if something could be salvaged. Thanks!

[MrLuigi 5]

On 6/10/2021, 8:32:43, itsthejb said:

 

Thanks for your response! I'm certainly surprised to have heard nothing back in response, not even a confirmation 🤷‍♂️

 

Fun facts: at this rate, I'll probably have quit Germany by the time they respond...

Before you make any final decisions about leaving Germany, please consider my case. As mentioned in my previous post, if you leave your application will be transferred to a federal agency (BVA) and your chances of success are zero to none.

[iqrarian 0]

22 hours ago, MrLuigi said:

Before you make any final decisions about leaving Germany, please consider my case. As mentioned in my previous post, if you leave your application will be transferred to a federal agency (BVA) and your chances of success are zero to none.

 

Sorry to hear that @MrLuigi

 

In this digital age, it beats me why 2 years are needed to make the decision.

 

We have been waiting since 22 months for decision whereas my friends in other districts got positive decision six months after applying.

[catjones 1,716]

3 hours ago, iqrarian said:

why 2 years are needed to make the decision.

 

No banker ever lost his job denying a loan.

 

3 hours ago, iqrarian said:

my friends in other districts got positive decision six months after applying.

 

Pre-covid?

[MrLuigi 5]

On 9/24/2021, 1:24:03, catjones said:

 

No banker ever lost his job denying a loan.

Agree with you. The issue here is that weeks and months pass by and the "Pankow bankers" do not approve or reject any of those "loans". And what's worse, no one has any idea about how "loan applications" are reviewed.

 

At least in my case I always knew that my application could have been approved or rejected. What is frustrating is the lack of transparency and the fact that after a considerable amount of time I did not get any response. Even a "Nein" would have been better than no response.