Asylum court cases in Germany are taking longer again

Asylum seekers in Germany who challenge a rejection in court are waiting longer again for a ruling, according to new federal government figures reported by tagesschau. In the first half of 2026, these court cases took an average of 15.3 months, and the wait varies widely depending on the federal state.

What happened

The figures come from the federal government’s answer to a parliamentary question from Die Linke (the Left Party), tagesschau reports. They cover lawsuits against asylum decisions made by the Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees), the authority that decides whether someone receives protection status in Germany.

For several years these cases had been getting shorter. According to tagesschau, a lawsuit took an average of 26.5 months in 2021 and 16.7 months in 2024. For 2025, the government gave an average of 14.3 months, although that figure did not include data for December. In the first half of 2026 the average went back up to 15.3 months.

tagesschau names one reason for the increase: the number of asylum lawsuits has risen significantly. The outcome can also depend on which court is responsible. If a court receives many cases from people whose countries of origin make protection decisions difficult, that can affect how long the process takes.

Clara Bünger, a member of the Bundestag for Die Linke, made the same point. According to tagesschau, she said that in 2025 the BAMF increasingly rejected refugees from countries where the human rights situation had tended to get worse. “That affected, for example, the countries of origin Iran, Russia, Afghanistan and Turkey,” she said. Bünger also said that courts corrected roughly every second asylum decision they reviewed for applicants from Iran.

What it means for you

The figures matter most to people who have received a negative or partly negative decision from the BAMF and have filed a Klage (a lawsuit) against it. These cases are heard by the Verwaltungsgerichte (administrative courts), and the court decides whether the BAMF’s ruling stands. While the case is open, the person’s protection status remains unresolved.

Where you live has a large effect on how long you wait. tagesschau reports the following:

• Sachsen (Saxony) has the longest average duration, at 20.4 months.
• Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate) has a wait about half as long, averaging 9.2 months.
• Nationwide, 196,315 asylum lawsuits were pending on the reference date of 15 August.

These are averages. A single case can take much longer or much less time, depending on the court and the circumstances. If you come from one of the countries Bünger named, which are Iran, Russia, Afghanistan and Turkey, a court challenge may be especially relevant to you. For Iran in particular, courts overturned or changed about half of the BAMF decisions they reviewed, according to her figures.

If you are waiting for a court decision, the figures suggest you should plan for a wait that may run well over a year, particularly in states with the longest durations. If you have a lawyer or an advice service, they can tell you where your own case stands at the court responsible.

What to watch next

The 2025 average of 14.3 months is incomplete because it does not include December. A full-year figure could change the comparison with 2026. The rising number of lawsuits is also likely to remain an issue for the administrative courts. In earlier coverage linked by tagesschau, the Deutscher Richterbund (the German Association of Judges) called for 500 additional judges so that plans for faster asylum procedures could be carried out. Future replies to parliamentary questions will show whether the trend toward longer waits continues and whether the gap between states narrows.

Source: tagesschau