More Than 500 Citizenship Applications Deleted Due to Berlin IT Failure
582 German citizenship applications recently submitted in Berlin have been deleted due to an IT failure at the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA).
Citizenship Applications Lost at Berlin LEA
An IT failure at the Landesamt für Einwanderung, or “Ausländerbehörde,” in Berlin resulted in the deletion of 582 recently submitted applications for German citizenship.
The LEA reported that issues with the Berlin IT Service Provider (ITDZ), which the office uses, caused the error. All deleted applications were submitted after June 27, 2024, when Germany’s new dual citizenship law came into effect.
“The first applications were initially recorded but not processed correctly” due to a “software configuration error,” the LEA told Tagesspiegel.
582 People Must Resubmit Their Citizenship Applications
According to the newspaper, the applications cannot be recovered, meaning the applicants will need to resubmit their documents but will not have to pay the 255 euro fee again for submitting a citizenship application.
The LEA stated that affected applicants will be informed “as soon as possible” so their applications can begin processing.