Asylum court cases taking longer again – over 20 months in Saxony and Lower Saxony
After four years of decline, asylum lawsuits are lasting longer again: 15.3 months on average in the first half of 2026, 20.4 in Saxony.
Symbolic image · Photo: Gerd Eichmann / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The length of court proceedings challenging decisions by Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees is rising for the first time in years, the German news agency dpa reported Sunday. In the first half of 2026 cases took 15.3 months on average nationwide, up from 14.3 months given for 2025 (excluding December data). In 2021 the figure was still 26.5 months.
Differences between states are large: cases take longest in Saxony (20.4 months) and Lower Saxony (20) and are shortest in Rhineland-Palatinate (9.2) and Bavaria (10.7). In Saxony, many suits by Venezuelan nationals play a role. The number of pending asylum cases rose from 191,566 in mid-January to 196,315 in mid-August.
The figures come from federal government replies to questions by Left party lawmaker Clara Bünger. She attributes the trend partly to the federal office having rejected more people from countries with deteriorating human rights conditions in 2025, such as Iran, Russia, Afghanistan and Turkey; about every second reviewed Iran decision was corrected by courts. Proceedings at the federal office itself took 11.3 months in the first half.