City of Jena significantly strengthens immigration office

From January 2023, the Immigration Office will become a separate specialist service within the city administration of Jena and will be strengthened with twelve additional posts. This will enable the city of Jena to better meet the increased demand for fast and unbureaucratic naturalization, including that of international professionals.

Benjamin Koppe, the head of the Department of Finance, Security and Citizen Services, assesses the situation:

"The future strategic direction of the Foreigners' Registration Office, particularly with regard to the shortage of skilled workers and immigration, will be redefined by the further development of its structure and the addition of staff. The visibility for citizens and politicians will thus be significantly increased with the aim of further developing the specialist service as a welcoming authority. Due to numerous changes in immigration law, it can be assumed that the office will have to continue to grow and become stronger in the future."

With the increase in staff and other structural decisions, the city is anticipating the implementation of the federal government's decision on the right of residence, which is intended to further improve the attractiveness of immigration in Germany.

New structure and more staff provide relief for tense staff situation

The strengthening and reorganization of the Foreigners' Registration Office became necessary due to the tense staffing situation that has existed for some time. The decision was therefore made in mid-2022 to further develop the Foreigners' Registration Office as a separate specialist service and to focus on core tasks. From January 1, 2023, the previously associated registry office team will be assigned to the Citizen and Family Services department, as there is a great deal of overlap in terms of content.

The new structure is not only intended to remedy the understaffing, but also to do justice to the constantly increasing number of immigrants in the city of Jena. In 2022 alone, employees at the Foreigners' Registration Office registered an additional 1,900 refugees from Ukraine and issued them with the corresponding residence permits.

Olaf Schroth, acting head of the Foreigners' Registration Office, says:

"Given the already tense situation, this was an unparalleled feat of strength. For this, and for the consistent, intensive work of the last few years, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all employees."

Selection procedure launched

A selection process is currently underway to fill the new positions anchored in the next budget. It is expected that new employees will be recruited, trained and gradually integrated into the process over the coming months. There are good reasons to hope that a stable situation for processing times will have been created by the end of the year, even with the further expected changes to the legal situation.

Shorter processing times for applicants - in future, only one personal appointment will be necessary

In day-to-day operations, the processing procedures will soon be systematically changed. It is neither reasonable nor sensible for appointments to be made eight to nine months in advance. For this reason, it will temporarily no longer be possible to make or book appointments online. Instead, those affected will be contacted personally and asked to submit the necessary documents. In this way, trained and experienced employees can carry out the necessary in-depth technical check. In future, the application is to be completed in a single, individually agreed personal appointment, for example with the recording of the necessary biometric data. This will reduce the processing time by around half, which may lead to a gradual increase in the number of personal appointments. This procedure will be applied, evaluated, adapted and further developed for future applicability in a project phase.