According to the dpa, newcomers in Hamburg are waiting five months for an appointment at the city’s Welcome Centre, which is responsible for issuing their first residence permit.

Hamburg Welcome Centre leaves newcomers waiting

In an attempt to reckon with Germany’s record-high worker shortage, certain local governments have set up agencies dedicated to issuing residence permits to qualified overseas workers and helping them with other administrative tasks upon arrival.

This is the task of the Hamburg Welcome Centre, which opened in 2021. Now, a report by the dpa has revealed that international jobseekers are waiting around five months, or 144 days, for an appointment at the centre to receive their first residence permit.

All non-EU / EEA citizens staying in Germany for more than 90 days need a residence permit. Certain nationalities, namely people from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America may enter the country without a visa and then apply for a residence permit from inside Germany. All others must apply before they arrive.

According to the press agency, staff at the centre have around 8.100 emails regarding residence permit applications which have yet to be opened and processed. However, the Hamburg Senate claims that some of these 8.100 emails are already being processed.

Left Party calls for more Welcome Centre staff

The Left Party, which initially submitted the information request about waiting times at the Welcome Centre, pushed the centre to hire more staff to process applications faster.

“[Even] If the senate claims that some of the 8.100 unanswered emails relate to completed applications, this [information] does not mean we can give the all clear,” Left Party spokesperson Carola Ensseln said in response to the news.

The senate said that more job openings at the Welcome Centre would be listed in January.

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