I never thought that so many people would ask me to write about the Untätigkeitsklage, an obscure type of lawsuit contained in the German Rules of Administrative Court Proceedings. Honestly, I would much rather write about my quest for the geographical center of Europe, panoramic train journeys, silly adventures or beautiful islands in the middle of the Atlantic. And I will get to that again, I promise.

But as you know, I am a lawyer and somewhat of an expert on German citizenship law. And as such, I am all too aware of an egregious problem that is burdening people who have applied for German citizenship, whether by naturalization, by descent or by restitution: The process can take a looooong time.

From the moment of applying for German citizenship, when – ideally – all requirements are already met, it can take up to anything from four months to four years. The former ain’t bad, the latter is terrible, and not knowing where their case will fall really seems to bother some people.

I have already shared a few tips on how to speed up your application for German citizenship, but because so many people are contacting me with the same questions, I will answer the most common questions here. For free, can you believe that?!

1. What is the Untätigkeitsklage?

Untätigkeitsklage literally means “lawsuit because of inactivity”.

It’s a special type of lawsuit that you can file against the German government, when you have applied for citizenship and the local, state or federal agency neither grants nor denies your request. In the absence of the Untätigkeitsklage, the government could simply refuse (or forget) to make any decision on your application. Without even a negative decision, you would be deprived of the chance to appeal the government’s decision.

Despite its name, the goal of the Untätigkeitsklage in citizenship cases is not to get the government to do just anything and feign activity. By filing the Untätigkeitsklage, you explicitly request the Administrative Court to order the government to grant you German citizenship.

2. Does the Untätigkeitsklage apply to all citizenship cases?

In fact, this type of lawsuit applies to anything that you request from the government, whether it’s citizenship or a building permit, a tax refund or a hunting license.

In the context of citizenship law, you can avail yourself of the Untätigkeitsklage whether you applied for German citizenship by naturalization, by descent or by restitution. It also applies irrespective of whether you applied online, to your local citizenship office, through a German consulate or directly to the Bundesverwaltungsamt.

The applications based on descent and restitution that go to the BVA usually take many years, making the Untätigkeitsklage particularly helpful in those cases.

The Untätigkeitsklage can also become necessary in the context of immigration law. Some people wait more than a year for permanent residence (Niederlassungserlaubnis) or for a family-reunion visa.

There is just one thing to keep in mind: Because of separation of powers (thank you, Mister Montesquieu), the court cannot substitute the discretion to be exercised by the government in certain decisions. For citizenship law, this means that an Untätigkeitsklage makes most sense in cases where you are entitled to citizenship. This covers all cases of descent and restitution (if you meet the requirements, of course) as well as the regular naturalization under § 10 I StAG (Anspruchseinbürgerung).

You may already have read that I am rather skeptical of people who apply after only three years of residence, claiming the “exceptional integration” clause in § 10 III StAG. Well, those people who think they are special will face a special problem when it comes to the Untätigkeitsklage. As § 10 III StAG provides for discretion, the court cannot grant you German citizenship, but can only order the government to start working on your case. In effect, most of these cases will take longer than if you had simply waited until you complete the required 5 years of residence.

3. How long after submitting my application do I have to wait before I can file the Untätigkeitsklage?

The law, specifically § 75 VwGO, requires that you wait for three months.

And that is three months from the time when you have filed a complete application pack. Really complete, with all the attachments, with the language certificate, the citizenship test, and so on. Please don’t file incomplete applications. It makes no sense. It just causes delays and extra work for everybody involved.

The three months are not reset each time the government contacts you.

How and whether communication between you and the government influences the three-month waiting period depends on the type of communication, of course. If the government informs you that documents are missing, you don’t yet qualify for citizenship anyway. In that case, don’t even think about the Untätigkeitsklage. If they inform you that the whole process will take at least one more year, you might as well go ahead and file the Untätigkeitsklage right away. If they inform you that they are waiting for information from other agencies, usually regarding the security check, then you could still sue, but why should you? In that case, you know that you are in the final stretch of the process.

4. So, when do you recommend to file the Untätigkeitsklage?

First of all, and most importantly: You don’t need to.

If you are living a happy life and it doesn’t make any difference whether you will receive the German passport this year or next year, then please don’t waste the money. For example, you may not be in a hurry because you have a very secure immigration status and a secure job. Or you may think that the money is better spent on a holiday rather than on a lawyer. (Although this particular lawyer really likes holidays as well.)

If, on the other hand, you are in a hurry because you want to apply for a job that requires German citizenship, or because you want to join the Bundeswehr, or because you want to run for a seat in parliament, or if you are simply an impatient person, then you should file.

In my experience, people who can sit back and relax are the happiest ones. People who are impatient are less happy. But most miserable are those who cannot make a decision and keep pondering and debating and postponing for years.

5. Can you guarantee that I will receive German citizenship faster if I file the Untätigkeitsklage?

Whether the way through the Untätigkeitsklage is really faster in your specific case is impossible to tell. After all, it could be the case – very theoretically – that your application was just about to be approved tomorrow. In this case, filing the Untätigkeitsklage today won’t speed up anything.

But statistically, it makes a difference, because the Administrative Court will force the citizenship administration to prioritize your case.

You should however keep in mind that the judges at the Administrative Court aren’t sitting around idly, either, and they do have more important cases. So, please don’t expect that your lawyer will file an Untätigkeitsklage and, swoosh, you will be invited to pick up the German passport next week. The case before the court will also take its time. But at least there will be some progress.

6. How do these court cases work?

Once your lawyer files the Untätigkeitsklage – and depending on the case, I sometimes send a warning letter to the government first, to give them a last chance -, the court asks the citizenship office what is taking them so long.

Very often, it only takes a few days until the citizenship office suddenly springs into action. Your file has been moved to the very top of the pile. In those cases, they usually ask for updated documents, like current wage statements and a current confirmation from your company that you are still employed in good standing. In the best of cases, citizenship is then approved within a month from filing the lawsuit.

In other cases, the citizenship office replies with some general bla-bla about being understaffed and overworked, about a sudden increase in applications, about the effects of Covid, about a new software being introduced, and so on.

None of these are legally acceptable reasons for a delay.

The court will only accept a delay if your specific case is complicated, for practical or legal reasons. These can be missing documents, an open criminal investigation, a complicated financial situation, a complicated security check. (That’s why your lawyer should double-check all of these aspects before filing the Untätigkeitsklage.)

In the end, the court will give the government a last deadline (and this can still be several months, depending on how sympathetic they are to the plight of overworked civil servants). In most cases, the government will then grant you citizenship within that deadline. If not, the court itself will make the decision about your application.

7. What does all of this cost?

My fees for filing a personalized Untätigkeitsklage are 2,000 € altogether.

I charge 200 € for the initial consultation. We will discuss your application, your situation, the whole process, the pros and cons, as well as potential individual reasons for why you cannot wait any longer (this is an important, but often overlooked point for these lawsuits).

If we then decide that we want to work together, I will charge the remaining 1,800 €. Depending on the specific case, I will then either send a warning letter to the government, giving them one last chance, or I will put together and file the lawsuit without any prior warning (for example if the government has already told you that you need to wait at least one year before they will even look at your file).

On top of my fees, the Administrative Court will charge court fees of 849 €.

8. Do you charge more if you file for myself and my spouse/children?

I would recommend against filing a joint lawsuit.

Whenever I represent a family, my strategy is to pick the most uncomplicated family member and only file on his/her behalf. With uncomplicated, I mean the person who has sufficient income, who has a clear record of legal residence in Germany, and where I foresee no problems with the security check.

This approach saves you legal fees and makes the case easier for the court.

And when the government will finally look at your case to make a decision, they will make a decision on your spouse and children too, anyway.

Also, and I know that nobody wants to think about that, if you file jointly and then get separated or divorced, we have a huge legal mess.

9. Will I get reimbursed for the legal fees if we win?

Potentially, yes.

The court can order the government to pay your legal fees, if you could reasonably have expected the government to grant you citizenship by the time you filed the lawsuit, as § 161 III VwGO puts it.

This gives the court some leeway. They can order the government to grant you citizenship and to pay your legal fees. But they can also order them to grant you citizenship without ordering a reimbursement of fees, arguing that although the government was slow and late, you were aware of that widespread problem and couldn’t reasonably have expected to receive your citizenship within the three months mandated by the law.

For reimbursement of fees, some courts have ruled that you should at least wait six months from the date of application. (And sadly, many people misinterpret this to mean that you cannot file the Untätigkeitsklage before that.) Basically, the courts can rule about fees any way they want, because the ruling on the reimbursement of fees cannot be appealed (§ 158 VwGO).

So, my advice is: Don’t count on being reimbursed for the fees. If it happens, it will be a nice surprise. (And you can give your lawyer a tip.)

10. Do I need a lawyer for the Untätigkeitsklage or can I file myself?

After you have killed your own steak, built your own car and pulled your own wisdom tooth, you can maybe try to put together your own lawsuit in administrative law.

But if you have moved on from the stone age and believe in the value of professional advice, you are invited to contact me.