Overview

• Courts logged 76,646 new asylum main proceedings by June 30, 2025, already surpassing all of 2023 and reaching roughly three quarters of 2024's total.
• North Rhine-Westphalia reported 13,304 cases, Bavaria 11,412, and Lower Saxony 11,000, with Lower Saxony exceeding its full-year 2024 tally.
• Proceedings now take far longer in many states, with Hesse around 19 months and Rhineland-Palatinate at six months, the only state meeting the six-month target set in 2023.
• The Deutscher Richterbund attributes the spike to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees accelerating case processing, which generates more appealable decisions.
• First-time asylum applications fell sharply in the first half of 2025, yet courts remain under pressure as some states add staff and create specialized chambers that have not fully eased delays.