Brandenburg’s Ministry for Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Social Cohesion announced that its flagship ‘Aufenthalt Digital’ platform has processed more than half a million online immigration applications nationwide as of September 2026. The milestone underscores Germany’s push to digitalise foreigners’ offices (Ausländerbehörden) and shrink visa-processing times. Launched in pilot form in 2020 and rolled out federally from 2021, Aufenthalt Digital now offers ten multilingual e-services covering work and residence permits, EU Blue Cards, and ancillary certificates. More than 360 foreigners’ authorities in 14 Länder embed the web components into their own sites, with applications funnelled directly into back-end case-management systems via the XAusländer standard. According to ministry data, monthly intake exceeded 25,000 e-filings this summer. For employers the benefits are immediate: applicants can upload notarised documents and biometric photos remotely, and HR can track progress through a dashboard rather than by phone. Companies using the fast-track §81a procedure report a 30 % reduction in lead-time from job offer to work-start, ministry officials say. The platform’s AI-powered ‘goes KI’ module, rolled out nationally in June 2026, pre-screens scans for completeness and legibility, cutting back-and-forth with officials. Brandenburg holds the federal mandate to digitalise the “Ein- und Auswanderung” cluster under the Online Access Act (OZG). Other Länder handle tangential services such as naturalisation and letters of guarantee, but the core residence-work flows now sit on Aufenthalt Digital. The system is free for applicants, though some authorities still charge separate card-issuance fees. Looking forward, developers plan to integrate the forthcoming European Digital Identity Wallet (‘d-you’) so that e-signatures for hosting agreements or rental contracts can be completed in the same session. Mobility managers should encourage staff to use the portal where available; many authorities now refuse paper submissions outright or charge a surcharge for manual data entry.
Source: MASGZ Brandenburg
