When waiting for a LEA appointment leads to a job loss: a woman from Libya in Berlin.

When waiting for a LEA appointment leads to a job loss: a woman from Libya in Berlin.

In the article of the RBB24, a serious problem at the State Office for Immigration (LEA) in Berlin is reported. The waiting times for appointments are very long, which can lead to major problems for applicants like Marwa Barka. Barka has been waiting in vain for an appointment for months to extend her residence permit, which now means that she could lose her job as a nursing assistant. Barka came to Berlin in 2015 as a refugee from Libya and has been working permanently in a mobile nursing service for two years. The immigration office is currently faced with a huge backlog of over 10,000 unanswered emails. According to a spokesman for the LEA, the current waiting time for an appointment is up to six months, but cases in need of urgent would be treated preferably. Nevertheless, there are many people who desperately try to reach the LEA and remain unsuccessful. The Refugee Council reports that they are contacted every day by such desperate people and that many do not receive an answer with the urgent applications. The effects of these problems affect not only those affected personally, but also society, since valuable workers can be lost. It is known that third -party providers offer appointments at the LEA at prices of 50 or 100 euros. The LEA states that there is no technical way to rule out these offers completely, but is working to prevent appointment bookings with bot support. The Berlin Senator for the Interior plans to strengthen the authority in the next double budget by hiring more staff and implementing further digital measures. Nevertheless, experts expect that the number of inquiries will not decrease in the foreseeable future. The refugee council criticizes the authority for its lack of improvement despite the problem that has existed for two years. In order to improve the situation, the refugee council calls for more staff, better accessibility and a more user -friendly booking portal. In cases like that of Marwa Barka, the refugee council suggests that the authority should automatically inform the appointments, since it already knows when the approval expires. For the time being, the LEA has found a provisional solution by explaining that a booking confirmation is considered a certificate and it is possible to continue working or studying by the appointment. However, it is difficult to implement this solution in practice, as you first need an appointment that many people cannot receive. The situation with the LEA therefore remains problematic, and it is urgently needed to have extensive solutions to cope with the problems and to protect the rights of the applicants. According to a report from www.rbb24.de.