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When Can You File an Untätigkeitsklage? The Three-Month Rule in § 75 VwGO

Fiona Macdonald
1 day ago
4 min read

Three months after the application is, as a rule, the earliest point at which German law lets you take an unresponsive authority to court. The Untätigkeitsklage (action for failure to act) under § 75 VwGO is available once an office has not decided within a reasonable time and has no sufficient reason for the delay. Three months is the minimum, not a guarantee: for naturalization in particular, courts sometimes give an overloaded office considerably longer.

The three-month rule and when the clock starts

Under § 75 S. 2 VwGO, the action cannot be filed before three months have passed since the application, or since an objection (Widerspruch) on which the authority has not made a decision. The period runs from the day the authority received your application, so the confirmation of receipt or a dated upload record matters. A shorter period applies only where special circumstances of the case require it. That exception is narrow, and whether it applies depends on the individual case.

What counts as a sufficient reason for the delay

The real question in most cases is whether the office has a zureichender Grund (sufficient reason). The most common one is on your side of the file. If the office asked for documents and you have not yet sent them, it has a reason not to decide, and an action filed in that situation is unlikely to help.

Staff shortages are the contested point. In a decision of 17 September 2025, the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia (OVG NRW) held that delays caused by an authority’s own staffing problems are generally not a sufficient reason, and that an overload lasting years is a permanent condition that the authority’s leadership must remedy. It found an average processing time of about 20 months for naturalization no longer acceptable. A temporary surge in applications, for example after a change in the law, can be a sufficient reason, provided the office is not structurally understaffed. The Administrative Court of Trier (VG Trier) found such a temporary surge in December 2025 and considered that, because naturalization procedures are complex, a total processing time of up to one year can generally be justified, particularly while the security check is still outstanding.

For a residence permit, a Blue Card or permanent residence, the file is usually simpler and three months carries more weight. For naturalization, expect the court to look closely at the specific office and the stage your file has reached.

What the court does if the office has a reason

A sufficient reason does not end the case. Under § 75 S. 3 VwGO, the court suspends the proceedings and sets the authority a deadline to decide, which it can extend. If the authority then decides in your favor within that deadline, the case is declared settled (§ 75 S. 4 VwGO). If it does not, the proceedings continue.

Costs follow the timing. Under § 161 Abs. 3 VwGO, if the authority decides only after you have filed and you then end the case, it bears the costs, provided you could expect a decision before you filed. Different courts set different benchmarks for this. An action filed before the three months are up does not get that protection, even though courts generally treat it as admissible once the three months expire while the case is pending. One further point affects naturalization: courts decide on the law in force when they decide, not when you applied. Filing an action does not preserve rules that have since been repealed, such as the former three-year fast track.

Before you file

An action is strongest when the chronology is clean and the delay is plainly on the authority’s side. Have these ready:

  • proof of the date the authority received your application

  • the confirmation of receipt and your file number

  • every request from the office and the date you answered it

  • a written status inquiry (Sachstandsanfrage) and any reply

  • anything that makes the delay costly for you, such as a job offer or a move

The action goes to the administrative court (Verwaltungsgericht) responsible for the authority. There is no requirement to have a lawyer at that level, but the timing and cost points above are easy to get wrong.

When to get a lawyer

Advice makes sense once three months have passed and your file is complete, and sooner if a deadline or a job depends on the decision. A lawyer can judge whether the time is already unreasonable for your office and your type of application, whether the authority can point to a sufficient reason, and how to file so that the costs fall on the authority if it moves only after the action.

Take a delayed application to court

Fiona Macdonald files actions for failure to act on delayed residence, Blue Card, permanent residence and naturalization applications, at a flat fee. Fiona Macdonald advises clients anywhere in Germany and internationally by video.

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Sources

Last reviewed: October 2026 — RAin Fiona Macdonald

This article reflects information available at the review date above and may not remain current as rules and practice change. It is general information only, not legal advice, and does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Liability for reliance on its contents is excluded to the extent permitted by law.

© 2026 Fiona Macdonald Rechtsanwältin

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