150,000 per year

MA 35 continues to struggle with an increase in proceedings

MA 35 carries out 150,000 procedures per year.(Bild: Weingartner-Foto / picturedesk.com)

The administrative court has to deal with numerous late complaints. The largest proportion is made up of applications not processed on time and MA 35.  

The Vienna Provincial Administrative Court has one of the highest workloads in the country. However, some of this is the city's own fault, as MA 35 - Immigration and Citizenship - is responsible for 88 percent of all late complaints, as the annual report for 2023 shows. This means that, among other things, the municipal authority does not process cases within the specified time, normally six months. Some would even take years.

It is unworthy of a cosmopolitan city like Vienna that its own municipal department almost paralyzes the administrative court.

Patrick Gasselich, Verfassungssprecher (ÖVP)

Bild: different marketing

"In terms of democratic policy, this is more than just questionable," says Patrick Gasselich (ÖVP). The city points out that 150,000 procedures are carried out every year, with only less than 0.5 percent resulting in default complaints.

Increasing the number of employees
In addition, the number of citizenship inquiries quadrupled in January compared to the previous year. For this reason, a further 105 employees are being added this year.