Cologne's Ausländeramt Gone Silent? What a Lawsuit for Inaction at the Verwaltungsgericht Köln Really Does

Three Months, One Court, and a Lot of Misunderstanding

Waiting for a decision from Cologne’s Ausländeramt is an experience many newcomers share, and “I’ll just sue” is the thought that follows. The tool exists. It is called an Untätigkeitsklage, a lawsuit for inaction, and it is set out in Section 75 of the Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung. In Cologne the court is the Verwaltungsgericht Köln. Its district covers the cities of Cologne, Bonn and Leverkusen and four surrounding Kreise, according to the court.

Before using it, it helps to know what the tool does and does not do. It does not make an authority decide in your favor. It makes a court look at why there is no decision, and it can put pressure on the authority, because the case has a calendar number and a judge reading the file.

What Section 75 Requires

The text of Section 75 sets four conditions in one paragraph.

1. There must be a pending application or Widerspruch. The law speaks of a Widerspruch or an application to carry out an administrative act (Antrag auf Vornahme eines Verwaltungsakts). For a residence permit, a naturalization application or a Wohngeld claim, that is your application.
2. No decision on the merits. The law speaks of a matter not decided “sachlich”, so in general a letter asking you for more documents is not yet a decision.
3. No sufficient reason for the delay. If there is one, the court pauses the case for a deadline instead of ruling.
4. A reasonable period has passed, and at least three months. The lawsuit cannot be filed before three months have passed since you applied, “unless special circumstances of the case require a shorter period”.

The practical point is that the three months are a minimum filter, not an automatic right. Whether the delay lacks a sufficient reason is what the court looks at next.

Which Authority, Which Court

The first three rows are the usual cases for newcomers in Cologne. Our page on the district Ausländeramt explains how the offices are organized, and the naturalization page shows where citizenship applications go.

You do not need a Widerspruch first. Section 75 applies “in deviation from Section 68”, the section that normally requires the Widerspruch stage. In addition, North Rhine-Westphalia drops the Widerspruch stage for most matters in Section 110 of its Justizgesetz, with a list of exceptions (among them Wohngeld, Unterhaltsvorschuss, school law and student funding). See our page on skipping Widerspruch in NRW.

While You Wait: Protect Your Status First

The lawsuit is about the decision. Your right to stay is a different question, and the city’s own answers give you some reassurance. Stadt Köln states that a delayed answer causes no residence-law disadvantage. If you applied for an extension, your current permit with its conditions stays valid until the Ausländeramt decides. If you applied for a first permit and were in Germany legally when you applied, your stay counts as permitted until the decision.

That is the reason to keep three things in a folder: proof of the date and content of your application, every confirmation the city sent, and your Fiktionsbescheinigung if you were given one. Our page on the Fiktionsbescheinigung explains what it permits. If the permit has already expired, read the page on an expired residence permit first.

Stadt Köln also asks applicants to send the application once and not to send repeated enquiries, saying multiple contacts do not speed up processing. It says processing time depends on the type of permit and on the completeness of your documents, and the city page names no fixed number of weeks. Take that seriously on the other side too: an incomplete file is the most common “sufficient reason” an authority can point to. Send everything in one go, keep the submission receipt, and answer any request for documents quickly.

When Filing Makes Sense

• The three months are over and nothing has moved. There is no appointment letter, no request for documents and no explanation.
• Your file was complete. You can show the date of the application and what you attached.
• The wait has a cost. A job start, a family move or a long delay in a naturalization decision is on the line.
• The authority has not answered a written reminder. Not required by law, but it shows the court that you gave a chance first and helps with the costs argument below.

When It Is Too Early, or Could Backfire

• Before three months, unless special circumstances require a shorter wait. A suit filed too early risks being rejected as inadmissible.
• When the authority has a visible reason. Examples: it asked for a document you have not sent, or it needs another office’s approval. Section 75 tells the court to pause the case for a deadline in that situation.
• When the real problem is urgent. A permit that is about to expire, a job that depends on a decision or a deadline abroad cannot wait for a main lawsuit. For that, an urgent application for a preliminary order under Section 123 VwGO (einstweilige Anordnung) is a separate route. It is worth asking a lawyer or the Rechtsantragsstelle which one fits.
• When what you have is a refusal. An Untätigkeitsklage is for silence. Once you hold a negative decision, the one-month deadline in Section 74 VwGO runs from when it was announced to you, and the suit becomes a different one.

What a Win Actually Looks Like

The section lays out three outcomes.

1. The authority decides, and the case ends. If there was a sufficient reason for the delay, Section 75 tells the court to pause the proceedings until a deadline it sets, which it can extend. If the application is granted in that time, the main matter is declared settled. That is how the section is built to work: the file moves, and the lawsuit is over.
2. The court orders the act. Under Section 113 paragraph 5 VwGO, if the matter is ready for decision (spruchreif), the court orders the authority to carry out the act you applied for. If the matter is not ready for decision, it orders the authority only to decide on your application in line with the court’s legal view.
3. A refusal arrives. The authority can say no. That does not end your options, but it starts a new clock: under Section 74 you have one month after the refusal is announced to sue against it. If this happens while your inaction suit is pending, tell the court at once and ask how to proceed.

What It Costs

The key rule is Section 161 paragraph 3 VwGO: in cases under Section 75, the costs always fall on the defendant if the plaintiff could expect a decision before filing. That is why waiting a reasonable time, having a complete file and writing a reminder all matter. The text does not settle every edge case, so do not treat it as a promise that you pay nothing.

Court fees follow the Gerichtskostengesetz. If the court has no other basis, it assumes a Streitwert of 5,000 euros (Section 52 paragraph 2 GKG). With that value, one fee unit in the current fee table is 170.50 euros. Under the cost schedule the first-instance fee at an administrative court is three units, which would be 511.50 euros, and it reduces to one unit, 170.50 euros, in listed cases such as withdrawal of the lawsuit or a court settlement. For a case declared settled, the reduction depends on how the costs are decided, so ask the court. The court sets the real Streitwert, and the amount you owe depends on that. Lawyer’s fees are separate.

If paying is hard, the Rechtsantragsstelle of VG Köln says its staff can tell you the amount of court costs and whether legal aid (Prozesskostenhilfe) is possible. Legal aid in administrative cases comes from Section 166 VwGO, which refers to the civil procedure rules.

How to File at VG Köln

You can file in writing or on record. The NRW justice portal explains both routes, and says no lawyer is needed at an administrative court of first instance.

• In writing: a letter signed by you to the Verwaltungsgericht Köln, Appellhofplatz (Eingang Burgmauer), 50667 Köln. The court also has a night letterbox in the Appellhofplatz entrance area. Ordinary e-mail is not accepted for lawsuits, the court says on its contact page.
• On record: at the Rechtsantragsstelle, which takes lawsuits to the record. Hours given by the court: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8:00 to 12:00, Wednesday 8:00 to 11:00 and 13:00 to 14:00, other times by phone appointment. Bring your ID, any letters from the authority and your correspondence. The staff cannot give legal advice.
• What to state: your name and address, the authority you are suing (Stadt Köln, the Ausländeramt), what you applied for, the date you applied and that no decision has been made, and what you want, that the authority decides on your application.

Step by Step

1. Write down the application date and collect proof, such as the online form confirmation, the email or the receipt.
2. Check that your file is complete, and answer any request for documents.
3. Send one written reminder to the Ausländeramt with a reasonable deadline, and keep a copy.
4. Protect your status: keep the Fiktionsbescheinigung or proof of your application with you.
5. Count three months from the application date, unless special circumstances apply.
6. Decide between a main lawsuit and an urgent application if the delay causes serious harm.
7. File at VG Köln, in writing or on record, and keep every letter that follows.
8. Watch for a refusal, and if one arrives, count one month from the date it was announced.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general rules for a lawsuit for inaction under Section 75 VwGO and how it works at the Verwaltungsgericht Köln, current as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Your own file may have features the general rules do not cover. For a time-critical or complex situation, speak to a lawyer who works in immigration or administrative law, or use the Rechtsantragsstelle of VG Köln for filing and cost information.