A Syrian national applied for asylum in Germany on 17 October 2023. An interview took place on 7 November 2023 and by letter of 20 March 2024 the applicant was informed that no decision could be made on asylum within the regular six-month period prescribed by law.

On 3 December 2024, the applicant lodged an action for failure to act because BAMF remained inactive for a long period without sufficient reason and requested the court to order BAMF to decide on his asylum application from the date of the judgment becoming final.

The BAMF argued that the action is already inadmissible and unfounded, because there is a 15-month deadline for a decision due to the high number of applications.

The Regional Administrative Court of Düsseldorf recalled that in line with section 24 (7) of the Asylum Act, the Federal Office must decide on the asylum application no later than 21 months after the application has been filed, this being an ‘absolute maximum period’. It ruled that the 21-month period specified in section 24 (7) of the Asylum Act is a maximum period that cannot be extended. Also, Section 24 (7) of the Asylum Act also applies within the scope of application of section 24 (5) of the Asylum Act which means that a postponement of the maximum period is excluded.

Apart from the legal obligation regarding the time limit to process an application the court took into consideration country of origin information, including the EUAA Syria: Country Focus, July 2025, when holding that there is no longer such an uncertain situation in Syria, on the contrary, the situation is fully reviewable by the courts and must be assessed accordingly. It noted the Assad regime was overthrown on 8 December 2024 and six months later as of 8 June 2025, the new Syrian government under the leadership of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has remained in power since then and exercises control over large parts of the country. It found that the governmental structures have been rebuilt and further consolidated. The court noted that the German Federal Office prepared since March 2025 a detailed country of origin report "Syria after Assad - Current Developments", which addresses factual questions relevant to the examination of international protection and the ban of deportation. Additionally, it mentioned other country of origin reports from the Austrian Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum in May 2025 along with an updated one still from May 2025 on the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic of the German Federal Foreign Office. The court highlighted that it cannot longer be presumed that there is an uncertain situation and a lack of material for the current assessment of the situation in Syria. The court also added that administrative courts pronounced judgments on the assessment of the current conditions in Syria.

 The court allowed the appeal and ruled that BAMF failure to timely decide on the applicant’s asylum request was unlawful and violated his rights.