Reinickendorf offers citizens VIP appointments-other districts outraged!

Reinickendorf offers citizens VIP appointments-other districts outraged!

Reinickendorf, Deutschland - in Berlin has a lively debate about the awarding of citizenship appointments. Representatives of the city councils and the Senate Chancellery are trying to moderate the discussion about a fair distribution of the appointments after the Reinickendorf district has launched a controversial procedure. Mayor Emine Demirbüken-Wegner (CDU) already announced in April 2024 that it would be a “special route” to relieve the appointment. The citizens of Reinickendorf can submit their appointment requests via an online contact form, which leads to faster processing. According to Demirbüken-Wegner, thanks to the citizens would prove the positive response, while other districts would criticize the procedure as "unsolidar" and "illegal", since the reservation of scheduled monone harms the other districts.

The meeting of the steering group made up for Citizens' Services that the accusation that Reinickendorf holds back contingents in order to give their own citizens an advantage. Demirbüken-Wegner clearly rejected these allegations and emphasized that no capacities were held back. According to a customer survey, the satisfaction of the citizens with the services is a remarkable 92 percent. Despite the success in Reinickendorf, the average waiting time for an appointment all over Berlin shows 33 days, which increases the pressure on all districts.

The system of preferred dates

As part of the debate, a possible 80/20 solution is also considered, which would reserve 80 percent of the appointments for all Berliners and 20 percent for the citizens of a specific district. Two other districts are followed by the discussion about preferred dates. However, the ruling mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner (CDU), has given up the set of 14 days for the appointment of the appointment, which also underlines the need for solutions.

The Reinickendorf Citizens' Office has successfully implemented its online registration measure for appointment requests since September 2022. Citizens can register their needs and usually receive an appointment within ten days. These dates can be booked up to 56 days in advance. Emine Demirbüken-Wegner emphasizes that the number of customers in Reinickendorf is high compared to other large districts of Berlin and the service applies exclusively to the residents of this district to efficiently operate local demand.

General information on making an appointment

The entire appointment booking at Berlin authorities is electronically and is free of charge. Citizens should book medium or long-term appointments for non-urgent concerns. Urgent concerns can also be described at the information counter of the citizens' offices in Berlin without an appointment. A regular review of online termination is recommended because new appointments can be provided every day. In addition, citizens can contact the competent court directly in the event of an impending failure of the deadline, but confirmed appointment booking is considered proof of the deadline compliance if there are statutory deadlines.

Overall, the situation in Berlin reflects the challenges with which many cities are confronted when it comes to access to administrative services. The debate about preferred dates could therefore be pioneering for future regulations, while citizens continue to hope for an improvement in service quality.