German Cabinet backs using AI to process asylum applications

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to legislation that would allow artificial intelligence (AI) to be used to help process asylum, visa and residence permit applications in a bid to speed up procedures and ease pressure on immigration authorities, reported dpa.

The bill comes amid persistently high application numbers and limited staffing at government agencies.

The legislation also aims to standardize administrative practices across Germany by creating a legal framework for the development and use of AI-powered analysis and decision-support systems.

Authorities including the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), local immigration offices and the Foreign Office would be authorized to use application data to train, validate and test AI models.

The measures would also allow authorities to analyse data from previously completed cases to identify patterns in decision-making, harmonize processing standards and pinpoint opportunities to accelerate procedures.

In addition, the legislation would permit automated checks of publicly available online information. Where authorities have reasonable doubts about information relevant to an application, they would be allowed to compare applicants' statements with publicly accessible data on the internet.

The government said AI would serve only as a support tool. Legal assessments and final decisions on individual cases would remain entirely the responsibility of human caseworkers.