Germany sees shift in asylum requests and acceptance rates
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In Germany, fewer people submitted initial asylum requests in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, while the acceptance rate for those requests has risen.
The German government reports that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees approved 47.4 percent of asylum applications during the first six months of 2026, an increase from 37.5 percent for all of 2025.
Family protection played a key role in these decisions, with 21,195 approvals based on this factor, representing 45.6 percent of positive decisions including cases with deportation restrictions. Afghanistan was the primary country of origin for asylum seekers during this time, and the government approved 89.3 percent of protection requests from people originally from Afghanistan.
A ruling from the European Court of Justice in October 2024 influenced these higher rates, establishing that women arriving from Afghanistan since 2021 generally have a right to protection. The Federal Office approved approximately 95 percent of applications from Afghan women. However, the total number of first-time asylum applications dropped significantly to 39,646 in the first half of 2026, down from 72,818 during the same period last year.
A new criminal code enacted in February 2024, which penalizes false or incomplete information in asylum procedures, has not yet led to many prosecutions, the office filed only three criminal complaints under the new rule, and one was dropped.
