The State Office for Immigration (LEA) was also affected by the hacker attack.

Anyone who has tried to book an appointment online with [the relevant organization] in recent weeks to book with the State Office for Immigration ( LEA ) or to submit an application for an extension of the Anyone who has applied for a residence permit may have experienced this firsthand: the application processes were inaccessible for days . This doesn't just affect follow-up applications after a previously granted permit. Visa , but also the extension of an existing one Residence permit . The reason was a hacker attack on the Berlin administration's data network, which became known in mid-August 2026 and continues to have repercussions today. For numerous clients – from international countries – this has affected many of ours. From skilled workers to companies that wanted to bring urgently needed staff from abroad to Germany – a technical malfunction suddenly became a real legal problem: deadlines continued to run while the authority was offline.

What happened during the hacker attack on the Berlin administration?

From August 7th to 12th, 2026, the group Rhysida attacked the Berlin state network and, according to their own statements, stole approximately 5.7 terabytes of data . According to current information, the Senate Departments for Transport and Construction were primarily affected; the hackers are now demanding the equivalent of around two million euros in Bitcoin and are threatening to publish the data on the dark web if the state of Berlin does not pay. Governing Mayor Kai Wegner has publicly stated that Berlin will not be blackmailed. However, the attack meant that numerous digital applications – including the application portals of the [unclear - possibly "the Senate Department for Transport and Urban Development"] – were compromised, impacting the IT security of the administration. State Office for Immigration – were temporarily taken offline.

What consequences did the outage have for applications at the State Office for Immigration ?

This is precisely where our daily practice comes in: clients who have an appointment to extend their Residence permit or to apply for a Those needing an EU Blue Card were unable to get through the online system for days. Who knows how tight the deadlines were at the [relevant office/organization]. Anyone who is already familiar with the State Office for Immigration knows what a chain reaction a system outage lasting several days would trigger. It becomes particularly critical if the existing system... The residence permit expires precisely during this period. According to Section 81 Paragraph 4 of the Residence Act, a residence permit is only automatically considered valid (so-called continued validity) if the renewal application was submitted before its expiry. If an application simply could not be submitted due to the hacking attack, a formal gap in the residence status was imminent – with consequences for work permits, travel eligibility, and in the worst case, for the The employment contract itself.

Can a missed deadline due to the system failure be rectified?

From our experience with hundreds of similar cases, we know: The Immigration authorities handle such situations very differently in practice, and not every case worker automatically recognizes a system failure as a valid excuse. The legally relevant option is reinstatement to the previous status under Section 32 of the Administrative Procedure Act: Anyone who misses a deadline through no fault of their own can apply for reinstatement, but must do so actively within two weeks of the obstacle ceasing to exist and provide evidence of the failure – for example, through screenshots of the error message, support tickets, or legal documentation of the failure. Those who remain inactive or rely on an informal declaration risk the authority later attributing the missed deadline to the applicant. If the authority remains inactive for months despite proven failure and repeated inquiries, an action for failure to act may also be brought. Appeal to a court pursuant to Section 75 of the Administrative Court Procedure Act is an option – a step that many affected parties shy away from, but which in persistent cases is the only way to reach a decision.

Has the hacker attack also affected the personal data of applicants?

According to Senate spokeswoman Christine Richter, it is not yet entirely clear which data exactly was leaked; all systems of the state of Berlin are currently being checked to determine whether further areas are affected. Should personal data of applicants also be compromised, this will be investigated. If the State Office for Immigration is affected, the authority's reporting obligation to the data protection supervisory authority and the data subjects applies, according to Articles 33 and 34 of the GDPR. In this context, the Chaos Computer Club explicitly warns against identity theft and extortion attempts using supposedly "intimate knowledge" of those affected. Anyone who submitted personal data to a Berlin authority during the relevant period should not ignore suspicious emails, alleged ransom demands, or unusual contact attempts, but rather document them and have them legally reviewed.

What does the situation mean specifically for international Skilled workers and employers?

For companies that skilled workers from the USA , Bringing employees from Great Britain or Canada to Berlin is more than just a nuisance when the application portal is blocked for days: it jeopardizes hiring deadlines, project launches, and potentially the entire personnel planning. Especially when it comes to... When it comes to skilled worker immigration, every day counts, especially when a new team member is urgently needed. Anyone relying solely on hope in this situation, or attempting to submit an application independently via an online form, risks overlooking crucial documentation or deadlines. Our experience shows that, particularly in exceptional circumstances like system outages, the authorities scrutinize applications very carefully to ensure they are formally complete and submitted on time – a fact that legal tech tools or standard templates from the internet cannot replicate, as they do not reflect the specific administrative practices of the authorities. do not know the State Office for Immigration .

Conclusion

The cyberattack on the Berlin administration has demonstrated how quickly a technical glitch can escalate into a risk to one's residency rights. Anyone who was unable to submit an application in time during the outage should thoroughly document the incident, actively request reinstatement of their previous status, and, if in doubt, seek legal advice early on, rather than relying on automatic leniency from the authorities. We offer our support. Skilled workers , employers and their families are supported in legally resolving any delays and securing their permanent residency status.