Invitation to the press event: Foreigners' Registration Office - Welcome Office
Presentation of the pilot project in Chemnitz on 9 September 2015
The "Foreigners' Registration Office - Welcome Office" pilot project initiated by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) was launched in October 2013 in ten municipalities across Germany. Cities such as Kiel, Magdeburg, Mainz and Essen as well as the city of Chemnitz are involved in the two-year project.
The Minister of the Interior of the state of Saxony, Markus Ulbig, the Vice President of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Dr Michael Griesbeck, the Saxon Commissioner for Foreigners, Geert Mackenroth, and Mayor Miko Runkel, Department 3 of the City of Chemnitz (representing Mayor Barbara Ludwig), invite you to a joint press conference on
Wednesday, 9 September 2015, 10.30 a.m., Bürgerhaus Am Wall, Room 4.100.
Both the strategic importance of the model project and the concrete improvements using the example of the "Welcome Authority" in Chemnitz will be presented.
The aim of the "Welcome Office" is to work in a more service- and customer-orientated manner through a variety of measures in and around the Foreigners' Registration Office of the City of Chemnitz. This is an important building block in improving the welcoming culture for all newly arrived foreigners in the city. The implementation of the project ends this year, so it is now time to take stock.
By way of example, various structural changes have led to greater transparency and better orientation. For example, a multilingual visitor guidance system (English, French and Russian) was installed. The acoustics were also improved through the installation of sound-absorbing elements.
The ordering system for applicants was completely converted to an appointment system in order to make the service more customer-orientated. This makes it easier to organise short and long-term appointments and eliminates long waiting times. In addition, six more employees were recruited over the course of 2015 and the team was sensitised to intercultural issues in various training courses, including by a consultancy firm.
The existing networks with the university and the Federal Employment Agency were further expanded, and cooperation with the Migration Advisory Council and the City of Chemnitz's Migration Officer was sustainably improved.
Another example of the implementation of the service concept is the interdepartmental brochure "Welcome to Chemnitz". It provides a multilingual overview of all important contact points for new foreign residents of Chemnitz. Last but not least, the Foreigners and Citizenship Office has been part of the Citizens' Office since 1 January 2015.
Almost 14,000 foreign residents currently live in Chemnitz, of which around 3,600 are EU citizens and around 10,400 are non-EU citizens. Of these, around 1,500 are asylum seekers assigned to the city.
The head of the responsible citizens' office, Anna Hanisch, and the head of the foreigners authority, Astrid Gertig, as well as the consultants from imap GmbH, who have accompanied the process at the Chemnitz location as well as at the other city locations, will also be available to answer questions at the press conference.