On 29 July 2026 the federal cabinet approved a bill on the use of artificial intelligence in the migration field — the KI-Migrationsverwaltungsgesetz (KIMVG). Authorities will be able to train AI on applicants' data and automatically check information against open sources on the internet. If you or people you know have an open asylum procedure or an application to extend an Aufenthaltstitel, this is not abstract news.
What the bill allows
- Processing applicants' data «zum Entwickeln, insbesondere zum Trainieren, Validieren und Testen von KI-Systemen» — the new § 7 Abs. 2a AsylG and § 86 Abs. 2 AufenthG
- Automatically checking individual pieces of information against open sources on the internet where there are reasonable doubts about their accuracy — the new § 7b AsylG and § 90e AufenthG
- Analysing completed procedures and decision-making practice (Verfahrensmonitoring) — § 7a AsylG, § 90d AufenthG
- Authorities covered: BAMF, the Ausländerbehörden of the federal states, the Federal Foreign Office with its missions abroad, the Bundesverwaltungsamt, the Bundespolizei and the state police forces
The logic is clear: German bureaucracy has long needed to speed up, and technology really can help here. The question is how exactly it is being introduced.
What the bill builds in as limits
There are limits in the text and they are worth knowing. Biometric data is excluded from both instruments. Data obtained from the internet check is deleted immediately, and further processing for other purposes is prohibited. The results of the Verfahrensmonitoring may not be used for profiling within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 4 GDPR, and building or using discriminatory algorithms is prohibited. Contractors must be located in the EU or in a Schengen-associated state; transferring data outside that area is prohibited.
On the human decision the wording in the bill is direct: «Die individuelle Prüfung und Entscheidung bleiben dabei vollständig in der Verantwortung der zuständigen Mitarbeitenden. Automatisierte Verfahren ersetzen weder die rechtliche Würdigung noch prägen sie Entscheidungen verbindlich vor». For the internet check this is also written into the rules: BAMF has to assess the results of the check manually.
The practical question remains all the same: when an algorithm «recommends» a rejection, how many case officers argue with it?
A separate detail: no opinions were collected
The bill itself states that the involvement of the interested associations and third parties is «aufgrund einer fehlenden Außenwirkung dieser gesetzlichen Regelung nicht erforderlich» — that is, not required. To date there is no official opinion from the federal data protection commissioner on the KIMVG.
For a law that permits training AI on applicants' personal data, the absence of external scrutiny is a notable fact in itself.
Frequently asked questions
No. On 29 July 2026 the cabinet approved the bill, and on 14 August it went to the Bundesrat for its first passage (BR-Drs. 452/26), with the states having until 25 September 2026 to state their position. The document has not yet been introduced in the Bundestag. Entry into force is set for the day after promulgation.
Under the text of the bill, no: the legal assessment and the final decision remain with the official handling the case, and BAMF has to assess the results of the automatic internet check manually. A ban on fully automated decisions is not, however, set out as a separate provision in the bill.
The bill permits comparison with publicly available data from the internet — but only for individual pieces of information that are material to the decision, and only where there are reasonable doubts about their accuracy. Biometrics are excluded, and the data obtained must be deleted immediately.
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