In March 2026 the number of people who registered a first‑time asylum application in Germany fell again, this time by roughly 22 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. According to data from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, reported by “Bild”, 6 981 new applications were recorded in March 2026, down from 8 983 in March 2025.
Over the first quarter of the year, 21 617 refugees submitted a first‑time application, a drop of about 39 percent from 35 657 in the corresponding period of the previous year. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) described the trend as a success of the current government’s policy. “The asylum turnaround is working. Numbers are still falling” he told the paper, adding that the strategy of “control, direction and a clear edge” would be maintained.
“First‑time applications” refer to asylum requests from migrants who had not previously filed a request in the Federal Republic. A parallel decline was also seen in entries without a visa or residence permit. From January through March 2026 the Federal Police logged 12 147 such irregular entries – the lowest count since the pandemic year of 2021, when only 9 653 such arrivals were recorded. In peak years 2023 and 2024, however, each month saw almost 20 000 cases.
An internal security‑services report, cited by “Bild”, attributes the seasonal low in illegal crossings to a long‑term reduction in migration flows from the principal origin countries of Afghanistan, Syria and Turkey, as well as a shift of many travelers to alternative destinations such as France, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.
Since the tightening of border controls on 7 May 2025, the Federal Police have also registered 43 432 foreign nationals who entered without a visa or residence permit. Of those, 31 725 were immediately turned away – about 73 percent of the total. In 278 cases, entry was allowed for particularly vulnerable persons (elderly, sick or children). A decision by the Berlin Administrative Court holds that asylum seekers may not be denied entry unless it is first established which EU member state is responsible for handling their application.
