German citizenship application processing times

You cannot become German just by being married to a German. The usual time living in Germany requiremets apply even then. Do you speak German? And are you prepared to renounce your non-EU citizenship(s) when you become German?

Yes, I qualify by the naturalization rules. I have lived here for three years and soon will be giving B1 exam.

I am just asking for citizenship application processing times at Ausländerbehörde in this forum post.

I doubt anyone can give a good assessment of such things because it is behind the scene workings in offices and things constantly change. Everywhere is backlogged due to Covid and there are still shortages of civil service workers. And with the rules for naturalization being set to be relaxed, there will very likely be an avalanche of new applications.

The other factor is that you are NOT given a choice of where to apply. You have to apply according to where you reside. Or do think it would be worth it to move from say Hamburg to Berlin just on the grounds that their office might process such a thing a bit faster? One living in Hamburg certainly can't apply in Berlin or Düsseldorf, only where they live.

Another thing is that nobody has a given right to naturalization. The tone of your comments sound rather presumptuous. Having met the residency requirements and passing the B1 German and citizenship tests are just minimal necessities for consideration. That is just the start. They look at the whole situation. What one's scores were on the mentioned tests, their financial, living and work situation? Have they had any criminal activity? Have they properly filed and paid taxes and social security obligations etc.? Do they own property, have assets - or more debts. One with long term residency for example can be getting social benefits like unemployment - but this disqualifies them for citizenship. In the end, about half of applicants are rejected - despite having the basic requirements.

Naturalization usually takes a good year to process and anything missing from the documentation will slow it down. And if something is missing, they don't somehow process everything and then when the last document arrives finish the process. They wait until EVERYTHING is given in and only then start to do anything. And they don't chase after you to get missing documents, it's up to you to keep informed on what is missing and see that they get it and that it's what is actually needed.

I can say that when I took the B1 language test, I was told  that the results would be given directly to the office processing my naturalization application. I thought that made sense so that they would know it is legit and not just someone showing up with a falsified document. I lost a good 4 months or more because they were waiting for me to show up and present the certificate. And they never would have notified me, I found out by inquiring on the status of my application.