Migration Agency (MiA)
About this good practice
The motivation for the change in organizational structures was the realization that a country of immigration also needs appropriate structures to support the integration process: Integration is a complex and very personal process process of a person's arrival. Especially in rural areas in particular, the structures and and services strongly determine the opportunities for integration.
The structure of the Migration Agency (MiA) is primarily oriented towards the needs and rights of people within the integration process.
The MiA principles:
-Concentration on one target group: One central authority for all matters concerning migrants, orientation towards their needs and rights in all phases of the integration process
-Customer-oriented thinking and action: Avoid misdirection within the administration
-Low-threshold access to the authority: open office hours without appointments, several requests but only one visit, people can ask their questions verbally
-Inter-agency cooperation: coordination of procedures along the entire integration process
-Joint case management: shared digital case files and individual case discussions help to take coherent measures together
Foreign residents can seek advice on all matters. Migrants receive their social benefits. Social pedagogues and network partners advise and support migrants in all matters of social integration. This also includes integration into work.
Expert opinion
Resources needed
BLK invested in a separeted building within the administration complex. Altough recommended, this is not strongly needed, since it´s sufficient when workers sit nearby, but having its own management. Additional resources are not required as its personnel would otherwise work at different offices.
Evidence of success
In Saxony-Anhalt, 7% of the total workers are migrants, while in BLK it is 11%, being the MiA the one that enabled the job placement of migrants. This process is faster since all workers are involved in the complex labor market integration (case management, short distances between departments, workers know each other, problematic cases are also solved more quickly, gaps are noticed more quickly and workers can react to them faster).
Potential for learning or transfer
A Migration Agency can be developed and implemented in any administration, that deals with integration matters. In Germany, the MiA is a unique structure, for which other German district administrations already showed interest.
This kind of administrative structure is highly useful in countries with federal structures, as the states are the ones having the integration competencies. In countries with a centralized national regulation of the integration processes, a Migration Agency wouldn´t be efficient, since the national competence would apply equaly to every region.
In rural areas, a Migration Agency can be particularly interesting, since having all migration-related departments under one roof solves the mobility problem with public transport.
Further information
Documents
VielFalter-MiA.pdf
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
