Linguistic analyses (speech and text) have been developed with the academic world and are in use since 1997/98.
After applying for asylum the asylum seeker will be interviewed by a so-called asylum official (before: decider). If the reasons for the request for asylum or the knowledge of the claimed country of origin are doubtful and if the applicant cannot provide personal papers, the procedure for the speech-and text analysis will start. Under the supervision of an asylum official an interpreter will ask the applicant all important questions about the claimed country of origin regarding his/her social background, the education and occupation and daily life. This recording will be sent to the responsible section of the Federal Office. This section will choose the suitable linguist to do the analysis.
The most important point of the analysis is the language but also the knowledge of the claimed country will be considered. Thus the Federal Office is working with independent linguists who have the qualification (academic training which qualifies them in certain language areas) and also the knowledge of the countries. This will happen anonymously. That means that with reference to the data protection law in Germany the name of the applicant is unknown to the expert. Also the name of the expert will not appear on the report (only a coded ID). The expert's qualification will be attached.
The goal of an expert report is to establish a person's main socialization – not the citizenship – absolutely or with a certain degree of probability. The result of this report is one element to be considered for the later decision about the asylum application.
The basis of every report will be a sufficient recording. If it is not, the expert will give advice to improve the procedure of recording. The whole procedure of speech- and text analysis will permanently be developed and improved to grant the demands of all sides. This kind of procedure is accepted by the German administrative courts.
Last modification 24.11.2009