The city says its review of files handled by the former Ehrenfeld clerk led to the revocation of unlawful residence permits, affecting more than 40 people.
Prosecutors in Darmstadt have indicted four people, including Subha L. and her husband, over an alleged sham-marriage ring, and the court has yet to admit the indictment.
Bild reports the couple earned about 76,000 euros, while a defence lawyer cited by WDR says more than 20 men from India were involved.
Detlef Seif, the CDU spokesman on the Bundestag interior committee, wants the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees to audit the Cologne immigration office.
The city of Cologne has withdrawn residence permits that it found had been unlawfully granted through a former employee of the Ehrenfeld district immigration office. The statement, first reported by Bild, is the city's first detailed public account of the affair. Its review covered the files the employee handled, and every permit found to be unlawful was revoked. More than 40 people were affected, according to the city. The city has also changed its internal checks so that clusters of similar cases are noticed sooner.
Prosecutors in Darmstadt allege that Subha L. belonged to a smuggling ring that arranged sham marriages in Cyprus between Indian men and women with EU citizenship. According to the reporting, the women were Bulgarian citizens. Subha L. is alleged to have then processed and approved the residence permit applications in Cologne herself. Her husband and two other men from Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia are also accused. Bild puts the couple's earnings at about 76,000 euros, while a defence lawyer cited by WDR says the scheme involved more than 20 men from India.
Subha L. and her husband were arrested in Cologne in December 2025 and have been held in pre-trial detention since then. Prosecutors have indicted four defendants in total. The criminal chamber of the Darmstadt Regional Court is now reviewing the indictment and will decide whether to admit it and open the main trial. A court spokesman said the case could be heard as early as February if the indictment is admitted. Bild reports that the trial is planned to begin in February 2027. A 26-year-old co-accused from Kerpen is expected to be one of the key witnesses, and his lawyer told Bild that he will make a full confession.
Detlef Seif, the CDU spokesman on the Bundestag interior committee, has called for the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees to audit the Cologne immigration office. Seif told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger:
“We are dealing with a growing loss of control in an office that sees itself as a welcoming authority.”
Bernd Petelkau, the leader of the CDU council group in Cologne, had earlier described the affair as a 'scandal' on WDR. The city defends its own safeguards, saying decisions at the office must be made jointly, documented and recorded in the central register of foreigners. The city also says it is checked by various bodies even without a specific reason. It maintains that the former employee acted with serious criminality to get around those controls.
“The immigration office has several analogue and digital review options to largely prevent unlawful action.”
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The city of Cologne has withdrawn residence permits that it says were unlawfully granted through a former immigration office employee. Prosecutors in Darmstadt have indicted four people, and the employee has been in custody since December 2025.
AI text based on reports by Deutsche Welle, RP Online, Süddeutsche Zeitung and other publishers. Published .