Background:

To enhance process management and quality assurance, the Finnish Immigration Office is currently re-evaluating its processes and organisational structure. The Office is looking into cross-sectoral support for topics impacting various immigration processes and enquired from the EMN Member Countries if (i) in their organisations, there exists centralised support desks or functions for topics that overlap several or most of the core processes, (ii) how these are organised, (iii) what their impact is and (iv) how these models helped in achieving better uniformity in the implementation of the core processes.

Respondents:

25 countries responded to the query (including BE).

Results:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• Only a few countries (AT, EL, HU) have a centralized unit handling all cross-cutting topics in immigration processes. This unit works closely with various government departments and agencies to ensure coordination and efficient handling of immigration-related matters.
   
• Most of the other EU Member countries follow a decentralized approach or a hybrid approach. In EU Member States such as BE, IT, and LT, each department or agency responsible for immigration processes has dedicated support functions for cross-cutting topics. These functions work independently but maintain communication and collaboration with each other to address cross-cutting issues effectively. Other Member States (i.a. BG, CZ, FI, LV, NL, SK and SE) follow more or less the same decentralized approach, with in certain areas (mainly IT), a centralized support function.
   
• HR, CY, DE, LU, PL, SI, and RS have no centralized support desks or functions in place.
   
• A centralized support structure allows more effective and holistic management of various cross-cutting issues, such as training of staff, provision of assistance to asylum seekers, management of funding programs, and the standardization of processes and procedures, which can help ensure consistency and alignment across different units or departments.

For further details, please read the compilation of answers attached above.