Investigating human rights which is limited to the facts found by the municipal department MA 35 in the extension of proceedings – took no steps for several months. In both cases, the Federal Ministry of the Interior argued that the statutory decision-making deadline is not applicable to proceedings to authorise measures to terminate residence. As a consequence, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum could not be in delay. The law with respect to proceedings to authorise measures to terminate residence actually does not set deadlines for initiating such proceedings or issuing decisions. However, in the view of the AOB, this does not give the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum carte blanche to take no action for months and years. Confusing entry in the information system When reviewing the length of a proceeding to extend a residence permit, the AOB found that, already on the day the application was filed, MA 35 noticed the following entry in the Electronic Information System of the Austrian Criminal Police (Elektronisches Kriminalpolizeiliches Informationssystem; EKIS): “Authorisation of measures to terminate residence”. That same day, the municipal department MA 35 sent a written request for clarification to the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum. However, there was no response to the enquiry for more than seven months. Not until the municipal department made a telephone enquiry did the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum state that it never had any concerns regarding the issuance of a residence permit. The Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that it had compiled numerous records containing personal data from several electronic registers at the end of 2013. The EKIS entry was the result of technical problems during data migration – as in many other cases. However, an additional notation made it clear to all EKIS users that no proceedings under immigration law were pending in the specific case. Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum takes months to answer 66 In the view of the AOB, the confusing EKIS entry raised questions with the settlement authority and thereby caused an unnecessary delay in the proceedings for obtaining a residence title. The Federal Ministry of the Interior regretted the untimely response to the enquiry and justified it by reference to the heavy workload at the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum at that time.