Germany is reforming its citizenship law, simplifying the procedure for obtaining German citizenship, Deutsche Welle reports.
German authorities are planning to simplify the procedure for obtaining dual citizenship and naturalisation for citizens of non-EU countries. This reform has been in preparation since the centre-left coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) came to power in autumn 2021.
The following changes will be adopted as part of the reform:
- Immigrants legally residing in Germany will be allowed to apply for citizenship after five years, rather than eight as now; if they have special merit, this period could be reduced to three years;
- Children born in Germany to at least one parent legally resident in the country for five years or more will automatically be granted German citizenship;
- Immigrants over the age of 67 will be able to take an oral, rather than written, German language exam;
- Multiple citizenships will be allowed;
- People living on full public assistance will not be eligible for German citizenship. German citizenship will be denied to people who have committed anti-Semitic, racist, xenophobic or other defamatory offences deemed “incompatible with a commitment to a free democratic basic order”.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior reports that around 14 per cent of the country’s population do not have a German passport – that’s just over 12 million people. Five million of them have already lived in Germany for at least 10 years. In 2022, 168,545 people applied for German citizenship, which is below the EU average.
Until now, dual citizenship in Germany has only been possible for EU and Swiss citizens, those whose country of origin does not allow them to renounce citizenship (e.g. Iran, Afghanistan, Morocco), children of parents with German and other citizenship, refugees at risk of persecution in their home country, and Israelis. Syrians who came to Germany as refugees and are considered well integrated can also be fast-tracked into German citizenship.
The reforms will bring Germany in line with other European countries. Sweden had the highest naturalisation rate in the EU in 2020, with 8.6% of all resident foreigners naturalising there. In Germany, the rate was 1.1 per cent.
According to the German Federal Statistical Office, there are currently around 2.9 million people with more than one nationality living in Germany. This is about 3.5 per cent of the population. However, the real figure is likely higher, as the country is on the rise, with 69% of new German citizens keeping their original passport. People with Polish, Russian and Turkish passports top the list.
The opposition centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has consistently blocked any reforms in the past, opposes the changes. CDU leader Friedrich Merz told public broadcaster ARD when the first draft was published in December 2022:
German citizenship is something very precious, and one should treat it very carefully.
Members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party are strongly opposed to the planned changes. They state that “two thirds of Germans do not want naturalisation to be simplified and are talking about ‘selling’ (Verramschung) their citizenship”.
DW journalists repeatedly reported on the government’s plans, and in December 2022 interviewed several people who were affected by the issue.
For example, Mark Young, who said he had been living in Germany for 20 years and had long since grown tired of political debates. He noted:
Back then I would have been the keenest German citizen you could have imagined. But I refused to give up my US passport. Retaining your old citizenship does not mean you have split loyalties, like so many German conservatives claim. It just reflects who you really are. Changing it is way overdue.
Greta Agustini, a German-based lawyer who specializes in immigration, told DW in December:
The German citizenship law is based on the principle of avoiding multiple citizenships. Other European countries, such as Italy, Sweden, Ireland, France, etc, allow dual citizenship and they have less bureaucratic laws regarding this issue.
Many of Agustini’s clients tried to find a way to get German citizenship. She said:
They refuse to give up their home country citizenship, yet they also want to gain the German one.
The Turkish community, many of whom came to Germany the last time the country needed labourers, felt the impact of German citizenship laws more than anyone else: In the 1960s. During that period, West Germany made agreements with several nations to hire “guest workers,” mostly for routine industrial work.
Most of them came from Turkey, and there are now about 3 million people of Turkish origin living in Germany – 1.45 million of whom still have Turkish citizenship. Aslihan Yeşilkaya-Yurtbay, co-director of the organisation Turkish Community in Germany (TGD), says the reforms came “too late” for many of this generation, “but better late than never”. She said:
For the guestworker generation, this reform means recognition and respect for their lives and their work in and for this country. A lot of Turkish people of the second and third generation will, I think, feel empowered by it because they always had an identity dilemma. Many people have waited for this, and have maybe given up hope. And if it really happens, then I think many will become German.
Yeşilkaya-Yurtbay believes that Germany would have been a different country if the reform had been implemented earlier. She explained:
People would have identified more with Germany if that possibility had been in place. I’m sure people would have been more politically interested and more active in society if this opportunity had been there 20 or 30 years ago.
Mark Young also said that his own experience had given him “a little insight” into what people with Turkish roots have had to put up with for decades. He added that he had raised his children here and had no intention of leaving, and would probably apply for German citizenship once the reforms were passed. He said:
I would still apply if Germany allowed dual citizenship but I would see it now far more transactional in nature. I’ve paid my taxes and one day will be a German pensioner whether CDU leader Friedrich Merz likes it or not. Maybe that would change once I became German, but right now the bloom is off the Teutonic rose for me.
