Germany reforms citizenship law – DW – 08/23/2023
Germany reforms citizenship law – DW – 08/23/2023
Germany is reforming its citizenship law, streamlining the procedure to get German nationality. Dual citizenship will also become an option.
The German government has presented its new citizenship law this Wednesday (23.08.2023). The legislation proposed by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser will make dual citizenship easier as well as naturalization for non-EU citizens.<
The new citizenship plans boil down to these changes:
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Immigrants legally living in Germany will be allowed to apply for citizenship after five years, rather than the current eight; and if they have special achievements this can go down to only three years
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Children born in Germany of at least one parent who has been living legally in the country for five or more years will automatically get German citizenship;
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Immigrants above the age of 67 will be able to do an oral instead of a written German language test
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Multiple citizenships will be allowed
People living entirely on state support will not be eligible for German citizenship. German citizenship will be denied to people who have committed antisemitic, racist, xenophobic or other defamatory offenses that are seen to be "unreconcilable with commitment to the free democratic basic order."
The new legislation will be debated in parliament and could come into effect in the fall.<
This is a good step, but from experiences of friends and family:
The real problem with the immigration process here is that the Ausländerbehörden (the municipal departments dealing with immigration) are so incredibly understaffed which makes the immigration process hell for anyone applying without hiring a (for many too expensive) lawyer.
My ex-gf qualified for citizenship but wanted this confirmed and it took months to get someone on the phone. She then had to send her ORIGINAL birth certificate in and they only confirmed that it had arrived 8 months after sending it (not an extreme case according to other friends) and if you call them to ask if it has arrived you get literally yelled at.
My cousin also married an American and he reported the same, as well as multiple other friends: for whatever you want, it is many months of waiting time between every single appointment. For getting citizenship this sucks for many reasons, but it is even worse for all the people who can and want to work here, but will need years to get a work visa, even if you clearly qualify.
I am 100% for making it easier to obtain citizenship, but passig laws like this without massively expanding processing capacity will only make the reality of obtaining citizenship even worse.
I don't think the offices are understaffed, I think it's the endlessly complex processes that block progress. If it wasn't for all the (literal) paperwork and if they were more digital they could do more with half the staff probably.
This is everything I've heard about the Ausländerbehörden via iwantout subreddit too. That and not speaking anything but German. I think that's fine for normal societal interaction but if you want to encourage immigrants to come you probably need to meet them halfway. Otherwise they'll just go somewhere else easier.
I speak A2 but I would be very leery of trying to immigrate and navigate it all if I didn't have friends who could advise and assist me.
The usual suspects are against it:
The opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has consistently blocked any reforms in the past, is opposed to the changes. "German citizenship is something very precious, and one should treat it very carefully," CDU leader Friedrich Merz told public broadcaster ARD when the first draft was published in December 2022.
The far-right anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is strictly opposed to the planned changes. "At a time, when two-thirds of Germans do not want naturalization to be simplified. A "sell-out (Verramschung) of the citizenship" is just intended to cover up a lack of integration and to "fudge" statistics, said AfD lawmaker Gottfried Curio during a debate on immigration in the federal parliament, the Bundestag, in May 2023.
Lol, of course they are. I'll be glad watching these morons suffer in the nursing home once they're old. There won't be enough people around to wipe their asses or shower them.
And I'm including all the old, politically illiterate people who are dumb enough to cast their vote for these parties every single time, notwithstanding the fact that these parties are always betraying their very own interests.
I would expect AfD to be more interested in revoking citizenship than granting it.
This seems like an incredible step forward for democracy in Germany. We could use this kind of thinking over in the UK.
With the exception of oral instead of written exams and the three year reduction for citizenship, I think the rest is already in place in the UK. Germany has traditionally had more stringent requirements especially when it comes to dual citizenship (which was only allowed for other EU countries).
Interesting, I was unaware!
Any further reading you know of regarding what we use to deny citizenship in contrast to this new German law, as I'm unable to find something similar that the UK does?
Specifically this part.
German citizenship will be denied to people who have committed antisemitic, racist, xenophobic or other defamatory offenses that are seen to be “unreconcilable with commitment to the free democratic basic order.
No worries if not.
Multiple citizenships shouldn't be allowed.
Can you give a reason that goes further than that of a 5 Year old?
At least the current implementation of dual citizenship seems to only come with advantages, but not any drawbacks for the person holding the dual citizenship. And it that's the case one must ask why Germany (or any country for that matter) is seemingly incentivizing people to acquire a dual citizenship.
Also from what I understand dual citizenship essentially only comes with disadvantages to the country or countries permitting their citizens from holding dual citizenship. If that's the case, why should a country allow its citizens to hold dual citizenship?
I'd be really curious to hear why a country should allow dual citizenship outside of possible attracting a small number of people who would not attempt to acquire that country's citizenship if it meant they'd have to renounce their previous citizenship.
Im not OP, but I read one reason the ither day that made sense to me.
Those with double nationality will never fully commit to Germany, because if they fuck up, they can always go back to their og countries.
In case contrary, if they had only german citizenship, then its commit or commit. I mean they can probably alwys go back to their og countries, but at least it would be not so easy without double citizenship.