The German government has finally presented the changes it intends to make to its Citizenship Law, after months of warning of the same.
Revealing the newly proposed changes, the Ministry of the Interior has pointed out that while around 72.4 million people with German citizenship were living in the territory of Germany by the end of 2021, another 10.7 million residents were of foreign citizenship.
Of the latter group, around 5.7 million had been living in Germany for at least a decade, VisaGuide.World reports.
The proposed changes have been established in a bid of the government to enable these people to participate in the democratic processes in Germany, and enjoy the benefits of German citizenship, while also attracting more foreign skilled workers to come and fill in the job shortages the country is facing.
The main changes that the government intends to make, are listed and explained below.
Multiple Citizenships Will Be Allowed
The government has been working on some time now to remove the obligation for foreign citizens to renounce their previous citizenship in order to be eligible to become a German citizen. With the newly proposed legislation, the authorities want to remove these hurdles, and permit multiple citizenships, as several other EU countries already do.
According to the Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, the move has been long overdue.
“Many immigrants feel like Germans, but don’t want to completely sever the connection to their country of origin. In the future they will no longer be forced to give up part of their identity. We are completing the long overdue paradigm shift and allowing multiple nationalities,” she said.
Naturalization After 5 Years – 3 for Well-Integrated People
Another move that has been warned for over a year now is also the shortened required period of residence in Germany before being eligible to apply for naturalization. With the new law the government intends to shorten this period from eight to only five years.
In addition, those who are particularly well-integrated will be eligible to apply after three years.
“This applies to people who speak German very well, achieve excellent results at work or do voluntary work. We want to recognize the enormous lifetime achievements of the guest worker generation for our country. That is why we are planning to make naturalization easier for them,” Minister Faeser explains.
The following EU countries also allow citizenship by naturalization after only five years in the country:
Belgium
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Greece
Ireland
Latvia
The Netherlands
Portugal
Sweden
Further Simplifications For the Generation of Guest Workers
If the new law is approved, then guest workers in the western German federal states and contract workers in the former GDR, will be able to obtain citizenship by naturalization with only proof of oral German language skills.
This means that a written language certificate and the naturalization test will not be required for them.
Citizenship to Be Granted Through Ceremonies
Germany also wants to make the naturalization ceremonies a norm, and grant every new German citizen their naturalization certificate during such a ceremony.
“Naturalization is a reason to celebrate for everyone involved,” the Ministry says in a press release issued on May 19, adding that the new draft law stipulates that every naturalization certificate should be handed over in a ceremonial setting, using the national symbols of the Federal Republic of Germany.
>> The Unmatched Benefits of Having a German Passport
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