German Parliament has passed an immigration law related to nationality and citizenship that will allow non-EU nationals to get their nationality after three years of residence there. The law comprises a clause getting German citizenship after 5 or 3 years of legal residence. The candidates will also be able to retain their original citizenship. This will be a dual nationality concept implemented in many countries. The bill was passed there on Friday in a roll-call vote with 382 of 639 votes cast.
Who can get German citizenship in three years?
Paragraph 3 of the citizenship law has been described as follows:
The period of stay (for citizenship eligibility) according to paragraph 1 sentence 1 can be shortened to up to three years if the foreigner:
- demonstrates special integration achievements, in particularly good academic, vocational, or professional achievements or civic engagement,
- the requirement of Section 8 paragraph 1 number 4 is met and
- meets the requirements of a language test at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.”
- Has performed voluntary work (in Germany).
According to the law paper published by the German Parliament (Deutsche Bundestag, Drucksache 20/9044), foreigners who have a qualified right of residence aimed at permanent residence and therefore mostly stay in Germany should therefore be allowed to become naturalized after just five years of lawful habitual residence in Germany.
If those interested in naturalization have successfully made special efforts to integrate into living conditions in Germany (for example through special academic or professional achievements, voluntary work, or particularly good language skills), this should be recognized with an even faster naturalization option.
In these cases, the required period of stay can be shortened to up to three years, provided that the foreigner can support himself and his dependent family members without using public funds and meets the requirements of a language test at level C1 GER. With this accelerated naturalization option, Germany occupies an outstanding position in a European comparison. Successful participation in an integration course is no longer an independent reason for privilege.
How the number of annual naturalization procedures (currently an average of 115,000 applications per year over ten years) will develop after the reform of nationality law cannot be predicted with certainty. However, to get closer to a statement, a change in legal practice regarding the acceptance of multiple nationalities in the Netherlands can be used, which provides some clues about the development of naturalization figures.
Overcoming issues of 3 years citizenship eligibility
Due to the significant reduction in the length of stay for the right to naturalization from eight to five years, the previous differentiation between an entitlement standard according to sentence 1 (reduction to seven years if successful participation in an integration course) and a discretionary standard according to sentence 2 (possibility of shortening up to six years if special integration achievements are available) no room. The entitlement norm is therefore abandoned in favor of a uniform, flexible discretionary regulation.
If those interested in naturalization have successfully made special efforts to integrate into living conditions in Germany (for example through special academic or professional achievements, voluntary work, or particularly good language skills), this should be recognized with an even faster naturalization option. The period of residence for the naturalization claim, which has been reduced to five years, can therefore be further shortened to up to three years if special integration services are available.
The justification for the draft of a fourth law amending the Nationality Act states, among other things: has been stated: “When making the discretionary decision according to paragraph 3, an overall consideration must be made in each case, in which several benefits taken together can justify privileged naturalization with a shortening of the previous period of residence”.
Naturalizations in 2023
More people naturalized In 2023, around 200,100 people were naturalized in Germany, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Compared to the previous year, the number of naturalizations increased by around 31,000, or 19 percent. Approximately, 75,500 Syrian nationals were naturalized in 2023, a 56% increase from the previous year. Turkish and Iraqi nationals each had 10,700 naturalizations, with Iraqi numbers up 57% and Turkish down 25%.