German upper house of Parliament (Bundesrat) also passed the citizenship law which will allow foreigners to get citizenship of Germany in either 5 or 3 years. On Friday, the Federal Council (Senate) cleared the way for both the rapid deportation of rejected asylum seekers and for a faster pace of naturalization.
Faster naturalizations
The state chamber also approved a reform of nationality law. The reform is intended to simplify naturalization and fundamentally enable dual citizenship. In addition, foreigners should in future be able to apply for a German passport after just five years in Germany. It’s been eight years so far. Those who are particularly well-integrated should be able to become naturalized after just three years.
To receive a German passport, foreigners must – as before – commit to the free-democratic basic order anchored in the German Basic Law. The Federal Ministry of the Interior’s draft law states that “anti-Semitic, racist, gender or sexual orientation or other inhumanely motivated acts” are incompatible with the basic law’s guarantee of human dignity.
The new law is likely to be implemented in April 2024 after the signature of the German President on the law.
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).
Faster deportations
The plans include several measures to make deportation procedures easier. In the future, the police will, among other things, be given more powers in deportation proceedings. The state chamber approved a corresponding bill at its meeting on Friday. The police should have significantly expanded powers to carry out searches and determine the identity of those affected. In the future, officials will be allowed to search rooms other than the deportee’s room in shared accommodation, among other things. In addition, the maximum duration of immigration detention will be extended from ten to 28 days to give the authorities more time for deportation. The aim is also to force the deportation of smugglers, criminals, and those at risk.