The German Bundesrat, which is the upper hours of parliament and represents Germany’s 16 states, has officially passed the simplification of the citizenship procedures.
Following the Bundesrat approval, the citizenship law of Germany will now be majorly reformed, permitting foreigners to obtain citizenship and hold their original passport in addition to the German one.
The approval of the reform of the citizenship law came on February 2 after debates between delegates from different parties, with Mahmut Özdemir of SPD stressing that the new law would finally permit foreigners to keep their other identity when obtaining citizenship.
By allowing multiple nationalities, we no longer make people give up a part of their identity when naturalising. In many countries around the world, this is already standard.
On the other hand, Thomas Strobl of CDU did not support the new law. He said that citizenship should be granted only to those who have successfully integrated.
Germany’s new citizenship law is expected to enter into force in May of this year, and as soon as it becomes effective, foreigners will be able to gain German citizenship without having to give up their other citizenship.
In addition, under the new law, citizenship applicants will be subject to facilitated rules. Foreign citizens will be able to apply for German citizenship after five years of living in the country instead of the current eight years.
As for those who are married to German citizens, the waiting time will be reduced to just four years.
Eased rules will also apply to guest workers who started arriving in Germany from the 1950s and onward. This group of people will no longer be required to undergo a test. They will only have to prove that they speak German in order to gain citizenship.
Data show that around 5.3 million people who are currently living in Germany could be eligible for the country’s citizenship. Turks make up a high percentage of those who will mostly benefit from the new law.
As soon as the new law enters into force, around 500,000 Turkish nationals are expected to apply for German citizenship. Welcoming the new law, the head of the Turkish Community in Germany, Gökay Sofuoglu, said that in the long term, all those of Turkish origin in Germany who still do not hold Germay’s passport will apply for dual citizenship.
Sofuoglu further feared that the country would face difficulties in processing the high volume of applications.
Around three million people who have Turkish heritage live in Germany. Of them, almost 1.5 million continue to have Turkish citizenship.
