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Identity card: reform decided

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Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa

German citizenship law has been the subject of heated discussions for years.

Who can receive German citizenship and when – and under what conditions?

What happens to your previous citizenship?

And what nationality do children of foreign parents who are born in Germany have?

With its majority in the Bundestag, the traffic light coalition has now voted for comprehensive changes.

These are expected to come into force in April.

The approval of the Federal Council is not required for the project.

The background and innovations:

How many people are affected by the changes?

The Federal Ministry of the Interior puts the number of people living in Germany with foreign citizenship at around twelve million.

That corresponds to around 14 percent of the population.

Of these, around 5.3 million have been in Germany for at least ten years.

In 2022, around 168,500 people were naturalized in Germany, the highest figure since 2002. In previous years, the number of naturalizations was mostly relatively stable at around 100,000 per year.

With around 48,000 naturalizations, Syrians made up the largest proportion of those naturalized in 2022.

What requirements are there for naturalization?

The commitment to the free democratic basic order that has already been required is made more precise.

The draft makes it clear that “anti-Semitic, racist, gender or sexual orientation or other inhumanely motivated acts” are incompatible with the Basic Law’s guarantee of human dignity.

Following the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel protests following the Hamas attack on Israel, a further passage to protect Jewish life was explicitly added.

What is now required is a commitment “to Germany’s special historical responsibility for the unjust National Socialist rule and its consequences, especially for the protection of Jewish life.”

With regard to Russia's attack on Ukraine, reference is also made to the "ban on waging a war of aggression."

Attitudes that contradict this should make naturalization impossible.

As before, only those who can support themselves and dependent family members from their own resources should receive German citizenship.

However, there are exceptions, for example for former “guest workers”.

What deadlines will apply in the future?

People from abroad who have been living legally in Germany for a long time should be able to apply for a German passport after just five years.

So far, the deadline has usually been eight years.

With “special integration services,” naturalization should in future even be possible after three years.

This could be good language skills (level C1), volunteer work or very good performance at school or work.

Will multi-nationality be possible?

Until now, with a few exceptions, the principle applied: Anyone who accepts German citizenship must give up their old citizenship.

In the future, multi-nationality should in principle be possible.

The draft points out that many immigrants have so far shied away from giving up their old citizenship - also because of emotional ties to their country of origin or that of their parents.

Which regulations apply to children of foreign parents?

All children born in Germany to foreign parents should in future receive German citizenship without any further reservation if at least one parent has lived legally in Germany for more than five years.

Previously the deadline was eight years.

In principle, children born in Germany can obtain and permanently retain their German citizenship and the citizenship of their parents.

What language skills will be required in the future?

According to the Ministry of the Interior, “oral and written German language skills at level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” are generally required for naturalization.

The B1 level is reached when speakers understand the main points of a conversation and it involves “familiar things from work, school, leisure time”.

An advanced understanding of texts and the ability to write short, coherent texts are also required.

In the future, relief will apply to members of the so-called guest worker generation, who have often been living in Germany for decades.

These older migrants should no longer have to take a written German test in order to be naturalized.

Oral language skills must still be proven, but there is no need for a written naturalization test.

These reliefs are intended to honor the “lifetime achievement” of this older generation.

It applies to foreigners who entered the Federal Republic of Germany until June 30, 1974 on the basis of recruitment agreements or the former GDR as contract workers until June 13, 1990.

Can citizenship be taken back?

According to Section 35 of the Nationality Act, naturalization can already be revoked within ten years in the event of fraudulent deception or incorrect information.

The draft reform now makes it clear that incorrect declarations of commitment to the free democratic basic order can also lead to withdrawal.

How do the parties feel about the reform?

There was strong criticism from the Union in advance.

The changes to the law would “trigger additional pull effects in illegal migration” and would not be conducive to integration, said CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt.

He spoke of “selling away the German passport.”

The Union's domestic policy spokesman, Alexander Throm (CDU), described the traffic light draft as a "citizenship devaluation law."

The AfD pointed out that “citizenship is the highest good that a state has to offer.”

The draft law “softens the requirements”.

The SPD, on the other hand, speaks of a "long overdue reform" through which many people who have lived in Germany for a long time could "actively help shape social coexistence."

“We are dependent on immigration, especially because of the large gap in jobs and skilled workers that we have,” said SPD parliamentary group vice-president Dirk Wiese.

There had also been differences within the traffic lights beforehand.

The Greens announced that Germany was following “the international trend” with the adjustments.

In other immigration countries there are already shorter naturalization periods.

fek/AFP