2023-08-23 18:04:54
Berlin. The Draft Law on the Modernization of German Citizenship Rights, which facilitates the conditions for ‘dual citizenship’ and acquiring German citizenship in Germany, was accepted by the Council of Ministers. With the bill titled “Modernization of the Citizenship Law” prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the right to dual citizenship, which was previously applied to citizens of a limited number of countries, will be expanded to everyone.
The coalition government formed by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens in Germany has approved facilitating the transition to German citizenship and removing the obstacle to dual citizenship. According to the news published by VOA Turkish, the regulation that facilitates the issues that immigrants, especially those of Turkish origin, have been struggling to have accepted for many years was discussed at the cabinet meeting today. Before the cabinet meeting, Federal Minister of Internal Affairs Nancy Faeser said that the modernization of citizenship rights is one of the most important projects of the government and said: “Many people of immigrant origin feel German, but they do not want to completely sever their relations and ties with the country of their origin. “These people will no longer be forced to give up part of their identity in the future,” he said.
“A modern citizenship law will be a decisive key to competitiveness,” said Faeser, adding that the reform is an important factor for strengthening Germany as a global business centre. “We are in the middle of a global competition for the best minds,” said the minister, adding, “We will win them over by giving them citizenship more easily so that they can be a full part of our society in the future.”
5 years to wait for citizenship
The bill will become law after being passed by parliament in the coming weeks. The opposition opposes the bill. The unity parties CDU/CSU and the far-right AfD accuse the government of wanting to corrupt Germany and German society by making it easier to obtain German citizenship. According to end-2021 data, there are approximately 72.4 million German citizens and approximately 10.7 million immigrant foreign citizens in Germany, which has a population of 83.1 million.
One of the most important features of the new law is that the waiting period for naturalization, which is currently eight years, will be reduced to five years. For immigrants who have achieved great economic and social success in adapting to Germany, a waiting period of three years will be sufficient for their applications for naturalization.
If one of the parents has legally resided in Germany for 5 years, their children born in Germany will automatically acquire German citizenship. Parents will also have the right to dual citizenship while retaining their citizenship.
Possibility of dual citizenship
One of the most important changes that the law contains and will bring for Turkish citizens is the right to dual citizenship. With the new regulation, Turkish citizens will be able to obtain German citizenship without renouncing their citizenship. Legalizing dual citizenship will eliminate discrimination, especially against Turks.
The German citizenship law has until now provided the opportunity for dual citizenship to EU and Swiss citizens and citizens of many countries, but it did not grant this right to Turkish citizens, who are the largest immigrant group in the country. The fact that Germany is one of the countries with the least dual citizenship in Europe due to existing laws and that it directly excludes Turkish citizens from this issue has been criticized by organizations representing Turks for years. More than 3 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany. However, only 9.8 percent of them have both German and Turkish citizenship.
According to the citizenship bill, it will be easier for people of immigrant origin over the age of 67, defined as the “first generation of foreign workers” in Germany, to become German citizens, and the written German language test for these people will be terminated. Only a verbal meeting will be considered sufficient. They will also be allowed to retain their former citizenship.
No citizenship for racists
The new citizenship law includes that German citizenship will not be granted to people who are proven to have committed anti-Semitic, racist, xenophobic or inhumane crimes.
According to the new draft law, polygamists and people who “by their behavior show that they violate the constitutional principle that men and women have equal rights” will not be able to become German citizens. In addition, people who serve in the army of another country or participate in armed conflicts in a terrorist organization will not be able to become citizens.
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