2024-08-02 10:03:30
When it comes to naturalization, it is not the day the application is submitted that is important, but rather the law that applies at the time the decision is made. Nevertheless, the number of applications has now increased in many places.
The new citizenship law, which came into force on June 27, has led to a large rush at the authorities responsible for naturalization in many places in Germany. “In June, around 4,000 applications were received by the State Office for Immigration, which means an average of 133 applications per day,” an employee of the Berlin authority said when asked. There are no reliable figures for July yet. However, the State Office received over 5,000 applications between June 27 and July 21, which means an average of around 200 applications per day.
As the German Press Agency learned from the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, an average of over 5,600 applications were submitted per month in the Free State from January to May. In June, there were already more than 8,400 applications. The figures for July are not yet available, it was said. However, a further increase is expected. Given the number of applications, processing times could currently be significantly longer.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the processing time is currently at least 12 to 18 months, according to the Ministry of the Interior, and the trend is increasing. However, according to the naturalization authorities there, the majority of those interested in naturalization intend to keep their original nationality.
“Even before the change in citizenship law, more than half of naturalizations were carried out with the acceptance of multiple citizenship,” says North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister for Refugees and Integration, Josefine Paul (Greens). The new law now makes this the norm and thus also contributes to reducing bureaucracy for authorities and those seeking naturalization.
The Saxon Ministry of the Interior said that the length of the procedure depends heavily on the individual case. For 2023, it is expected to take 3 to 18 months from the time of application. However, it must be taken into account that there could still be considerable waiting times before the application can be submitted. This is because applications usually have to be submitted in a personal consultation at the authority, for which an appointment must first be made.
The new citizenship law formulated by the traffic light coalition stipulates that a person is now entitled to naturalization after five years instead of the previous eight years – provided the applicant meets all the conditions. If they have made special efforts to integrate, foreigners should be able to become German after just three years. The prerequisites for faster naturalization are good performance at school or at work, excellent language skills or voluntary work. Multiple citizenship is generally permitted.
All children born in Germany to foreign parents will now receive German citizenship and can keep the citizenship of their parents if at least one parent has lived legally in Germany for more than five years – instead of the previous eight – and has an unlimited right of residence. The so-called option regulation, which previously applied to young people who did not grow up in Germany, no longer applies. In order to recognize the achievements of the GDR contract workers and the so-called guest workers, the requirements for naturalization have been lowered for these groups.
The CDU/CSU and the AfD had sharply criticized the reform.
According to information from “Bild”, 3,300 foreigners applied for naturalization in Hesse this July, compared to 2,600 in July of the previous year. In Hamburg, 76 percent more applications were received in July than in the same month last year, the newspaper reported. In Bremen, the number was 41 percent higher, and in Schleswig-Holstein, 38 percent.