Today, the Federal Ministry of the Interior published draft legislation to modernise Germany’s citizenship law – a key reform priority of the Federal Government. The federal states and relevant associations can now comment on the bill. The legislation would make multiple citizenship possible and would make it easier to acquire German citizenship. In normal cases, it would allow naturalisation after five years of residence whereas the current law requires eight years; for those who demonstrate a particularly high level of integration into German society, this period can be reduced to three years.

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said: "I am very pleased that through the new law on citizenship, we are implementing one of the traffic light coalition’s top priorities for our society’s progress. We want people who have become a part of our society to also be able to participate in our country’s democratic process. Positive examples like Canada show us that the prospect of citizenship is also a crucial factor in attracting the skilled workers that we urgently need.

"Many immigrants feel like Germans but do not want to completely cut off all personal ties to their countries of origin. In future they will no longer be forced to give up a part of their identity: we are carrying out a long-overdue paradigm shift by allowing multiple citizenship. We are also allowing naturalisation after five years instead of eight. Those who are particularly well integrated can reduce this period to three years. This category is for people who speak excellent German, achieve outstanding performance in their jobs or are active in volunteer work. We also want to honour the enormous contribution to our country which the “guest worker” (Gastarbeiter) generation made, so we are making naturalisation considerably easier for them.

"Acquiring citizenship is the greatest show of commitment to Germany. A person who becomes German is committing to live in our free and diverse society. That is why it is also true that we will not allow those who express racism, antisemitism or any other form of contempt for human dignity to become citizens – on this point there will be no tolerance. If you do not share our values, you cannot become German."

At the end of 2021, some 72.4 million German citizens and some 10.7 million non-citizens were living in Germany. Of the latter group, approximately 5.7 million had already been living in Germany for at least ten years. The number of naturalisations in Germany in proportion to the number of non-citizens who have lived in Germany for at least ten years is persistently low, and was just 2.45 per cent in 2021. Germany also has a particularly low naturalisation rate in EU comparison.

This shows that a large share of the people who have lived in Germany for years and have been an integral part of our society for a long time cannot participate equally in our democracy or in shaping our society. Our citizenship law therefore needs to be modernised in order to appropriately address the needs of many people with an immigrant background.

Above all, this includes opportunities to obtain citizenship quickly, which in turn act as an incentive for integrating into society quickly. Factors such as language skills, education, professional integration, civic engagement and civic knowledge are especially important here.

Commitment to our free and democratic constitutional system

Those who want to acquire German citizenship must commit to upholding the values of a free society. Particularly important among these values are the dignity and equality of all people. Those who do not share these values or who act in violation of them cannot become German citizens. That is why the following sentence has been expressly included in the new Nationality Act: "Acts which are motivated by antisemitism, racism, xenophobia or other forms of contempt for human dignity are incompatible with the guarantee of human dignity enshrined in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany and violate the free and democratic constitutional system within the meaning of this law."

The draft legislation also contains a provision designed to ensure that the authorities responsible for naturalisation are certain to be informed of any offences committed with motives showing contempt for human dignity. According to the draft legislation, in future the public prosecutor’s offices must provide the authorities responsible for naturalisation with information about such crimes upon request.

Secure livelihood

Those who wish to become naturalised German citizens must also be economically integrated. They must be able to support themselves and their dependants without recourse to social benefits in accordance with Book Two or Book Twelve of the Social Code. To establish clarity on this rule, the exceptions to it are now specifically listed in the law. These exceptions are designed to benefit groups such as “guest workers”, who came to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1974 or earlier, "contract workers", who came to the former GDR in 1990 or earlier, and families with dependent children in which one spouse or registered civil partner works full-time.

5. Additional benefits for the "guest worker" generation

"Guest workers" in western Germany and "contract workers" in the former GDR made a vital contribution to Germany’s economic development. In the past, they had little to no opportunity to take part in integration programmes. Therefore, they should not be required to demonstrate written German language skills or pass the citizenship test. Rather, proof of spoken German language skills should be sufficient in their case.

Public naturalisation ceremonies

Naturalisation is a joyous occasion for all involved: the new citizens can now participate fully and equally in Germany’s political life. And for the government, every new citizen who is now a full and equal part of the country is cause for celebration. The draft legislation therefore provides for the certificate of naturalisation to be given to the new citizen in a festive ceremony if possible, as part of a public naturalisation celebration featuring the national symbols of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The draft legislation to modernise Germany’s citizenship law is available here. (in German only)