Naturalization after five years
Traffic light agrees on reform of immigration law
05/19/2023, 05:20 am
After criticism from the FDP, the traffic light parties agree on a reform of immigration law: in future, people should be able to be naturalized after five years instead of after eight years. However, only under certain conditions. It will be more difficult for those who receive transfer payments.
According to a report, the federal government has agreed on a basic reform of citizenship law. As the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reports, citing Interior Minister Nancy Faeser’s 49-page draft law, naturalization is to be significantly simplified, thereby facilitating the integration of migrants. Above all, immigrants who have been living in Germany for several years should be able to become citizens more quickly.
According to the reform, the period after which people with a migration background can only become citizens after eight years of residence in Germany should be reduced to five years. In the case of “special integration achievements” such as good language skills, voluntary work or very good job performance, naturalization should be possible after three years, as the “SZ” reports.
Easier to naturalize children
Children of foreign parents who were born in Germany should also be able to become Germans more quickly. The condition: one parent must have lived legally in Germany for five years. Previously, this only applied after eight years. According to the report, Faeser wants to remove written language certificates as a requirement for seniors who are older than 67 years. Instead, oral ones should suffice in the future.
One of the important changes is that you no longer have to give up your previous citizenship. The old legal principle no longer corresponds to practice anyway, according to the paper. For years, most naturalizations have been carried out despite other nationalities.
The FDP in particular had criticized the first reform plans in November in the traffic light coalition. Faeser and Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann have agreed on changes to the previous plans and a draft, reports the “SZ”. It should be made clearer that certain criminal offenses exclude naturalization. Racist, inhuman or anti-Semitic actions are expressly mentioned.
“Economically Integrated”
In the future, public prosecutors should actively report such crimes to immigration authorities in order to prevent naturalizations in such cases. In addition, only those who are “economically integrated” and make their own living, i.e. do not receive any social benefits, should be able to become citizens.
There should be exceptions for long-term guest workers who lost their job through no fault of their own, or for parents of underage children if one parent works. The details of the design are being worked on, it said. According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the draft should go to the federal states and associations for a hearing on Friday. In the summer he is to be adopted by the cabinet.
“We want people who have become part of our society to be able to help shape our country democratically,” Faeser told the “SZ”. This is also crucial “to attract the skilled workers that we urgently need”. With the reform, immigrants would no longer be forced to “give up part of their identity”. This is a “paradigm shift”.
But the following also applies: “Racism, anti-Semitism or any other form of misanthropy stand in the way of naturalization – there is no tolerance whatsoever. Anyone who does not share our values cannot become German.”