Germany to modernize citizenship law, government says

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Plans by the government to accelerate the naturalization process to make it easier for migrants to become German citizens is making progress and is "almost ready," an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

"The draft law to modernize citizenship law is underway in the Interior Ministry and is also almost ready to be voted on within the government shortly," Maximilian Kall told journalists in Berlin.

"This federal government sees Germany as a diverse immigration country, as a diverse immigration society. We want to enable multiple citizenship and simplify the process of acquiring German citizenship. Naturalization should generally be possible after five years, unlike in the past," he added.

As part of Germany's immigration reforms, people who have already lived in the country for several years should be able to become citizens more easily. Instead of eight years, as is currently the case, it should be possible to obtain citizenship after five years of residence in Germany.

In the case of "special integration achievements," this should even be possible after three years – for example if immigrants have shown special academic or professional achievements or voluntary commitment or have particularly good language skills.

Children born in Germany to foreign parents should automatically become Germans if one parent has had their "lawful habitual residence" in Germany for five years. So far, this has only been the case after eight years.

For seniors who are older than 67 years old, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants to delete the formal language certificates previously required.

Reform of German citizenship and migration laws was a centerpiece of the coalition agreement between Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats when they formed the government.