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A woman shows her naturalization certificate
Photo: Jens Wolf/ DPA
In recent years, many people from Syria have sought protection from the terror of the »Islamic State« and the Assad regime in Germany.
Experts estimate that a large proportion of the refugees will receive German citizenship in the coming years.
"We are observing a far above-average motivation for naturalization among the group of refugees from Syria," said Jan Schneider, head of the scientific staff of the Advisory Council on Integration and Migration (SVR).
Schneider presented a forecast for the naturalization of refugees.
The expected rush could possibly even lead to bottlenecks in the administration.
For the period 2022 to 2024, according to the committee, a very conservative estimate is that 39,000 people who have fled Syria will be naturalized.
"If the current momentum were maintained, it could even be 157,000 in the same period - provided the authorities can process such a large number of applications without massive delays," said Schneider.
The possible naturalizations forecast by the SVR would come in addition to the usual volume of around 110,000 naturalizations per year in recent years.
Well above forecasts
The naturalization figures for 2021 published a few days ago were significantly higher than the previous SVR forecasts, said Schneider.
One reason for this is probably that around three out of ten Syrians were naturalized after just six years in Germany due to good integration performance.
A large number of children and young people have also been “naturalised” so to speak.
In addition, there were probably catch-up effects because the capacities in the authorities in 2020 were lower than usual due to the corona pandemic.
In Germany, 20 percent more people were naturalized last year than in the previous year - most of them came from Syria.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, a total of 131,600 foreigners were naturalized in 2021.
Among them were 19,100 Syrian nationals, almost three times the number in 2020.
Naturalization is open to people who have had their habitual and legal residence in Germany for eight years.
This period can be reduced to seven years after successful completion of an integration course, or to six years in the case of special integration achievements.
Another requirement is that you can secure your own livelihood.
mrc/dpa
