German lawmakers on Friday approved a law making
it easier to obtain citizenship
and
ending restrictions on dual nationality
.
The government argues that the plan will boost the integration of migrants and help attract
skilled workers.
Parliament voted 382-234 for the plan put forward by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left liberal socialist coalition;
23 legislators abstained.
The main center-right opposition bloc
criticized the project
, arguing that it will make German citizenship cheaper.
The law will allow a person to be eligible for citizenship
after five years of residence
in Germany or three if they have “special integration achievements.”
Currently the residency requirement is
six years.
People born in the country
will automatically be citizens
if one of their parents has been a legal resident for five years, up from the current eight.
Restrictions on dual citizenship
will also be removed
.
Until now, those who were not from a country in the European Union and Switzerland
had to renounce their
previous nationality when obtaining German citizenship, although there are some exemptions.
German flags fly in front of the German Parliament.
Photo: AP
The government notes that
14% of the population
– more than 12 million of the country's 84.4 million inhabitants – do not have German citizenship and that around 5.3 million of them have lived in Germany for at least one year. decade.
In 2022, some 168,500 people obtained German citizenship,
the highest number since 2002
due to the
number of Syrians
who had arrived in the last decade.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the reform puts Germany on par with European neighbors such as France, and stressed
the need to attract more skilled workers.
“We must also
make qualified people around the world an offer
like that of the United States, like that of Canada, of which the acquisition of German citizenship is a part,” he told reporters before the vote.
What requirements are still in force?
There are demands that will continue to be valid, such as
support for the democratic order.
Furthermore, from now on it will be required as a condition
to admit "Germany's special responsibility for the crimes of National Socialism
and their consequences, especially the obligation to protect Jewish life."
Nigerian scientist Jospeh Ndjoli and his family hope to be naturalized in Germany.
Photo: EFE
The reform of the nationality law has been criticized by the opposition and, for example, the vice-president of the parliamentary group of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Jens Spahn, said that with this there will be millions of people
with dual nationality and conflicts of loyalty.
, just at a time when there is tension in Germany.
According to Spahn, the nationality law counteracts the efforts to reduce migratory pressure that led to the reform of the asylum regulations, which the CDU in any case considers very unrestrictive.
The new regulations also
increase the maximum detention time before expulsion
from 10 to 28 days to reduce the possibility that those affected, once released, escape the control of the authorities.
In addition,
the expulsion of members of criminal organizations will be facilitated
and expulsions without prior notice will be possible as long as families or children under 12 years of age are not affected.
The law also provides for new reasons for expulsion such as having committed
anti-Semitic crimes or having entered Germany with falsified papers.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on German public television that it was a success that the three parties in the coalition had agreed on the reform and highlighted that it was clear that the restrictions were not easy for the Greens to accept.
With information from Associated Press and EFE