With the new law, transition to German citizenship will become easier and obstacles to dual citizenship will be removed. Those who want to become German citizens will not have to give up their citizenship of their own country. Thus, Turkish citizens living in Germany will now be able to obtain German citizenship without giving up their Turkish citizenship.
DECREASING FROM 8 YEARS TO 5 YEARS
With the new law, the time period for obtaining German citizenship is also shortened. From now on, the legal residence period required to obtain German citizenship is reduced from 8 years to 5 years. In cases where the person who wants to acquire German citizenship has school or professional success in adapting to the living conditions in the country, does voluntary work or makes special efforts to learn the language, this period can be reduced to 3 years.
“OPTION MODEL” IS DISAPPEARING
Children born in Germany will be able to obtain German citizenship if one of their parents has legally resided in the country for at least 5 years.
The “option model”, which was previously in force and forced a person to choose between the citizenship of their parents or German citizenship until the age of 23, is being abolished.
Citizenship applicants must prove knowledge of the German language and take a citizenship test.
GERMANY’S HISTORICAL RESPONSIBILITY MUST BE ACCEPTABLE
Those who commit anti-Semitic, racist, xenophobic or other inhumane acts, and those who do not accept equality between men and women will not be granted German citizenship.
Those who want to acquire German citizenship must accept the values of a libertarian society as well as Germany’s special historical responsibility for the lawlessness of the national socialist regime and its consequences. This responsibility includes the protection of Jewish life.
In the statement of the German Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was stated that those who want to become citizens in Germany must accept the values of a liberal society and said, “People who do not share these values or even act against them are not allowed to become German citizens.” The expression was used.
In the statement, it was stated that the list of questions in the citizenship test was expanded in response to the increasing anti-Semitism in Germany, and “new exam questions were added on anti-Semitism, the right to exist of the state of Israel and Jewish life in Germany.” The statement was included.
Those who want to acquire German citizenship must provide for themselves and their families without receiving social assistance.
CONVENIENCE FOR THE GUEST WORKER GENERATION
The written examination for naturalization and certain other conditions will no longer apply to workers who came to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) under the Workforce Agreement until 30 June 1974 and to the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) as contract workers until 13 June 1990.
Engelhardt Mazanke, Director of the Immigration Department of the state of Berlin, evaluated the preparations for the new law and what to consider when applying for German citizenship to the AA correspondent.
Mazanke stated that the responsibilities regarding citizenship issues were transferred from the municipalities to the Immigration Department as of January 1, 2024, and thus, it became possible to facilitate the process, provide central information and especially digitalize these processes.
Stating that citizenship applications can be made digitally, Mazanke said, “Thus, those who want to naturalize (German) can apply at any time of the day. You can also take the ‘Quick-Check’ test in advance to see whether you meet the naturalization conditions. This is for those who want to naturalize.” “It’s an incredible convenience for us, too, because procedures can now proceed much faster in individual cases.” said.
Stating that the new law will bring some convenience to those who want to become citizens, Mazanke said, “However, since many people have been waiting for this political decision of the legislator for a long time, we are expecting more applications. This will not shorten the processes, but will probably even take them longer. However, now the German “It will definitely be a great convenience for those who want to become one.” made his assessment..
“WE WILL DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO CONCLUDE THE PROCESSES QUICKLY”
On the question of whether the department is ready for the density that will occur, Mazanke said, “To be honest, it is not possible to predict exactly how many people will apply at the moment. There are no really reliable estimates. In this respect, I cannot answer the question of whether we are truly ready. However, we can process the processes as much as possible.” “We will do everything we can to conclude it quickly and efficiently.” he said.
Mazanke noted that he can say with certainty that they will not be able to finalize all the applications made this year.
Stating that until the end of last year, it was mandatory for a person to attend an “information interview” before applying, Mazanke said, “For this, an appointment had to be made and the appointment time was very short. This meant that a person had to wait for a very long time. Now this has become much easier. Because they can quickly check whether their criteria are met and make applications very quickly.” he said.
Emphasizing that they will increase the number of naturalized citizens this year, Mazanke said, “Last year, 9 thousand people became German citizens in Berlin. This year, we want to naturalize 20 thousand people. In other words, the number will more than double.” said
However, Mazanke stated that they received 40 thousand applications from municipalities from the past period that were not processed, and shared the information that an additional 20 thousand applications have been made so far through the digital application process.
Mazanke stated that when these are calculated and 20 thousand applications will be finalized this year, all applications will not be completed this year, and pointed out that applications will be made from now on.
Mazanke responded to a question about whether previous applications were processed first and the order in which they were processed, and that they decided on a mixed model in this regard.
Stating that they made their decision by looking at various criteria, Mazanke said, “Because we think it is not fair for someone who applies for citizenship today and fulfills all the requirements to wait for years, and it is also not efficient to always check in advance whether the time has come for this process.” he said.
Emphasizing that the completeness of the applications is decisive here, Mazanke said, “If there is an urgent reason, for example, if a person cannot become a teacher as a civil servant before receiving the naturalization certificate, then we are trying to bring such applications forward.” said.
Mazanke, who advises those who want to acquire German citizenship to first do a “Quick-Check” and apply digitally when all the documents are complete, responded to the question about how long it takes for the transactions to be finalized and said, “I cannot predict when the applications will actually be finalized. I cannot say how long the average processing time is.” because we don’t know how many new applications we will receive.” he replied.
Mazanke added that they expect many people, especially from the Turkish community in Berlin, to apply.
