With good performance

Immigrants can become German more quickly

The German Bundesrat approved a new citizenship law on Friday. This stipulates that immigrants can acquire German citizenship after just five years of residence (see video above). The prerequisite is that they are able to support themselves without state assistance.

If they perform well at school or at work, have good language skills or are involved in voluntary work, they can be naturalized after just three years. Previously, immigrants had to live in the country for at least eight years in order to apply for German citizenship.

Dual citizenship, which previously only applied to EU citizens and some special cases, but not to people from Turkey, for example, was also approved. The reform also affects Germans who wish to become citizens of another country. They no longer require special permission from the authorities. Without this, they previously lost their German citizenship.

Deport criminals and smugglers more quickly
There is a further innovation in the Repatriation Improvement Act. In particular, people who have committed crimes, endangered others or smuggled people into the country are to be deported more quickly. Authorities will have more opportunities to locate people who are obliged to leave the country, clarify their identity and prevent them from absconding. In addition, people will be able to remain in immigration detention for up to 28 days in future, compared to ten days previously.

Some politicians expressed concerns on Friday that the new provisions may not be entirely practicable. There was an exchange of blows in the state chamber over the citizenship law.