- Significantly more applications for citizenship in some cities
The new citizenship law, which has been in effect since June 27, has led to a significant increase in applications at the authorities responsible for naturalizations. "Around 4,000 applications were received by the State Office for Immigration in June, which means an average of 133 applications per day," a spokesperson for the Berlin authority told us on request. No reliable figures are available for July yet. However, the State Office has already received over 5,000 applications from June 27 to July 21, which means an average of around 200 applications per day.
As the German Press Agency learned from the Bavarian Interior Ministry, an average of over 5,600 applications were submitted per month in the Free State from January to May. In June, there were already more than 8,400 applications. No figures are available for July yet, but it is expected that there will be another increase. Given the number of applications, there may currently be significantly longer processing times.
Applicants must appear in person
The Interior Ministry in Saxony said that the processing time depends heavily on the individual case. For 2023, it is expected to take between 3 and 18 months from the time the application is submitted. However, it should be taken into account that there may still be considerable waiting times until the application is submitted, as the applications usually have to be submitted in a personal consultation appointment at the authority, for which an appointment has to be made first.
New law shortens deadlines
The new citizenship law formulated by the traffic light coalition provides that a claim to naturalization now exists after five years instead of the previous eight - provided that the applicant meets all the conditions. With special integration achievements, foreigners can already become German citizens after three years. The requirements for faster naturalization are good performance in school or work, excellent language skills, or voluntary commitment. Dual citizenship is generally allowed.
All children born in Germany to foreign parents will now automatically receive German citizenship and can retain the citizenship of their parents if at least one parent has been living legally in Germany for more than five years instead of the previous eight and has an unlimited residence permit. The so-called option regulation, which previously applied to young people who did not grow up in Germany, no longer applies. To honor the achievements of the DDR contract workers and the so-called guest workers, the requirements for naturalization have been reduced for these groups.
The Union and the AfD have sharply criticized the reform.
According to information from "Bild", 3,300 foreigners applied for naturalization in Hesse in July, compared to 2,600 in July of the previous year. In Hamburg, 76 percent more applications were received in July than in the previous year, the newspaper reported. In Bremen, it was 41 percent more, and in Schleswig-Holstein, 38 percent.
The increase in applications for naturalization can be observed not just in Berlin, but also in other regions. For instance, the Bavarian Interior Ministry reported an average of over 8,400 applications in June, indicating a significant rise in interest.
With the new citizenship law reducing the required residency period to five years for some applicants, it's likely that we'll see continued migration-related activity in the coming months.
