The new draft of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, led by Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, was published on 19.05.2023. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, which describes naturalization as the “strongest commitment to Germany,” is actually planning many fundamental improvements for naturalization applicants. But there are also downsides and tightening – improvements are needed here if everyone is to benefit from the integration intended by easier naturalisation. Important – and overdue in order to keep up with other immigration countries, such as France, Great Britain or Canada – is the shortening of the required pre-residence period from 8 to 5 years.
In the case of special integration services, the previous period of residence can even be shortened to up to 3 years. In this respect, however, the conditions for the reduction will be stricter than for the previous reduction to 5 years; The following are required for the shortening to 3 years: special integration achievements, in particular good school, vocational or vocational achievements or civic commitment, as well as securing a livelihood and language skills C1.
With the requirement of shorter periods of previous residence in the case of entitlement naturalisation, there is also a reduction in the naturalisation of children born in Germany to non-German parents (so-called ius solidarity or place of birth principle). In this case, the parents must now live legally in Germany for only 5 instead of 8 years before the birth of the child and must hold a permanent right of residence. There are fundamental changes in the requirement to secure one’s livelihood in the context of entitlement naturalisation. In our view, the draft law has clear downsides at this point in particular: It is gratifying that the achievements of guest workers who entered the FRG before 30.06.1974 and contract workers who entered the GDR before 13.06.1990 are rewarded. This group of persons is also entitled to naturalisation if they receive social benefits under SGB II and SGB XII, provided that they are not responsible for receiving them. Persons who work full-time but are still dependent on topping up, as well as their spouses, life partners and minor children, can also be naturalized despite a lack of livelihood security. However, it must be taken into account that until now naturalisation has always been possible if the naturalisation applicant was not responsible for claiming social benefits. The restriction of this requirement to the generation of guest and contract workers therefore constitutes a restriction of the exceptions to the requirement of securing a livelihood. This excludes other groups of people from naturalisation who are not responsible for receiving social benefits – for example, because they are permanently unable to work, care for family members or are single parents. In particular, the exclusion of children of socially disadvantaged migrants compared to the current legal situation cannot be enforced with the aim of the project and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In our view, this tightening is counterproductive and disadvantages the aforementioned groups of people.
A most welcome change in the new draft law is the deletion of the principle of avoiding multiple nationality without replacement. According to this principle, naturalisation has so far only been possible if the naturalisation applicant gives up his old citizenship. In particular, 1.5 million Turkish nationals living in Germany will be able to benefit from the new regulation in the future. This amendment recognises that in an immigration country like Germany, identification with more than one country and one culture is possible and desirable.
The requirement of “integration into German living conditions”, which is strangely vague with regard to the naturalisation claim, is now to be replaced by the concrete naming of reasons for exclusion. For example, naturalisation is to be excluded in the case of polygamous marriages or a lack of recognition of the equal rights of men and women laid down in the Basic Law and in the case of persons who have attracted attention in the past through anti-Semitic or racist acts.
For guest workers, in addition to the requirement of securing a livelihood, insofar as they are not responsible for the receipt of benefits, the language requirements also do not apply. To compensate for the lack of language learning opportunities for guest workers at the time, the only thing that is required is that they can “communicate orally in German without significant problems in everyday life”. For other persons, an exception to the language requirements (level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) also applies within the framework of a hardship provision if language acquisition is not possible or permanently difficult for them despite serious and sustained efforts.
If the draft law is passed by the cabinet in this form and then passed in the Bundestag, it could actually contribute to increasing the naturalization rates in Germany, which are very low by international standards. The new draft law could make Germany more attractive for immigrants and especially urgently needed skilled workers. However, the interests of socially and financially weaker people must not be neglected – in our view, there is an urgent need for improvement in order to open up the prospect of staying and participating for those people who, through no fault of their own, cannot fully secure their livelihood themselves, for example because they care for family members or are unable to work.