The German government has presented its new citizenship law this Wednesday (23.08.2023). The legislation proposed by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser will make dual citizenship easier as well as naturalization for non-EU citizens.<

The new citizenship plans boil down to these changes:

  • Immigrants legally living in Germany will be allowed to apply for citizenship after five years, rather than the current eight; and if they have special achievements this can go down to only three years

  • Children born in Germany of at least one parent who has been living legally in the country for five or more years will automatically get German citizenship;

  • Immigrants above the age of 67 will be able to do an oral instead of a written German language test

  • Multiple citizenships will be allowed

People living entirely on state support will not be eligible for German citizenship. German citizenship will be denied to people who have committed antisemitic, racist, xenophobic or other defamatory offenses that are seen to be “unreconcilable with commitment to the free democratic basic order.”

The new legislation will be debated in parliament and could come into effect in the fall.<

  • You@feddit.deOP
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    1 year ago

    The usual suspects are against it:

    The opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has consistently blocked any reforms in the past, is opposed to the changes. “German citizenship is something very precious, and one should treat it very carefully,” CDU leader Friedrich Merz told public broadcaster ARD when the first draft was published in December 2022.

    The far-right anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is strictly opposed to the planned changes. "At a time, when two-thirds of Germans do not want naturalization to be simplified. A “sell-out (Verramschung) of the citizenship” is just intended to cover up a lack of integration and to “fudge” statistics, said AfD lawmaker Gottfried Curio during a debate on immigration in the federal parliament, the Bundestag, in May 2023.

    • ormr@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      Lol, of course they are. I’ll be glad watching these morons suffer in the nursing home once they’re old. There won’t be enough people around to wipe their asses or shower them.

      And I’m including all the old, politically illiterate people who are dumb enough to cast their vote for these parties every single time, notwithstanding the fact that these parties are always betraying their very own interests.

      • Sodis@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        There won’t be enough nurses anyway, because it is highly unlikely that Germany can attract enough workers in this and other fields, when it has to compete for them with basically the whole western world.

        • ormr@reddthat.com
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          1 year ago

          Totally right. And I’ll leave this shithole country as soon as I have the means to do it. One of the most backwards nations in Europe in some crucial aspects. Always has been, sadly.