German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has just signed a new Nationality Law, allowing German citizens to have another nationality and creating favorable conditions for foreign citizens to acquire German citizenship more easily.
The Bundesgesetzblatt newspaper (Federal Law Gazette) reported that the Nationality Law was passed by the German Parliament (Bundestag) in January, with many changes. These include cutting the time applicants have to live in the country and lifting the ban on dual citizenship for people coming from outside the European Union (EU).
Specifically, the law has a provision allowing non-EU citizens with a residence permit in Germany to naturalize after only 5 years in the country (after 3 years in special cases) without having to renounce their citizenship. original nationality, which means it is possible to have 2 nationalities. Children born in Germany will automatically become citizens if one parent has been a legal resident for five years, down from eight years.
Once signed into law by the Federal President, the law will automatically take effect 14 days later. However, because the new Nationality Law requires administrative agencies to adjust many processes, it will take more time before the law takes effect. No specific date has been set but authorities have been given three months to prepare, meaning the law will take effect around June 3.
According to Al Jazeera, Germany is one of the countries with the most restrictive naturalization laws in the world, with citizenship only available to those who can prove German ancestry. Dual citizenship is only allowed for citizens of other countries in the EU. According to observers, this change to the Nationality Law will allow tens of thousands of Turks living in Germany to qualify to become German citizens.
The Financial Times cited official statistics showing that about 10 million people living in Germany do not have a German passport and 5,7 million of them have lived in the country for at least 10 years.
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