Getting citizenship will soon be easier; The new law is in the final stages and the law will be considered by the parliament this summer: Germany

Germany's coalition government has announced that it is in the final stages of drafting the country's new citizenship law, which will reduce the length of time foreigners must stay in the federal republic before applying for a German passport. The law will face a Bundestag vote this summer.

"Getting German citizenship will soon be easier," an agreement is within reach. "The important details are as good as settled," SPD deputy Dirk Weiss said this week.

The plan to reform the path to German citizenship has been in the works since the coalition government came to power in September 2021. Now, if the new 49-page draft law passes parliament, immigrants to Germany will be able to apply for citizenship after five. years rather than eight years.

In certain circumstances, some people can apply for a German passport after three years of moving to the country, if good German skills, voluntary work or impressive career achievements are proven.

An important reform in a country where a quarter of the population has an immigrant background, Germany eases the path to naturalization for children born in Germany to non-German parents. Currently, children are granted German citizenship if at least one of their parents has lived legally in Germany for at least eight years at the time of the child's birth. With the new law, this minimum period will be reduced to five years.

In addition, the new law will allow non-EU citizens to hold dual citizenship with their new German passport. Until now, only EU citizens in Germany could keep their original passport and German passport at the same time.

After FDP criticism, the draft citizenship law was amended. In November, senior members of the FDP questioned the planned citizenship reforms, with the party's general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai arguing, “Now is not the time to relax German citizenship laws. No progress has yet been made on repatriation and fighting illegal immigration.

Now, the SPD's Nancy Feiser and FDP Justice Minister Marco Buschmann say their parties have approved the amendments to the draft. And these changes include clearly naming certain crimes that exclude applicants from obtaining citizenship, such as proven cases of anti-Semitic, racist, hateful or inhumane acts. Exclusion based on engaging in polygamous marriage or rejecting gender equality is also expected to be included.

The draft will be reviewed by the federal and state governments on Friday and is expected to be voted on in the Bundestag and Bundesrat in the summer.