The new law and dual citizenship

Yesterday the new law was officially passed that will make it significantly easier for many immigrants to obtain the German citizenship (in fact will significantly shorten the immigration process for many immigrants) along with the dual citizenship law. Before I get into the details, I would like to mention that Germany is considered the most preferred country to live in of all European countries and today it can even be said in the entire world. The possibilities offered in this country are endless, which is why many immigrants choose to build their new lives and settle in Germany permanently. You can find more information in the following article - Land of opportunities

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For many months there have been many debates among German politicians whether it is right to pass the new law and therefore shorten the immigration process or not. You are probably asking why not shorten the immigration process and make it easier for the many immigrants who are in Germany to obtain German citizenship? The main argument of the politicians was that actually shortening the immigration process harms the prestige of the German passport. Obtaining German citizenship is not a trivial matter and therefore should not be taken lightly, and for this reason the immigrant must work to obtain the German passport.?

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The very decision on the relief officially states that anyone could get the German passport without any effort and then this harms not only the German passport itself, but also prevents from immigrants understanding the German society better and integrating into it better in the long term. Of course, on the other hand, there were claims that since the number of immigrants in Germany has broken all records and today the whole world is immigrating to Germany, it would actually be right to make it easier for them in the process of obtaining German citizenship (which of course also comes with the German passport).

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First, I will detail what was up to now in the German immigration law for obtaining German citizenship. Here are?the eligibility times for obtaining German citizenship:

• You must have been in Germany for at least 8 years with a?legal residence permit.? As an immigrant you must also present your current identity and nationality (the immigration authorities in Germany should know this, excluding cases of refugees who are not immigrants and therefore some of them arrived in Germany without an identity and without documents)

In addition, you work in Germany (you have a fixed income) and you passed the citizenship test?(Einbürgerungstest) and the German language test?(at least B1 level certificate). For more information about the Einbürgerungstest, read my next article - Einbürgerungstest

For more information about the B1 level certificate, read my next article - B1 TELC prüfung (exam)

• You are entitled to German citizenship after 7 years if you have successfully completed an integration course?(Integrationskurs) which in the end also provides you with the citizenship test?(Einbürgerungstest)?certificate and the German language test?certificate (at least B1 level certificate). In addition, you work in Germany (you have a fixed income).

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What is the integration course? This course actually supports the integration efforts of foreigners through a basic offer for integration with the aim of successfully teaching them the language, the legal system, the culture and history in Germany. The integration courses are intended for everyone who is new to Germany and is not yet able to cope with everyday life with their German.

The integration courses were established in Germany in the year 2005 and their goal is to assist immigrants to know the German institutes, system and society. It is common to think that only immigrants from third world countries or the uneducated immigrants participate in the integration course, but this is not necessarily true. In fact, any curious immigrant who would like to integrate better and get more information about German society and laws can attend the integration course.

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• You are entitled to German citizenship after 6 years if you have passed the citizenship test (Einbürgerungstest) and the German language test (at least B2 level certificate). Or you have done integration services (integrationsleistungen). In addition, you work in Germany (you have a fixed income).

which means that you contribute to society as a volunteer for example volunteer in associations or organizations, or you assist refugees in Germany (for example you provide translation services for them)

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• You are entitled to German citizenship after 3 years if you are married to a German citizen and have passed the citizenship test (Einbürgerungstest) and the German language test (at least B1 level certificate). In addition, you work in Germany (you have a fixed income).
• Now due to the new immigration law, you are entitled to German citizenship after 5 years if you have passed the citizenship test (Einbürgerungstest) and the German language test (at least B1 level certificate) and after 3 years if you have passed the citizenship test (Einbürgerungstest) and the German language test (at least C1 level certificate). In addition, you work in Germany (you have a fixed income).

It can be seen that this is indeed an unprecedentedly short time for obtaining German citizenship.

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In practice, an immigrant who is entitled to receive his citizenship let's say after 6 years, does this mean that he will indeed receive his citizenship after 6 years? The answer is no, because the waiting time (processing time) for obtaining citizenship is several months (and could also take several years). In central and large cities in Germany the waiting time is longer because there is a longer queue of immigrants to receive the German citizenship.

Many immigrants share their waiting time (timeline) in the naturalization process in Germany and it is almost never going to be accurate to their eligibility time. Therefore, you should submit an application for the citizenship as soon as possible regardless of the 3, 5, 7 or 8 eligibility time, because in any case the waiting time (processing time) is long and therefore even if you submit an application before the time, you will have to wait many months (especially in Berlin since it's a large city and there is a huge queue of immigrants waiting for the results of their application process). And so, during your waiting time in any case you will already be eligible (even if you were not eligible when you applied).?

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Now I will explain the dual citizenship law. Until now, it was possible to obtain German citizenship through a naturalization process and to maintain existing origin citizenship only when the immigrant was a European Union passport holder. For immigrants with a non-European Union?passport, it was still possible to keep their original passport in some cases (depending on the country of origin).

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In any case, they should have requested not to cancel their original passport and write a letter to the German authorities and explain why they wish to keep their original citizenship. In most cases their letter was approved and they still had the option of obtaining dual citizenship. And now with the adoption of the new law, it has now been officially approved by the German parliament, so no matter what your country of origin is, you can still keep your original citizenship and not give it up.