Accelerated Naturalization Pathway Eliminated: New Five-Year Rule for German Citizenship
Lengthy Delays in Processing Citizenship Applications - Decision-making on citizenship petitions can stretch over a prolonged duration.
The fast-track route to German citizenship for exceptionally integrated foreigners, introduced by the traffic light coalition, has predominantly benefited a modest number of people in recent years. And, unfortunately, this option is about to be done away with, as shown by a survey by the German Press Agency among federal states and municipalities.
Under this now-defunct regulation, individuals with impressive German language skills and outstanding academic, professional, or volunteer achievements could obtain German citizenship in as little as three years of residing in Germany. In Berlin, for example, out of the 29,853 people naturalized between July 2024 and the end of April, 500 recipients of this special consideration were granted citizenship after a mere three years of residency.
Since the reform of the Citizenship Law, which took effect on 27 June 2024, dual citizenship is now the common rule. Additionally, the five-year residency requirement has replaced the previous eight-year requirement. The new federal government will keep these changes but will eliminate the option for a three-year naturalization period based on exceptional integration achievements, a move strongly supported by the Union and SPD in the upcoming Bundestag debate on 26 June.
The Political Landscape at a Glance
Subscribe to our free capital newsletter and stay informed about the most critical information of the week, expertly curated for you by our Berlin politics experts!
While only a handful of regions have utilized the accelerated naturalization process since its inception, the German federal government anticipated that just 1,500 people annually would take advantage of it. Reasons for its minimal adoption vary but principally stem from concerns about authentic integration and the potential for assimilated individuals to swiftly move beyond their initial naturalization towns.
In Brandenburg, five individuals have been naturalized based on the three-year rule; unfortunately, this is the only region that netted such results. In Hamburg, there were only five naturalizations. In Baden-Württemberg, there were 2,530 naturalizations with fewer than eight years of residency in 2024, with 16 of those occurring after only three or four years. In North Rhine-Westphalia, there are "few cases", while only one such procedure took place in Bavaria. In Hesse and Thuringia, there have been no reported instances of accelerated naturalization thus far.
As the three-year fast-track option for naturalization comes to a close, the German government will implement a standardized five-year residency requirement for all applicants, with exceptions for spouses of German citizens who have been married for at least two years. This new requirement, along with the necessity for German language proficiency at the B1 level, aims to promote a unified, streamlined, and extended process for acquiring German citizenship.
- The elimination of the accelerated naturalization pathway in Germany will impact the vocational training sector, as individuals seeking citizenship after three years of residency may no longer be able to quickly integrate into the workforce.
- The standardized five-year residency requirement for German citizenship will likely affect business operations, as it may potentially disrupt the hiring plans of companies that rely on a steady supply of talented and skilled workers from EC countries.
- The changes in German citizenship policy-and-legislation could lead to discussions and debates about general-news issues, such as the impact on theauthentic integration of immigrants, the potential for assimilation, and the role of finance in shaping immigration policies.
