German citizenship can be obtained much easier

In Germany, a draft law on obtaining citizenship has been agreed – now it will be possible to obtain a German passport after 5 years of residence in the country, and not after 8. And not only.

In some cases, this period may be reduced to three years. The new bill was agreed between the three ruling parties – the Free Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Greens, informs DPA agency. On the other hand, the opposition bloc of the CDU / CSU – the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Unions – sharply criticized him.

For the first time the bill was presented by Interior Minister Nancy Feather at the end of last year. It implies that everyone who has lived in the country for several years and paid taxes can become German citizens in a simplified manner. The period of residence will be 5 years, and in the case of “special integration achievements” – only three years. That is, if immigrants demonstrate excellent language skills, special professional or academic achievements.

Another expected innovation is that when obtaining German citizenship, it will not be necessary to renounce the passport of your country (the current rules require renunciation of the first citizenship).

The new bill is expected to be considered in the summer. However, according to the CDU / CSU, it “devalues German citizenship” and “complicates the integration” of immigrants. Bloc spokesman Torsten Frei says:

“Obtaining a passport should be the result of successful integration, and not the beginning of this process.”

In 2022, according to data from the German Institute for Economic Research, commercial organizations were unable to find qualified specialists for 630,000 vacancies. A year earlier, in 2021, this figure was 280,000. If Germany does not work to attract foreign labor, experts say, then in 12 years the German economy will lack 7 million workers, writes TASS.