International Desk: By withdrawing a ban that has been in place for several decades, the German government has made some progress in easing the way for immigrants to take dual citizenship. The victims think that this system, which is in operation in different parts of the world, should have been introduced long ago for everyone in Germany.
The German government says the drafting of a new citizenship law is in its final stages. Interior Minister Nancy Fesser’s proposed law would make it easier for dual citizens and non-EU nationals to obtain German citizenship.
In Germany, in the fall of 2021, a coalition of Social Democrats, Greens, and Free Democrats took the initiative to change the citizenship law. Deutsche Welle has published many reports on this topic.
Last December, a report was also published about the victims of not getting dual citizenship. One such ‘damaged’ Mark Young thinks that dual citizenship should have been introduced in Germany ten years earlier.
He said, ‘At that time, I was very interested in getting German citizenship. However, I did not want to leave the US. Retaining the previous passport does not mean dividing allegiance, as many conservative Germans believe. It just reveals who you are. This change should have been made long ago.’
Yang said he has been living in Germany for the past twenty years. He is tired of hearing political discussions about dual citizenship. The main goal of the initiative to change immigration laws by the coalition led by the Social Democrats is to bring more skilled workers to Germany to alleviate the country’s labor shortage.
Immigrants legally residing in Germany can apply for citizenship after five years of residence. Currently, it can be done after eight years. A child born in Germany is automatically considered for German citizenship if at least one of the parents has legally resided in Germany for five years or more.
They will be allowed dual citizenship. In Germany, the opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has, however, repeatedly rejected such reform proposals when in power in the past. “German citizenship is something very valuable, so it should be treated with care,” party leader Friedrich Meyerz told ARD in an interview last December.
Note that nobody currently has dual citizenship in Germany; this is not the case. The possibility of obtaining dual citizenship in special cases is still present, but it is quite limited and not applicable to everyone. The new law will make it much easier.
