Those who hoped to obtain German citizenship in just three years will have to rethink their plans. The Bundestag yesterday approved the amendment to the citizenship law which abolishes the so-called turbo-naturalisation, introduced in the last legislature by the “traffic light” coalition made up of the SPD, FDP and Green parties.
“The law has destabilized the country”
Now, the minimum deadline to become a German citizen will once again be five years. The amendment was approved after a brief discussion in parliament with 450 votes in favor, 134 against – probably coming from Linke and the Greens – and two abstentions. “It remains clear that social cohesion only works if citizenship is the final result of integration”, therefore the “accelerated citizenship law was a fundamentally wrong approach: it destabilized this country, it brought polarization, it did not help the immigration of skilled workers”, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the Bundestag. The German parliament’s vote reflects the rapidly changing attitude of German policy towards immigration.
The rest of the German citizenship law, which is presented as one of the most significant achievements of the previous government led by Olaf Scholz, will remain unchanged: the possibility of dual citizenship and the reduction of the waiting period from eight to five years will continue to apply. To obtain German citizenship, candidates must demonstrate that they have an excellent level of German, have carried out voluntary work or have obtained significant professional or academic results.
A tool used by few
The SPD, now a junior partner in the coalition led by Friedrich Merz, defended its support for the change, stressing that the fast track had rarely been used and that the substance of the reform remains intact. In 2024, around 300 thousand naturalizations were registered, but only a few hundred benefited from the accelerated procedure. The latter had been introduced as an incentive to attract self-employed and highly qualified workers in a country facing a serious labor shortage.
