On Friday, the German Council of States agreed to amend the citizenship law and abandoned summoning the mediation committee.
Based on this approval, it has become possible for those wishing to naturalize in Germany to obtain German citizenship more quickly and at the same time retain their foreign passport.
The German Parliament had agreed to amend this law two weeks ago.
The amendment includes the possibility of obtaining German citizenship in the future after five years instead of eight years according to the current law. The amendment also allows this period to be reduced to three years only for people who make “exceptional achievements in the field of integration.” These achievements relate to performing well in school, work, or community involvement.
The amendment also stipulates that children of foreign parents will automatically obtain German citizenship at birth if one of the parents has been legally living in Germany for five years. Current law allows this step, but only after eight years have passed since one of the parents has legally resided in Germany.
In addition, people who obtain German citizenship in the future will be able to retain their previous citizenship. This was sometimes possible in current law, for example for citizens of European Union countries.
Under the amendment, there will be no need to obtain special approval from the German authorities for German people who wish to become citizens of another country, as the current law provides for the withdrawal of German citizenship from people who apply for another nationality if they do not obtain this approval.
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