The German parliament has repealed the accelerated naturalisation programme, which allowed “exceptionally well-integrated individuals” to obtain citizenship in three years instead of five years.
“A German passport must come as recognition of a successful integration process, and not as an incentive for illegal immigration,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told parliament on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Conservatives had promised during this year’s election campaign to repeal the law.
The rest of the new citizenship law will remain intact despite earlier promises by the Conservatives to annul innovations such as dual citizenship and the reduction of the waiting period from eight years to five.
Out of a record 300,000 naturalisations in 2024, only a few hundred went through the accelerated procedure, which was originally planned as an incentive for highly skilled workers to choose to settle in Germany, a country grappling with an acute labour shortage.
Candidates for the accelerated process had to demonstrate achievements such as a very good command of German, volunteer work, or professional or academic success.
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Source: Tanjug; Foto: Pixabay