According to government plans, a three-year minimum stay should in future be sufficient in special cases to apply for citizenship. The Union speaks of “wrong signals in the world”.
The CDU/CSU opposition in the Bundestag opposes the governing coalition’s plans for easier naturalization. Your Parliamentary Secretary Thorsten Frei spoke in the “Rheinische Post” of “wrong signals in the world”.
The project of the SPD, Greens and FDP will increase the existing “migration pressure”. “Which country quickly gives citizenship to people who can’t even make a living on their own?” Frei said.
The parliamentary manager of the FDP parliamentary group, Stephan Thomae, replied: “We want to naturalize people faster who can make a living from the work of their own hands and who have integrated well”. This is not a wrong signal, but a “real incentive to take up work and contribute something to our society”. Thomae criticized the Union for failing to recognize that a modern country of immigration also includes modern nationality law.
Shorter minimum stays for naturalization
The first parliamentary director of the FDP parliamentary group, Johannes Vogel, accused the CDU politician of spreading fake news. The claim that German citizenship should be given to immigrants who cannot support themselves is “exactly the opposite of what is happening,” he said in Berlin.
Last week, the federal government agreed on the basics of a new citizenship law. The core are shorter minimum stays for naturalization – instead of eight years, five years should be enough, with special integration services only three. The German passport should be excluded for people who have committed crimes with anti-Semitic or racist motives. A prerequisite should also be that you can generally earn your living without social benefits.
Frei, on the other hand, said that no relief was needed. “For people who are well qualified and would like to live and work in Germany, the doors have long been open.” With the existing laws, “we don’t need to shy away from comparisons with other industrialized nations that are also trying to attract bright minds from all over the world.” According to the Interior Ministry, around 10.7 million foreigners lived in Germany at the end of 2021 – more than half for at least ten years.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
