The day that many internationals in Germany have been waiting for has finally arrived. The country’s new dual citizenship law comes into effect today, June 27, 2024.

New citizenship law adopted in Germany

After a long and rocky road to implementation, every step of which IamExpat covered in detail, Germany’s dual citizenship law comes into force today.

In a press release documenting the monumental new law, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said that the reform was a “recognition of a modern Germany” and would strengthen the country’s position internationally.

“There have been many debates about citizenship law in the past, which have been characterised by exclusion and propaganda,” Faeser continued. “These debates have taken place on the backs of people who have lived and worked in Germany for many years but have never been able to fully belong. The reform shows them, you belong to Germany.”

Am I eligible for German citizenship?

The new law means that if you have been a resident in Germany for just five years you may be eligible for a German passport, regardless of whether you currently have temporary or permanent residence status. If you can show particularly impressive achievements in work or volunteering roles and speak German at C1 level, you can apply for citizenship after just three years of living in Germany.

If you apply and are granted a passport you will be able to keep your original nationality and have dual German citizenship, which was previously only the case for EU citizens, refugees and those who gained citizenship through ancestry.

Eligibility requirements are also set to loosen for children and members of the “Gastarbeiter” generation. However, the law is also being tightened when it comes to how claiming certain benefits - such as Arbeitslosengeld or Bürgergeld - can make it harder to acquire citizenship.

Which nationalities are likely to become German citizens?

Since the law has been in the works for a while and processing times are slow, the number of citizenship applications in Germany is already picking up speed.

In 2023, Germany recorded the highest number of naturalisations in 23 years and Syrians were the largest nationality group to be granted citizenship. Many Syrians who came to Germany around 2015 have newly become eligible for citizenship and since 2021 they have overtaken Germany’s Turkish population as the largest group to be newly Eingebürgert.

However, some predict that the Turkish diaspora has been waiting for the citizenship law to be enforced. Speaking to RND on June 26, chair of the Turkish community in Germany, Gökay Sofuoğlu said that the organisation expects 50.000 Turkish people to apply for German citizenship per year.

Having lost EU citizenship after Brexit, UK passport holders are another group expected to be keen and while a study by the Department of Political Economy at King’s College London found that while the majority of the 1,13 million Ukranian refugees intend to return home, many may apply for a German passport before they do.

Thumb image credit: KonstantinV9 / Shutterstock.com