FDP wants improvements to Faeser’s draft for quick naturalization
Berlin With easier immigration of skilled workers and the planned one Reform of the nationality law the traffic light government wants to push ahead with the change of course it has announced in migration policy. But now she’s reporting FDP – possibly also under the impression of poor results in past state elections – in one of the two projects there is a need for improvement.
In principle, the Liberals are still in favor shorter waiting times for naturalization and they also like the end of the double pass ban. But some other ideas in the draft by the Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faser (SPD) for a new citizenship law are met with criticism in their ranks. This includes, for example, the plan to pave the way for all foreigners over the age of 67 to obtain a German passport without a naturalization test and a written German test. According to the draft, people from this group who want to be naturalized should only be able to communicate orally in German.
The agreement reached in the coalition agreement for easier naturalization of members of the so-called guest worker generation is supported, according to a position paper by the FDP-Domestic politicians Konstantin Kuhle and Stephan Thomae. However, an indefinite reduction in the requirement for all older people is rejected, as are exceptions for certain younger foreigners, as previously provided for in the draft by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
In their paper, which is available to the German Press Agency, the domestic politicians also demand that only “those who can earn their own living and take care of their families” should be naturalized. This is what the draft bill that the Ministry of the Interior sent to the other departments for approval in January provides for so-called entitlement naturalization.
However, the planned reform of citizenship law would not change the exceptions that are possible under the current legal situation in the case of so-called discretionary naturalization. This regulation enables the immigration authorities to also naturalize people who live on state benefits “for reasons of public interest or to avoid particular hardship”.
Immigrants should be entitled to naturalization earlier
Kuhle and Thomae are also in favor of the “wide implementation of naturalization ceremonies” and want to further develop the declaration of loyalty into a “real oath to the Basic Law”.
>> Read here: This is how the others do it: How to become a citizen of an EU country
The draft formulated by Faeser’s house stipulates that a naturalization claim should generally exist after five years in the future. At present, those wishing to naturalize still have to prove that they have been legally resident for at least eight years. In the future, three years should be sufficient for special integration services.
The option obligation for in Germany children born to non-EU foreigners should be abolished. This means that young adults do not have to choose between German citizenship and that of their parents. However, Thomae and Kuhle want people to decide on citizenship “from the grandchildren’s generation of those who were naturalized for the first time”.
“In the coalition agreement, it was agreed to check how foreign citizenships cannot be passed on to future generations,” said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior on Friday when asked. The ministerial draft of a law to modernize nationality law is currently being coordinated by the departments. According to the spokesman, before the cabinet deals with the draft, it should also be discussed whether and how a “generation cut” can be implemented.
Unlike the FDP, the Greens are very satisfied with the interior ministry’s plans. From their point of view, it could just go a little faster. “The reform of citizenship law will be one of the important milestones of this coalition,” says Filiz Polat, migration expert for the Greens parliamentary group.
Your parliamentary group is expecting the draft law in March. The Ampel partners agree that Germany, as a modern immigration country, needs up-to-date citizenship law. Polat adds: “For this, Minister Faeser has brought in a good draft from the point of view of the Bündnis 90/Greens parliamentary group.” Because if people live in Germany for a long time without being citizens, this is a “massive democratic deficit”.
More: The traffic light cannot agree on these central projects
