Last year, a record number of foreigners in Germany, most from the start of the standardized data collection in 2000, was naturalized, Welt am Sonntag announced on Saturday. TASR took information from the DPA news agency.
Based on a newspaper survey, a total of 249,901 persons received German citizenship in 13 Federal countries last year. In 2023, the nationwide figure from all 16 Länder was 200 095, which also represented a record at that time.
Preliminary data is missing
Several Länder provided preliminary data on request, while some countries have only recently published their data. The Lower Saxony States of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Šlezvicko-Holstein did not provide total data to the newspaper.
On June 27, 2024, the reform of the Citizenship Act entered into force, which allows immigrants to obtain German citizenship faster. The measure also enabled dual citizenship, which is a key factor for many foreigners living in Germany.
Key citizenship reform
Naturalization has become possible after five years instead of the previous eight, or after three years in the case of those who have integrated particularly well.
The new government coalition of Conservatives and Social Democrats canceled the three -year accelerated process of naturalization, but has maintained a five -year plan.
“Many people who came to us during great migration movements in 2015 and 2016 are now applying for asylum,” said Helmut, Executive Director of the German Town Association (DST) for Welt am Sonntag.
He added that the fact that applicants no longer have to give up their previous citizenship no longer motivates more people to apply for German citizenship.
Those interested in citizenship must successfully pass the test entitled “Life in Germany”, which will test their knowledge from German history, culture, society and law.
