Enabling and demanding integration
Germany is a country of immigration: integration should be made possible, but also required. The Federal Cabinet has now passed a draft law that amends the requirements for naturalisation – for better integration.
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Naturalisation after five years is still possible if all requirements are met.
Photo: picture alliance / Laci Perenyi
Naturalisation should once again be clearly linked to sustainable integration. To this end, the Federal Cabinet has decided to amend the Citizenship Act. In future, the possibility of naturalisation after just three years of residence is set to be eliminated.
Five years remains the rule – integration is the key
The regular period of prior residence was reduced from eight to five years with the 2024 reform of citizenship laws. In addition, the reform made naturalisation possible after just three years with special integration milestones. This option is now no longer available.
In future, a minimum residence period of five years will apply to all applicants – provided that the other legal requirements are also met. These include adequate German language skills or an independent means of subsistence.
A country of immigration with clear rules
With the new law, the Federal Government is making it clear that naturalisation requires a long-term commitment to Germany – linguistically, socially, economically and culturally. Acquiring citizenship should be an expression of sustainable integration.
At the same time, Federal Chancellor Merz emphasised in his policy statement: “We will make integration possible, but also require it. Because even and especially where people live together in freedom, there needs to be a common horizon of values and a common language.”