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The German government has delayed its plans to introduce a dual citizenship law due to disagreements about on rules that should apply to the applicants.
Germany's Free Democratic Party (FPD) and its ruling party colleagues, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens, have disagreed with an amendment that would prevent non-EU residents who have claimed unemployment benefits from holding dual citizenship.
Although the change would mean that none of the third-country residents who received unemployment benefits such as “Arbeitslosengeld” or “Bürgergeld” would be eligible for dual citizenship, SPD did not agree with it.
The SPD does not want these rules to apply to migrants from Turkey, part of the Gastarbeiter generation who moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973 to find work under the official guest worker program.
They also want that stricter rules should not apply to disabled residents from other non-EU countries who may have received benefits from the German government in the past.
Germany's new dual citizenship law was due to come into force in the first half of 2024. However, taking into account the recent development, the approval of the dual citizenship law may take longer than expected.
With the approval of the dual citizenship law, many people who have lived legally in Germany for five years will be allowed to apply for a German passport. Moreover, they will also be allowed to retain their original nationality and thus have dual citizenship.
The entry into force of the law also means a relaxation of the rules for certain categories of non-EU nationals. Those who have successfully mastered the German language, as well as those who have achieved impressive success in their work, will not have to wait for more than three years to obtain citizenship.
Under current German law, those receiving social security benefits are unlikely to obtain German citizenship. It is expected that this rule will not change even with the adoption of the law on dual citizenship.
The new law is also not expected to be generous to caregivers and children. Children who have been born in another country and whose parents receive social security benefits will most likely have their citizenship application rejected.
The same is likely to happen to those who do not work because they are unable to or because they have to take care of individuals dependent on them.
Source: Schengen Visa Info
Photo by Dennis Rochel on Unsplash
