Germany wants to ease citizenship rules to attract workers

(Patria) - Germany plans to ease citizenship rules under a law approved by the government on Wednesday, a project the government claims will boost immigrant integration and help an economy struggling with a shortage of skilled workers, AP reported.

The law, adopted by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his ministers, still requires approval from the lower house of parliament, where the socially liberal three-party coalition has a comfortable majority. It could come into effect in January, depending on how quickly that happens. The government plans to allow people the right to citizenship after five years of residence in Germany, or three in the case of "special integration achievements", instead of eight or six years currently.

Children born in Germany would automatically become citizens if one parent has been legally residing there for five years, compared to the current eight years.

Restrictions on holding dual citizenship will also be abolished. In principle, most people from countries outside the European Union and Switzerland currently have to give up their previous citizenship when they acquire German citizenship, although there are some exceptions.

"We are creating a modern immigration law that does justice to our diverse society and I can add – finally," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters in Berlin.

She said the reform follows years of debates that have "unfortunately often been marked by exclusion, resentment and cheap propaganda," and that applicants for citizenship "will no longer be forced to give up a part of their identity."

Faeser linked the plan to Germany's efforts to attract more skilled workers, Europe's largest economy, and to address the labor shortage in an increasing number of professions.

"We are in the midst of a global competition for the best people," she said, adding that Germany could only attract them "if they become fully part of our society in the foreseeable future, with all the democratic rights" that German citizens enjoy.

Applicants will in most cases be required to prove they can support themselves and their families without receiving state benefits. The new law will specify that "anti-Semitic, racist or other inhumanly motivated actions" exclude naturalization.

The government says 14% of the population, more than 12 million out of the country's 84.4 million inhabitants, do not have German citizenship, and that about 5.3 million of them have been living in Germany for at least a decade. It says Germany's naturalization rate is significantly below the EU average. Last year, about 168,500 people acquired German citizenship. That was the highest number since 2002, boosted by a large increase in Syrian citizens who arrived over the past decade being naturalized, but still only a fraction of long-term residents.

"There can be no better incentive for successful integration" than the prospect of faster naturalization, Faeser argued.

The conservative Union opposition bloc claims it would have the opposite effect. Conservative lawmaker Andrea Lindholz said the government "is sending completely wrong signals" at a time when local authorities are struggling with a large number of new migrants, and that its priority should be to reduce "irregular immigration." The Union opposes shortening the waiting time for people and removing dual citizenship restrictions.

"Integration requires time and is more than just a job and language," Lindholz said.