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What would German citizenship mean to foreign residents?

With Germany's new citizenship law coming into effect before the end of June, we asked prospective applicants what naturalisation would mean to them. Here's what they said.

Published: 6 June 2024 17:18 CEST

Visitors stand around outside the Reichstag in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sebastian Gollnow

June 27th is a highly anticipated date for many foreign nationals, as Germany’s new dual citizenship rules will officially come into effect.

As some eager citizens-to-be gather documents, study German, and generally get their ducks in a row, we asked our readers if they plan to apply and what naturalisation would mean to them.

Of 121 readers who took our survey, 81 percent do intend to apply for citizenship whereas 12 percent are still unsure.

About six percent said they will not apply, and the remaining few had already naturalised.

Freedom of movement and a strong passport

Citizenship is certainly more than just a permanent residency visa. It means a lot of different things to different people.

For some, the primary benefits of citizenship do come down to living more easily and more securely in Germany. Of course, gaining one of the world’s most powerful passports doesn’t hurt either.

Asked what getting German citizenship means, freedom of movement and gaining the ability to freely leave Germany and return without issue were common answers.

“Free movement with the world’s strongest passport is the main goal here,” said Khandakar Rahman, 42, from Bangladesh. “I can live in Germany with my family as long as I want and the future of my children is secured. I can change my job any time without fear. I can live outside Germany without a time limit or losing residency.”

A German citizenship certificate and passport.

A German citizenship certificate and passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

“Easier travel” and “freedom of movement” were mentioned by many readers, including some navigating unique circumstances.

Mark Dodel, 67, who lives in the United States, noted that he is applying for “blood citizenship”, or citizenship based on German ancestry, “to make travel easier”, and also to pass dual citizenship onto his daughter who has lived in Germany for eight years.

Dodel also noted that German citizenship, “provides a potential escape if the US goes completely down the fascist rabbit hole”.

Sara, 35, who has lived for seven years in Germany said, “Don’t tell the Germans, but for me it’s more about having EU citizenship than German citizenship.”

As a scientist, Sara would like to have the ability to move to the Netherlands or Denmark when job opportunities arise.

Becoming more fully integrated

For others, citizenship is seen as a big and important step toward integrating with German society.

On a democratic level, it grants the right to vote, for instance.

Kristian, 35, from Norway said they look forward to, “Finally be an EU citizen, to be able to vote, and also to actually be German.”

Norwegians, along with citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, have the same freedom of movement as EU citizens – which allows them to reside and work in Germany. But they cannot vote in either German or EU elections.

Hilary Raeburn, 77, would also like to participate in both national and EU elections. But she adds that citizenship would “increase [her] sense of belonging”.

Raeburn is not alone in putting a high value on the intangible sense of belonging that citizenship promises. Many readers highlighted their desire “to be German” or to become more integrated.

Some readers noted that integration at the citizenship level also guarantees certain privileges for their children or grandchildren.

Naturalisation as a German in Saxony

A group of newly naturalised Germans attend a naturalisation ceremony in Saxony. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Matthias Rietschel

“Becoming a German citizen means opportunities for me and the generations following me,” said Donnie, 31, who is currently waiting for an appointment. He added that becoming naturalised would also mark the “culmination of years of hard work to make it in Germany.”

For now, however, Donnie’s years of perseverance continue. He notes that he is applying in a smaller Kreis (District) that has historically granted only about 80 citizenships per year, and says that the process there is frustratingly slow and opaque.

Safety and the promise of belonging to Europe

For those coming from countries that are either less politically stable or less prosperous, achieving German citizenship may feel like a badly needed lifeline – a ticket to security and a promise that you cannot be forced to leave.

For Dilara, 30, from Turkey, citizenship means “safer future planning”.

Roman, 24, who comes from Russia and has lived in Germany for nine years, says citizenship means “peace of mind, [and a chance] to settle down and forget about the misery of my country of origin.”

For Vivian Miranda, from the Philippines, legally becoming a European citizen would be “a dream come true”. She added that she previously lived in Italy for 12 years, but never had a chance to apply for citizenship there, and credits Germany for granting her new opportunities despite her age (53).

“I love the social and federal government of Germany,” she said.

Finally, a number of British expats say they are all too eager to regain their European ties: “It’s important to me that I will then also be an EU citizen again, which was something I lost when Brexit came into force,” said Laura, 34, who has been in the Bundesrepublik since 2016.

Andrew Gilroy, 71, agrees. He would like to reclaim his European citizenship “after it was stolen by Brexit”.

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Which foreign residents are likely to become German after citizenship law change?

Germany’s highly anticipated citizenship reform, which comes into effect as of Thursday June 27th, is intended to make Germany more competitive as a destination for skilled workers and also to allow long-term residents an easier path to naturalisation.

The biggest changes to current rules around citizenship include: allowing dual citizenship, reducing the residency requirement from eight years to five, and allowing for birth right citizenship to be extended to children born in Germany to a parent who has resided here for the past five years.

On Monday Business Insider shared data from a legal service provider that specialises in citizenship applications and immigration law to identify trends among those getting ready to apply for citizenship.

Additionally, The Local previously surveyed 121 of our readers about why they were applying and how the process is going so far.

Here’s what we can say about Germany’s incoming citizens based on those sources.

Gainfully employed long-term residents

Many long-term residents who haven been put off from getting citizenship previously – perhaps due to the stricter rules – will be considering applying now. The majority of applicants for citizenship in Germany are expected to be employed.

Generally being able to support yourself economically without depending on social benefits like Bürgergeld or long-term unemployment insurance is a prerequisite for German citizenship. Specifically, under the new law you need to have supported yourself for at least 20 months out of the previous 24 before you apply.

Business Insider looked at data from 50,000 requests for naturalisation in the first five months of 2024 that was shared by legal service provider PassExperten, which specialises in citizenship and immigration cases.

Of those 50,000 applicants for naturalisation, 86 percent had permanent employment or self-employment. Also, a significant portion had already earned professional credentials within Germany – 43 percent had completed a degree or professional training programme in the country.

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For many, access to a German Passport and freedom of movement within the EU are among the most important benefits offered by German citizenship. Photo by Anna Gru on Unsplash

In addition to steady employment, the majority of those applying for citizenship have spent the last decade in the country.

Of the 50,000 applicants reviewed by PassExperten, 60 percent had been living in Germany since at least 2015 and one-third since 2012: “Most of the people from whom we receive an application for naturalisation have been living in Germany longer than the fourth World Cup title,” lawyer Mohamed El-Zaatar told Business Insider.

Of course that number may be expected to fall somewhat following the reform, which will cut the minimum residency requirement from eight years to five.

Applicants that just barely meet the five year residency requirement would have come to Germany in 2019 – meaning they had been living in the country through the entire Covid pandemic.

Asked what citizenship meant to them, readers of The Local most often highlighted the value of becoming more integrated, gaining the right to vote and securing the right to live and move within the EU.

Where are Germany’s newest citizens coming from?

Statistics show that newly added citizens are a diverse bunch coming from every corner of the globe – people from 157 different countries became German in 2023 according to Germany’s statistical office (Destatis).

In 2023, Syria was the most common country of origin by far, followed by Türkiye, Iraq, Romania and Afghanistan – these countries combined amounted to a little more than half of all the newly naturalised citizens.

But these proportions, as well as the total number of applicants, are constantly changing and have shifted dramatically in recent years. Around the turn of the century, immigrants of Turkish descent – many from the so-called ‘guest worker’ generation who helped rebuild infrastructure after the war – made up the biggest group of incoming citizens. In the following years, the total number of incoming citizens fell significantly until it spiked again last year.

The recent spike in Syrian immigrants is linked to the surge in refugees who came to Germany between 2014 and 2016, many of whom became eligible for German citizenship within the last couple years.

The new law also has carve-outs specifically to encourage people who came to work in Germany following World War II – the so-called guest-worker generation. The government is hoping to to encourage members of this group, some of whom have lived in Germany for 60 years now, to apply for naturalisation.

Meanwhile, Brits – who lost many rights due to Brexit – are also expected to be keen to become German partly to regain EU rights.

INTERVIEW: Germany’s new citizenship law is ‘historic’ moment for foreigners

But it’s hard to predict how these trends may change in the coming years. For example, the influx of Ukrainian refugees following Russia’s invasion of the country in early 2022 has led immigrants and refugees from Ukraine to outnumber those from Türkiye and Syria in some parts of Germany.

While the majority of surveyed Ukrainian refugees say they plan to return home following the war, some of those who have integrated well in Germany could eventually be tempted to apply for citizenship, especially to make moving between the two countries easier.

The statistically average applicant is a young married man

PassExperten found that most of the applications for naturalisation it reviewed were submitted by men – at about 70 percent. About 41 percent were married, most of them were childless.

The male-dominant trend is confirmed, if a bit less dramatically, by Destatis data. Of those successfully naturalised in 2023, about 45 percent were women.

A German citizenship certificate and passport.

A German citizenship certificate and passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

The average age of naturalised citizens was 29.3 years, which is about 15 years younger than the average age of Germany’s population.

Abdulghani, 26-year-old Master’s student in Munich from Syria, told The Local that he will apply to naturalise when he’s finished his studies. Having lived in Germany for three years so far, he’ll be close to the average age of Germany’s citizenship applicants by the time he is eligible under the updated law.

He noted that the ability to integrate and naturalise here “means everything” to him and was among the top reasons he chose to study here.

Primarily living in the cities and the west

Interestingly, if not surprisingly, there are dramatic differences in the number of people applying for citizenship from region to region.

The city-states of Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin are home to the largest proportions of citizenship applicants, according to PassExperten, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia.

The five states that make up former East Germany – Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – are home to the smallest share of new citizenship applicants. Combined, they account for about seven percent of the country’s naturalisation applications.

In comparison, Berlin accounts for about eight percent by itself.

This aligns with results to our readers’ survey – the majority of respondents were living in major cities or towns in west Germany.

But there were a few readers in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg who said they were getting ready to apply for citizenship this year.

For Nida, 28, who lives in Thuringia, Germany is the “land of ideas”. She adds that her motive to naturalise is to “be part of the culture and society where [she] can contribute to science”.

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