When the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) penned plans to relax Germany’s tough citizenship laws back in 2021, there was a groundswell of excitement among foreigners.

People from non-EU countries, who had previously been barred from holding dual nationality, suddenly felt they would have the option to naturalise without losing their old citizenship and identity. 

As another win for internationals, the newly formed government also pledged to slash waiting times for citizenship from eight years to five on the standard track and introduce a new three-year fast-track for well-integrated foreigners. 

For the guest-worker generation, meanwhile – people who came from countries like Turkey to rebuild the country after the war – language requirements were set to be eased. 

But the road to passing the law has not been easy. Despite widespread agreement among the three governing parties, there have been ferocious debates and disagreements along the way, not least over issues like anti-Semitism and the earnings requirements for foreigners.

READ ALSO: What do I need to apply for German citizenship under the new law?

Several times, debates in the Bundestag were delayed or cancelled. Deadlines for signing the law came and went. But on Thursday, June 27th, the reform finally entered into force, sparking jubiliation among foreigners.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, one user said he had given up his previous citizenship to become German and was glad that others would not need to do so.

The law change also affects Germans who want to naturalise abroad while keeping their nationality. 

An X user from Germany who currently lives in Australia said they were “thrilled” that they could finally get citizenship “down under” .

In a statement published on Tuesday, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, the SPD politician who spearheaded the reform, said she was “delighted” that the citizenship law would soon become a reality.

READ ALSO: What would German citizenship mean to foreign residents?

“Our reform is a commitment to a modern Germany,” Faeser said. “It will strengthen Germany as a business location. Because in the global competition for the best minds, we must give skilled workers the prospect of being able to become a full part of our society in the foreseeable future.”  

Anger from the conservatives

Not everyone has responded well to the new law, however. Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party took to X on Thursday to express his anger. 

“Today the new citizenship law enters into force,” Merz wrote. “Never in the history of our country has one government so clearly governed against the interests of the people.”

„Heute tritt das neue Staatsbürgerschaftsrecht in Kraft. Nie in der Geschichte unseres Landes hat eine Regierung so klar gegen die Interessen der Bevölkerung regiert. Sie sind selbst nach Wahlergebnissen wie vom 9. Juni unfähig und nicht willens zur Korrektur ihrer Politik.“ ™

— Friedrich Merz (@_FriedrichMerz) June 26, 2024

His comments were picked up by former CDU politician Hans Georg-Maaßen, who recently founded the anti-migrant, hard-right Werteunion party. 

“Mr. Merz, I recommend that you take a look at the voting behaviour of the #CDU/CSU (co-)governed states in the Bundesrat,” he seethed.

The right-wing politician was referring to rules in the upper house of parliament that mean state coalitions must vote as a bloc, which meant that states where the CDU governs alongside the Greens, SPD or FDP ended up helping to pass the bill. 

“It is not only the federal government that is ‘clearly violating the interests of its own population’, but also the CDU governments,” he added.

The centre-right CDU has long been opposed to the dual nationality reform, claiming that the bill will “devalue” the German passport and allow people who don’t share German values to become naturalised more easily.

READ ALSO: German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

On Tuesday, CDU immigration spokesperson Alexander Throm spoke out against the law, vowing that the CDU, along with their Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU), would repeal it if they re-enter government next year. 

But Greens immigration expert Filiz Polat, who helped draft the citizenship law, poured cold water on the idea.

“The CDU/CSU is completely isolated with its announcement that it will revoke the citizenship law in the event of a change of government,” Polat told The Local.

“All other democratic parliamentary groups in the Bundestag have clearly positioned themselves in favour of a modern citizenship law in a modern country of immigration.”

The new citizenship law is “good for democracy”, she said, adding that the CDU were harming Germany’s reputation abroad with their “anti-immigration” discourse. 

‘Explosive warnings’ in tabloids

Right-leaning parties in Germans were not the only ones whipping up fears around the relaxation of the rules. 

In an article published on Thursday, Germany’s notorious Bild tabloid screamed an “explosive warning” that the number of naturalisations could “triple” under the new law.

Quoting Ali Ertan Tobrak, the chairman of the Kurdish community in Germany, the paper implied that the law would allow Turkish president Recep Erdogan to influence the country from within.

“Islamism and anti-Semitism are the greatest threat to our liberal society,” Tobrak is quoted as saying. “Erdogan has been calling on his supporters for years to ‘accept German citizenship, but remain Turkish in order to defend Turkey’s interests there at all levels’.”

Bild also pointed out that from Thursday, around 1.4 million asylum seekers would be eligible to claim German citizenship – at least as far as residence requirements are concerned.

That includes 630,000 refugees who claimed asylum back in 2016 and were eligible under the eight-year rule, plus 780,000 more who arrived between 2017 and 2019 who will be eligible under the five-year rule.

READ ALSO: Turkish community in Germany expects 50,000 citizenship applications per year

In addition, Bild claimed, there are around two million other foreigners who moved to Germany between 2016 and 2019 who will now be able to submit an application.

Long waiting times expected

German naturalisation offices have been facing severe staff shortages and application backlogs in light of the number of Syrian refugees who have recently become eligible for citizenship.

With the new law expanding the opportunities to naturalise, authorities around the country expect a massive influx of new applications.

To deal with the backlog, many citizenship offices told The Local they were focusing on streamlining their processes, hiring staff, and digitalising their applications – but it’s likely that waiting times will still increase signficantly. 

Rheinhart Sager, president of the German District Association, bemoaned the fact that the law would place additional burdens on local governments.

“The anger of the citizens due to longer processing times and the overburdening of the authorities is not being dumped on the chancellor, but on us,” he told Bild on Thursday. 

READ ALSO: The citizenship waiting times and backlogs in major German cities

What do Germans think of the new law?

Though no recent polls have been carried out on the citizenship reform, a survey carried out last year by the German Centre for Migration Research (Dezim) found the population fairly split on the issue.

Asked whether they thought obtaining a German passport should be made easier in certain circumstances, 49 percent of the respondents answered positively, 34 percent answered negatively, and 17 percent had no strong opinion.

When it came to recognising the contribution of the guest-worker generation and contract workers in the GDR, the response was far more clear: 63 percent said they believed this group should have easier routes to citizenship, while just 16 percent were against.

The remaining respondents opted for the middle-ground. 

On dual nationality, the population still seems to need a bit of convincing, however. In the Dezim survey, 43 percent said thought foreigners should be able to hold more than one passport, while 37 thought this shouldn’t be allowed, and 20 percent were unsure.