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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

Immigrant children who get German citizenship at birth ‘do better in school’

With a new German citizenship reform law set to pass this year - designed to make it easier to become German and have dual citizenship – new research suggests children of foreigners who get German citizenship earlier have better career prospects later.

Immigrant children who get German citizenship at birth 'do better in school'
Young children learn German at a primary school in Bavaria. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Armin Weigel

With the Bundestag set to debate and pass the traffic light coalition’s much talked about citizenship reform law by summer, the Federal Institute of Population Research (BiB) has released research suggesting that children of immigrants who got German citizenship through a 1999 reform have benefitted academically.

The 1999 reform made it possible for children born in Germany to acquire German citizenship by being born in the country. The catch was that at least one of their parents had to have been legally resident in Germany for at least eight years, and have permanent residence. Before that, there was no way to acquire German citizenship by being born in the country. Someone had to either claim it by descent or be naturalised as German. The 1999 reform is still what’s on the books today.

As part of its draft citizenship reform law, the government wants to ease the requirements further for children of foreigners in this situation. In the future, their parents will only have had to be legally resident in Germany for five years at the time the child is born – rather than the current eight.

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The BiB’s panel study compared the academic performance of children both the year before the 1999 reform with children born the year after. It found that less than half the children who didn’t benefit from the reform went on to attend Gymnasium – the German academic school stream in which students go on to take the Abitur, or the German exam needed to enter university. This practice of stratifying students at age 11 into different school tracks can be controversial in Germany – with critics saying it disadvantages children from migration backgrounds or those who develop later academically.

READ ALSO: OPINION: Germany’s unfair school system entrenches inequality

But of the children the BiB studied who got German citizenship through the reform, 62 percent went on to attend Gymnasium – up from the 46 percent share seen in children who didn’t benefit from the 1999 citizenship reform.

The reason? BiB found that parents whose children had German citizenship generally had higher expectations of what their kids could achieve academically in the German system. Those higher expectations ended up yielding better results.

Students sit a school-leaving or Abitur exam in Rostock.

Students sit a school-leaving or Abitur exam in Rostock. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bernd Wüstneck

The children were also more likely to end up going to German Kita – or daycare – and were less likely to repeat a grade. Their parents also reported more incentive to integrate themselves, being more likely to interact in German or read German newspapers.

“There are several indications of the positive effects of getting German citizenship earlier have on the educational opportunities for children and young people in Germany,” says BiB Director Catherine Spiess. “We shouldn’t ignore these in our current discussions.”

Besides making it easier for children of foreign parents to get German citizenship, the traffic light coalition’s draft citizenship reform law will allow dual citizenship for non-EU nationals naturalising as German. It will also reduce the time that someone needs to be resident in Germany from eight years to five. Those who have a very high level of German proficiency (C1), will also be able to naturalise after three years. Language tests for those naturalising who are 67 or older are also likely to be abolished.

READ ALSO: Germany to require ‘C1 language skills’ for new fast-track citizenship

Despite criticism from opposition conservatives, lawmakers working on the draft reform tell The Local they expect the new law to pass by summer.

READ ALSO: INTERVIEW: Germany on track to pass dual citizenship despite opposition

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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

Foreigners in Germany are waiting on tenterhooks for the introduction of the new dual nationality law on Thursday - but the centre-right CDU and CSU say they would overturn the reform if re-elected next year.

German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

“The CDU and CSU will reverse this unsuccessful reform,” Alexander Throm (CDU), spokesperson on domestic policy for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, told DPA on Tuesday.

“Dual citizenship must remain the exception and be limited to countries that share our values.”

Throm also criticised the new citizenship law for reducing the amount of time foreigners need to live in the country before naturalising as Germans, describing the new residence requirements as “far too short”.

“After five or even three years, it is not yet possible to determine with certainty whether integration has been successful in the long term,” he stated.

“The recent caliphate demonstrations and the rampant Islamist extremism, often by people with German passports, must be a wake-up call for us all.”

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

Despite vociferous opposition, the alliance between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party (CSU) was powerless to stop the traffic-light coalition’s citizenship reform passing in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat earlier this year. 

The reform, which permits the holding of multiple passports, lowers residence requirements and removes language hurdles for certain groups, is set to come into force on June 27th. 

But with the CDU and CSU emerging as clear winners in the recent EU parliamentary elections and regularly landing on 30 percent or above in the polls, it’s possible that the party could be on course to re-enter government next year. 

In this situation, the centre-right parties have pledged to try and undo what senior CDU politicians have described as a “dangerous” reform.

“It is not unusual for successive governments to reverse decisions made by the previous government,” Andrea Lindholz, the head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group said in a recent response to a question

“We will maintain our position on this and will continue to strive for a corresponding change.”

READ ALSO: What are citizenship offices around Germany doing to prepare for the new law?

Whether the CDU and CSU can secure enough votes at both state and federal elections to change the law in the future remains to be seen.

The parties may also have to compromise on their plans with any future coalition partner, such as the Greens, Social Democrats (SPD) or Free Democrats (FDP), all of whom support liberal immigration laws and the holding of multiple nationalities. 

‘Citizenship devaluation law’

The CDU and CSU parties, which form a centre-right alliance nicknamed the Union, have long been opposed to dual nationality in Germany.

During their years of governing in a so-called grand coalition with the centre-right Social Democrats (SPD), the parties had regularly made reforms of citizenship one of their red lines, citing the danger of hostile nations influencing Germany from within. 

In a recent parliamentary speech back in January, Throm had slammed the bill as a “citizenship devaluation law” and accused the government of trying to generate a new electorate to win votes.

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

In comments aimed primarily at Germany’s large Turkish diaspora, the CDU politician claimed that people who had lived in Germany for decades but not taken German citizenship had already chosen their old country over Germany.

The majority of Turks in Germany are also supporters of the authoritarian president Recep Erdogan, he argued.

Responding to the claims, FDP migration expert Ann-Veruschka Jurisch said the opposition was fuelling resentments against migrants by claiming the government was “squandering German citizenship”.

In fact, she argued, the reform has tightened up requirements by ensuring that people who claim benefits and cannot support themselves are unable to become German citizens.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Germany’s citizenship law reform

In addition, the B1 language requirements have only been softened in a few exceptional cases, for example to honour the lifetime achievements of the guest worker generation who had few opportunities when they arrived, Jurisch said. 

If foreigners have committed crimes, the authorities will be able to investigate whether these involved racist or anti-Semitic motives before citizenship is granted, she added. 

With reporting by DPA

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