The German Federal Commission for Migration, Refugees and Integration has launched a new project that aims at helping residents with their citizenship applications. Currently, the Pass[t] Genau project is being implemented in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Rhineland-Palatinate states.
The new project aims to aid residents with their applications and at the same time increase the processing time, reducing chances of backlog of applications, Schengen.News reports.
Residents interested in obtaining citizenship have to apply from the Pass[t] Genau website and once their request is accepted, they will receive assistance from a volunteer, who is available to ask questions and assist in the following procedures, I Am Expat Germany explains.
Pass[t] Genau manager Susanne Kolb told public broadcaster SWR that the project could expand to all of the federal states in Germany.
According to Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office, a total of 200,095 people obtained German citizenship in 2023, with 3.2 per cent of which were German residents for at least ten years while 2.36 per cent were foreigners with at least six years of residence in the country.
The majority of foreigners that became German citizens in 2023 are Asians – 117,145 representing 58.5 per cent of the total.
Syrians were the main nationality that obtained German citizenship the most in 2023, with 75,485 naturalised citizens. This means that over one-third of foreigners (37.7 per cent) who gained citizenship were Syrians. Second to follow were Turks (10,735), Iraqis (10,710) and Afghanis (6,250).
The German citizenship law, adopted in June, has made it easier for foreigners to obtain citizenship, with one of the major changes being the possibility of holding dual citizenship.
In addition, candidates will be eligible to apply for citizenship around five years after being residents in Germany. Prior to this change, foreigners could apply for citizenship only after eight years of residency.
In addition, foreigners married to German citizens can obtain citizenship after four years of residency in the country. Those fully integrated into German society, who have good job performance, sufficient financial resources, and speak German fluently, can obtain citizenship in three years. Children of foreign parents can earn German citizenship in five years instead of eight.
However, the list of questions for the naturalisation test includes now 12 questions, including here several for Judaism and Israel.
Source : https://schengen.news/germany-introduces-service-to-accelerate-citizenship-processing-in-2-states/
