A total of 18,448 naturalisation applications have been received by German authorities from Israeli nationals in the first nine months of 2024, according to the figures from the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The Ministry’s figures indicate that there was an increase in the number of naturalisation applications filed by Israeli nationals in the first nine months of this year, compared to 9,178 registered in 2023 and 5,705 in 2022, Schengen.News reports.
Applications from Israeli citizens living in another country, such as the United States, were not included in these statistics.
Increase in Number of Applications Since October 2023
Since October 2023, when the Israel-Hamas war began, the number of applications for German citizenship from Israelis marked an increase.
Since August 2021, victims of persecution by the Nazi regime, deprived of their German nationality and their descendants, are permitted to be naturalised in Germany.
Record Number of Naturalisation in Germany in 2023
In 2023, more than 200,000 people from different countries acquired German citizenship, according to government statistics, marking a record since 2000.
These figures show that the number of naturalisations increased by nearly 31,000 or 19 per cent compared to 2022’s statistics.
The majority of naturalised German citizens came from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Romania, among others.
Syrian nationals alone accounted for over a third or 38 per cent of total naturalisations, with the number increasing by 27,100 to around 75,500.
New Nationality Law to Accelerate Process of Acquiring Citizenship
On June 27, 2027, Germany implemented the new Nationality Law, making the process of obtaining citizenship easier for foreigners living in this country.
Following the implementation of this law, foreigners are no longer required to renounce their previous nationality.
The Minister of Interior of Germany, Nancy Faeser, said that through the new law, internationals living in Germany who meet all the requirements and share the same values would be eligible to obtain citizenship more quickly.
Source: https://schengen.news/over-18000-german-citizenship-applications-by-israelis-in-first-9-months-of-2024/
