Munich (dpa / lby) - Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) sees no reason to change anything about the annual requirements for obtaining German citizenship. "Not everyone who has recently lived in our country can automatically become a German citizen," he said on Deutschlandfunk on Monday. "Of course we need qualified immigration," but it doesn't start with a German passport; it's actually the result of successful integration.
The SPD, Greens and FDP had agreed in their coalition agreement that foreigners in Germany could more easily obtain German citizenship. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) is now driving the issue forward.
Instead of eight years, as is currently the case, it should be possible to obtain citizenship after five years of residence in Germany. In the case of "special integration achievements", this should even be possible after three years - for example if immigrants have shown special academic or professional achievements or voluntary commitment or have particularly good language skills.
"There is hardly a country in the world where you can easily acquire citizenship after three years," said Herrmann. He doesn't see the need to change anything about the previous year's targets. In addition, there are already special provisions according to which naturalization is possible after six years.
