Summary
Germany’s incoming coalition government, led by the CDU/CSU and SPD, will abolish the 3-year expedited citizenship path for “well-integrated” immigrants, introduced in 2023.
Critics labeled the policy “turbo” naturalization and argued three years was too short.
The standard 5-year path with B1-level German remains, and dual citizenship will continue to be allowed.
The coalition dropped proposals to revoke citizenship from dual nationals deemed extremists, opting instead to focus on expulsion measures for non-citizens who threaten democratic order.
Smart move to do this at the exact time when you potentially can brain drain the US of a lot of talent and knowledge. Thanks a lot CDU, real 4D chess.
I don’t think German citizenship is why Americans would want to move to Germany.
Germany allows dual citizenship and I’ve read a study a while back stating that a clear and fast way to citizen status is attractive to many “high performers”.
As someone who moved to Germany in the last two years, gaining a permanent right to stay in this country was a part of our thought process. Gaining citizenship, which gives us voting rights and makes us “German” was just as important because we were picking our new home country. Who doesn’t want to feel “at home” in their country, instead of a guest? And earning EU citizenship which further protects us from shitty singular governments like the current grand coalition is even furthermore important.
So yes, this decision sucks ass and it has further cemented my understanding that the grand coalition are centralist or right leaning parties who will continue to allow the decline of society even if it’s more gradual than what the AFD would achieve. Our version of Democrats and Republicans-lite.
I 1000% would love to get citizenship in a country I move to. An easier path would certainly help my location decisions.
It’s why I would want to move there.
This is fucking depressing to read. As someone who moved to Germany two years ago, gaining citizenship is important to us. When we moved here they were just announcing the expedited opportunity and we were stoked to know we were welcome in this country. It reinforced our decision. Now they look to take it away and although the 5 year plan will still exist, it signals clearly that the CDU don’t want highly educated immigration - they will blame immigrants while they raid the coffers of their country - and the SPD will gladly move further to the right if it means they get to stay in power.
This is incredibly disappointing. It’s not enough to change our plans, like if the AFD won, but I consider the grand coalition to be a “continued decline” coalition. If another country offered me and my family a guaranteed path to citizenship, with similar worker rights and benefits as Germany, we’d now have to consider it seriously. As aerospace engineers we’re not exactly struggling to find technical work.
Furthermore the fact that both parties considered revoking citizenship for any reason from anyone is unbelievably terrifying. If anyone’s citizenship can be removed, everyone’s citizenship can be removed and that’s something I completely disagree with. It’s dangerous territory and completely disgusting to read that the SPD considered it.
I hate the CxU as much as anyone else, but as far as my understanding goes, and in fairness to them, the 5-year plan is still more generous than what most other countries offer
I find that relativity is one of the greatest frictions against doing better - and it’s frustrating for this reason. 5 years is better than most other countries. That’s true. Is that a good number though, or is it just better? That’s the actual conversation I want to have, and I think relativity ruins meaningful progress and improvement.
Eating bland, unseasoned chicken is better than eating raw chicken - but that doesn’t mean we should settle for it.
Just because other nations have antiquated and arguably bad citizenship requirements doesn’t mean we shouldn’t improve ours. And reversing progress is worse than being stagnant, and defending that is encouraging it imo.
Had no idea even 5 year citizenship for rando immigrants in Germany existed. Maybe I should look into it, hmm. The US is looking bleak right now.
Smaller cosmopolitian countries tend to have looser immigration laws to accommodate the period influx and exodus of their populations. One of the supposed virtues of the EU was to make trade and travel easier without requiring people to give up and reacquire citizenships every time they move across a border or change a job.
But then a smattering of NATO states decided to start carpet bombing the Middle East, dominoes started falling, climate change took its tool, and now you’ve got mass migrations of millions fleeing the fallout. And Germans are freaking out over it, in no small part because the old Fash-Heads of the prior generations have found a way to gain political leverage by hitting the PANIC button over and over again.
I had thought easy immigration to EU countries was only if you were coming from another EU country. I had been interested in Hungary for a while since I spent some time there and loved it and have friends there. But that was pre-Orbán and it wasn’t part of EU then either. Dunno about now.
I had thought easy immigration to EU countries was only if you were coming from another EU country
It varies by state. My wife got her Italian citizenship through birthright, despite being born American, for instance.
The US has always been bleak, unless you’re wealthy and designated white.
There goes my backup plan to get out of America
Harder without a phd
Looks like a duck, smells like a duck… It’s a… nazi
Germans do something I disagree with.
Oh if it isn’t the rise of the fourth reich.
This is not AfD unless they have a coalition. For those who don’t know Germany deported international students for participating in peaceful protestest.
Not Germany, but Berlin, as in the state. And so far they only tried to, or at least I haven’t yet anything to the contrary. It’s up to the courts, the Berlin state government will have to demonstrate that those people are a danger to public safety, push come to shove not just before Berlin’s administrative courts (which are saner than its administration) but also federal and then European ones.
Yes, you are right. Thank you for the correction I appreciate it.
