Germany has officially rescinded the three-year fast track to citizenship.
While the Bundestag had passed the bill to scrap the fast-track naturalisation route earlier this month, the amendment has now been recorded in the Federal Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt).
In Germany, new federal laws, regulations and major legal notices only come into force when they are published there.
As The Local reported, the amendment scrapping the three-year path to citizenship did not include a grace period for any applications that were pending review at the time the law was changed.
This means that anyone currently waiting for a decision on their naturalisation, who has not yet resided in Germany for at least five years, can expect that their application may be thrown out or put on hold until the current residency requirement is met.
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What does the law say?
The three-year path to citizenship was introduced as part of broader naturalisation reforms in 2024. Among the other changes were dual citizenship for all and being able to apply for German citizenship after five years instead of the previous eight years.Â
The new amendment, which comes as the result of a compromise between the centre-right conservatives (CDU/CSU) and their junior coalition partners, the centre-left SPD, is pretty straightforward in how it deals with the fast-track citizenship option: it simply deletes it.
Previously, the fast-track path to citizenship was defined by section 10, paragraph 3 of the Nationality act, which read:
"The residence requirement [for citizenship]...may be reduced to three years if the foreign national demonstrates particular integration achievements..."
These achievements were specified to include "particularly good academic, vocational qualification or professional achievements or civic engagement".
Additionally candidates needed to speak and comprehend German at the C1 level.
Regarding the change, the new amendment, which was registered in the Federal Gazette on October 29th, simply says, "the reference to 'Section 10 (3) of the Nationality Act' is deleted".
With the fast-track exception scrapped, the basic requirements for German citizenship now apply to all foreigners who wish to naturalise based on residency (as opposed to naturalising based on marriage, or restoration in the case of descendants of people who had to flee Nazi Germany).
These requirements include residing in the country for at least five years, as well as having B1 level German language skills, demonstrating financial security and demonstrating basic knowledge about German culture and history.
Germany's blanket tolerance of dual citizenship remains in place.
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