The states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Bremen on Friday presented a draft law to the upper house of parliament that would allow dual citizenship to children born to foreign parents in Germany, sparing them the choice between nationalities as adults.
Germany should change its restrictive citizenship rules to allow for dual nationality, Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries told daily <i>Berliner Zeitung</i> on Thursday.
Politicians, academics and members of the church have joined forces to try to change Germany's restrictive rules on dual citizenship. Currently children born foreign parents have to choose one nationality over another.
The number of immigrants who took the plunge and became naturalised German citizens in 2008 fell dramatically, according to government statistics released Friday.
The upper house of German parliament, the <i>Bundesrat</i>, has rejected a motion by the states of Berlin and Bremen to allow foreigners' children born in Germany to keep dual citizenship once they become adults.
In the latest dispatch of <b>Portnoy’s Stammtisch</b>, The Local’s column about life in Germany, Portnoy takes the German conservatives to task over their seemingly backward attitudes toward citizenship.
A leading parliamentarian for Germany’s Social Democratic Party has criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats for pursuing citizenship rules based on “racial ideology” instead of allowing dual nationality.
Increasing numbers of Germans living abroad are taking up the chance to get a second citizenship, a procedure which is still difficult for foreigners living in Germany.
