Germany’s Citizenship Debate: New German government to abolish 3-year citizenship path

Friedrich Merz’s center-right CDU, together with its CSU sister party, won Germany’s 2025 parliamentary election. The far-right populist Alternative for Germany saw massive support across the east, coming in second. Friedrich Merz is to be sworn in as the new chancellor of Germany after winning the second round of voting following the first-round defeat.

A fast-track approach to citizenship is something that the incoming alliance of Social Democrats and Conservatives wants to stop, reports DW.

Following the passage of a reform on German naturalization by the former ruling coalition of the SPD, the business-oriented Free Democratic Party, and the environmentalist Greens, the three-year path to citizenship became accessible to applicants last June.

In addition to having an advanced C1 level of German, candidates for the three-year option must demonstrate other accomplishments that demonstrate a strong integration into German society, such as volunteer work or exceptional performance in their academics or at work.

The 3-year method was frequently criticized by the conservative CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, which referred to it as “turbo” naturalization. According to some conservative critics, obtaining German nationality after only three years of residency in Germany is insufficient.

However, in accordance with last year’s legislation, immigrants will still be eligible to seek for German citizenship after five years of continuous residency and an intermediate B1 level of German. Additionally, dual citizenship will remain legal.

Dual citizenship between Germany and a non-EU member state was essentially prohibited before to this year’s legislation. Naturalization applications for German citizenship have increased since the reform took effect, attracting interest from Germany’s sizable Turkish community.

Despite their criticism of dual citizenship, conservatives like Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU and the likely next German Chancellor, appear to have made concessions on the matter during coalition negotiations with the SPD.

Removing dual nationals’ citizenship is no longer being considered. Additionally, the issue of denying German citizenship to dual-citizen naturalized individuals will not be pursued by the incoming German coalition.