Zanja de oxidación

3.6.1 Background and general context

On 1 January 2000, the principle of ius soli (right of the soil) was added to the provisions governing the right of German citizenship according to the principle of ius sanguinis (right of blood). Since then, children born in Germany whose parents are both foreign nationals receive German citizenship at birth if at least one parent has been legally and consistently residing in Germany for eight years and has a permanent right of residence. Until 20 December 2014, this form of obtaining citizenship was in general linked to the obligation to opt for one nation- ality: Pursuant to section 29 of the Nationality Act, these children were required upon reaching adulthood and re- ceiving a notification from the proper authority to choose between German citizenship and the foreign citizenship obtained through their parents by the age of 23. The same also applied to children born after 1 January 1990 who obtained German citizenship in 2000 on request of their parents in the framework of a transitory arrangement (section 40b of the Nationality Act).38 _{Under the 2014}

revision of the obligation to opt, most of those affected will be exempt from the requirement to choose one na- tionality in the future because they are considered “born and raised in Germany” pursuant to section 29 subs. 1a of the Nationality Act. While most of those who have so far been obliged to choose one nationality may have both nationalities in the future,39 _{German law still retains the}

principle of avoiding multiple nationalities. This means that naturalised Germans will still need to give up their prior nationality (section 10 subs. 1, first sentence, no. 4 of the Nationality Act), even though there are numerous ex- ceptions (section 12 of the Nationality Act). EU and Swiss citizens can, as a rule, keep their prior nationalities.

38 For a comprehensive analysis of the obligation to opt for one nationality in force until the end of 2014 and the de- cision-making behaviour of persons concerned, please see Worbs (2014).

39 The Federal Minister of the Interior had estimated this share at 90 % on the basis of an earlier draft law, which included more restrictive criteria; see http://www.zeit.de/politik/ deutschland/2014-02/doppelte-staatsbuergerschaft-kri- tik-de-maiziere-oezuguz (18 Dec 2014).

In addition to the principle of ius soli, foreign nationals who have been lawfully residing in Germany for several years can obtain German citizenship through naturalisa- tion. A series of conditions must be fulfilled in order to be eligible for naturalisation, including a permanent right of residence status as well as eight (in special cases: seven or six) years of consistent and legal residence in Germany, a self-secured means of subsistence, as well as no criminal convictions (section 10 subs. 1 of the Nationality Act). Nat- uralisation also requires a sufficient knowledge of German (level B1 GER). Since 1 September 2008, those applying for naturalisation must also demonstrate knowledge of the German legal and social system and living conditions in Germany by taking a national standardised naturalisation test. Those with a German school leaving certificate are ex- empt from this requirement (Weinmann et al. 2012: 209).

Figure 1 shows that the number of naturalisations be- tween 2000 and 2014 has fallen from 186,700 to around 108,400 – a drop by almost 42 %. The lowest point was in 2008, with around 94,500 naturalisations. After this, the number of people obtaining German citizenship rose slightly through to 2013. Since 2010, it has remained con- sistently above 100,000 per year, but has not yet returned to the level seen in the years directly after the reform of the Nationality Act.

The trend of what is known as the maximised natural- isation rate (Figure 2) shows a similar progression. This indicator is calculated by the Federal Statistical Office and shows the ratio between the number of domestic natu- ralisations and the number of foreign nationals who have been living in Germany for at least 10 years at the start of the reporting year. For the sake of simplicity, the length of residence is taken as a proxy for meeting all requirements for naturalisation (StBA 2014b: 6). Similarly to the absolute figures, the maximised naturalisation rate fell from 4.9 % to 2.2 % from 2000 to 2013, with a low point of 2.1 % in 2008, as well (see Figure 2).

3.6.2 National developments

Jurisdiction on discretionary naturalisation decisions

On 28 May 2015, the Federal Administrative Court decided in its judgment BVerwG 1 C 23.14 that, when taking a discretionary naturalisation decision pursuant to section 8 of the Nationality Act, the authorities must take into account whether the foreign citizen is able to secure the livelihood of family members (in this case, the spouse and the children) who still live abroad. When examining the criterion of a secure livelihood, it does not matter whether

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

Figure 1: Naturalisations of 1,000 persons, 2000–2014

Source: Federal Statistical Office 2015

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Ausgeschöpftes Einbürgerungspotential

Abb. 2

Figure 2: Tapped naturalisation rate in percent, 2000–2014

34 Legal migration and mobility

the family members already live in Germany or intend to join their spouse/parent. All family members who are en- titled to support from the foreign national must be taken into account.

Legislative proposals of the opposition parties

On 15 April 2015, the parliamentary group of Alliance 90/ The Greens presented a bill for a reform of the Nationality Act, under which all children born in Germany should obtain German nationality without any restrictions (Deutscher Bundestag 2015g). The bill was sent to the relevant committee.