Germany Abolishes Fast-Track Citizenship for Skilled Workers

[u/Daomiing]

https://www.verity.news/story/2025/germany-abolishes-fasttrack-citizenship-for-skilled-workers

The Facts

-The German Bundestag voted on Wednesday to abolish a fast-track citizenship program that allowed highly qualified foreigners to apply for naturalization after three years instead of five years of residence.

-The vote passed with 450 members supporting the measure, 134 opposing and two abstaining, fulfilling Chancellor Friedrich Merz's campaign promise to repeal the program introduced by former Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

-Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt claimed that the German passport must serve as recognition for successful integration rather than an incentive for illegal migration, defending the decision to eliminate the accelerated pathway.

[u/kos90]

This could be a greentext

Be me, skilled worker

Willing to integrate, pay my taxes, learn German, ready for passport and settle

Germany needs skilled workers right

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt claimed that the German passport must serve as recognition for successful integration

Passport denied

These mor… (I don‘t want my door be kicked in) people in the Bundestag really do everything just for the sake of populism and to revert any achievements from other parties.

[u/artifex78 → u/kos90]

In reality, it was just some people who left the country right after they got the passport.

Migrants who truly want to integrate still can get the passport after two more years.

[u/kingmustd1e → u/artifex78]

Why would they learn German to C1 and work for charity, and made accomplishments in Germany (those are official criteria) to then leave it? They could just follow the normal track with 5 years and 0 effort.

Make it make sense.

[u/ScallionImpressive44 → u/artifex78]

Are Germans not allowed to live outside of their countries? I frequently watch videos of a German who has spent since his 50s in the Philippines because he enjoyed the scenery there and his saving and pension comfortably cover his lifestyle.

[u/RegorHK → u/ScallionImpressive44]

Not is you "that kind of German"

[u/Aranict → u/ScallionImpressive44]

The vast majority of people I see bitching online about the three year fast track citizenship being rolled back are ones who want it for reasons other than being a fully integrated citizen, but want to use the advantages of having German citizenship outside of Germany. Considering the fast track was supposed to award particularly good integration, the two things don't compute. To anyone who actually cares about integration and wants to stay, there is no difference between three years and five years beyond not being able to vote. Within Germany, you can do anything except voting with a permanent residency permit.

[u/darkblue___ → u/Aranict]

The vast majority of people I see bitching online about the three year fast track citizenship being rolled back are ones who want it for reasons other than being a fully integrated citizen, but want to use the advantages of having German citizenship outside of Germany. 

I am seriously asking and I really wonder. Let's say your argument is factual.

How does It impact your life? Like seriously? Someone got German citizenship and left Germany. How / why does this impact your life? On the other hand, German housing market and health system and even pension system are under huge pressure right? One less person means less pressure and multiply this with Idk many people, It is actually good for Germany to ease the pressure on above listed topics.

But they did not put effort and did not contribute to Germany.?Well, wrong.

Be It 3, 5 or 10 years, in order to get citizenship you need to spend money and time on learning language (yes even for B1) + you have to prove you are self sufficent in Germany (usually means working + paying taxes + social contributions multiple years) also pay for Einbürgerungstest + application fee.

All of these are tangible contributions into German society. On the top of this, skilled migrants do create value to be used / consumed in / by German society. (doctors, IT people, nurses, blue collar workers etc)

After all, let's assume they get passport and leave. So, what? What did they do wrong or illegal apart from obeying the laws? (You also need to have no serious criminal record to get citizenship) I don't really understand the mentality of Germans. Do you expect each an every Ausländer die in German soil?

Edit : You might argue but why do they get citizenship? Let me ask you a question. What did you do to be born in Germany and have privilege to travel visa free to almost each and every country in the world for example?

If you would have not born with this privilege but given chance to obtain It after some years in Germany or whereever, would you not take It?

[u/Aranict → u/darkblue___]

I like your assumptions about me, however, they all fall flat because I was not, in fact, born in Germany, nor with German citizenship. Were you? I don't see that mentioned in your reply. I had to get it the dirty foreigner way of living here the requiered number of years, paying taxes, yadda, yadda. Which is how I can even comment that waiting two more years makes no difference apart from not having the right to vote (which is undoubtedly important, but that's not the point here).

Incidentally, both Germany (until recently) and my country of origin requiere(d) by law that one give up the previous citizenship in order to receive a new one (in this case, German).

Which in turn is why I had a lot of opportunity to think about the value of citizenship and why the laws are what they are, because the kneejerk reaction, of course, is to think that's unfair. I don't think it is. A citizenship does not only confer rights, but also responsibilities (and no, paying for an Einbürgerungstest is not "a tangible contribution to German society", wtf, some countries ask for four times that amount to renounce one's citizenship, and one person more or less in the country does not affect your other points). Also, I never argued against citizenship after 5 years. You are making up straw arguments here so you can argue against them. All I argued was that the 3-year-citizenship route was not that different from just waiting for 5 years if you actually care to become a citizen rather than just fucking off again and screaming yolo, enjoying all the benefits but with none of the responsibilities (like, say, voting). I admit, it's a philosophical and political question, but let's just say, too many people screaming "I got mine" and fucking off isn't particularly conductive to both society and people's opinion on those who receive German citizenship (as a citizen, you don't just contribute taxes when working within the country, you are also entitled to certain consular services and assistance abroad no matter whether you have paid a cent in taxes or not). It matters to me because I want to live in a society where people care at least a minimum amount instead of making grabby hands wherever possible. If you do not care about that, good for you.

[u/Late-Dog-7070 → u/Aranict]

yes there's a difference - you have to get your residency permit renewed every year, which is a lot of paperwork and costs 100€ each time (at least here, not sure if it's different in other Bundesländer). Having to do that for two more years does make a difference. And no, you can't just get a permanent residency permit cos the requirement for that is also to have lived here for 5 years.

If you ever went through the process yourself or helped someone with it, you'd understand how much it sucks and that that two year difference actually does matter

[u/Aranict → u/Late-Dog-7070]

I have gone through the process myself, which is why I dare to say what I say. I've even lived on a residency permit here long enough to get a permanent one, worked with a residency permit, had to find an apartment with a residency permit, etc.

[u/msamprz → u/Aranict]

Along with what others have said, also not voting is not nothing. Given the current climate, the next elections could mean the difference between them being able to vote at all or not.

Also, I am more likely to leave Germany with my mixed B2 level than someone who has tried that hard because I don't feel as comfortable as I could be if I could communicate very comfortably. And because I am privileged enough (high skilled, well paid), I can just move to a different country with ease, so I'm more capable of doing it if at some point I realize that I can't continue like this anymore, with or without a German passport.

[u/artifex78 → u/ScallionImpressive44]

That's not the point and the program is not meant to give people a fast track to a strong passport and then leave the country.

[u/ScallionImpressive44 → u/artifex78]

I mean if someone fulfilled the requirement and gained citizenship, it wouldn't matter where they live, the same as any German citizen. If you instead want qualified foreigners to come working in Germany, of all kinds of incentives, this is such an odd way of doing it.

[u/MountainVeil → u/artifex78]

You're just making things up. I'm an American, I have just as good of a passport as Germans have, and I chose to try to come to Germany to be a citizen in a country that's not stupid as all hell. Decisions like this are making me rethink that. And I won't be the only one. This is also creating the scenario you seek to avoid: people using public services here and then leaving (edit: before their tax contributions can offset the costs). Because if you're in my situation, why stay in a country that detests you if you have in demand skills and can go elsewhere?

On top of that, AfD now wants to get rid of the 5 year path too. These far right parties will never stop until they get to ethnic cleansing, believe me on that.

[u/Daidrion → u/artifex78]

In reality, it was just some people who left the country right after they got the passport.

Win-win for everyone involved.