Germany revamps immigration rules: Foreigners can get Citizenship in 3 to 5 yrs
1 min read 09 Sep 2022, 03:15 PM ISTGermany is hoping to tempt foreign talent with the offer of a German passport and dual citizenship
PremiumIn a bid to address the labour market shortage, Germany is looking to strengthen the immigration system and has also announced to to grant citizenship to foreigners who are particularly well integrated in just three years.
“For many businesses, the search for skilled labour is now an existential question," said Labour Minister Hubertus Heil adding, “And our country needs skilled labour, to manage the digitisation of our economy, and its shift towards becoming climate-neutral."
The minister predicted that by 2026, there might be a shortfall of around 240,000 skilled workers. Factors including the digital transformation of the economy, the pandemic and the impacts of the Ukraine war were presenting new challenges for the labour market.
How Germany is planning to attract skilled workers to the country?
To address the issue, the federal government is going full steam ahead with its mission to make Germany an attractive immigration destination for skilled workers.
Germany is hoping to tempt foreign talent with the offer of a German passport and dual citizenship, as part of a major overhaul of the country’s immigration policies designed to modernise residence and nationality laws and make procedures faster and easier.
“Germany must be an immigration country that is also attractive in the international competition for skilled workers," is the key mission statement of the government’s new skilled labour strategy, a report stated
Also, the government wants to change the current citizenship laws so that, in future, skilled workers would be able to apply for naturalisation after five years. If they have completed “special integration measures", naturalisation would even be possible after three years.
Special integration measures could include things like completing an integration course or getting German language certification.
