The German Parliament has ended the citizenship program express, a measure that allowed people integrated into society to obtain nationality in just three years instead of the usual five.
This decision reflects the political and social drift of Germany at a time when nrequires labor to continue being one of the economic engines of Europe.
The conservatives of the chancellor Friedrich Merz committed in this year’s election campaign to repeal legislation that allowed “exceptionally well integrated” obtain citizenship in three years.
“A German passport should be a recognition of a successful integration process and not act as an incentive for illegal immigration,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told parliament.
The rest of the new citizenship law, a historic achievement of the previous Olaf Scholz government, will remain intact despite conservative promises to eliminate the dual citizenship and the reduction of the general waiting period from eight years to five.
Until June 2024, foreigners residing in Germany who wanted to obtain the German nationality They had to wait eight years. The then coalition government of socialdemocrats, verdes y Scholz liberals reduced the requirement to five years, and up to three years if “special integration efforts” were made.
Both possibilities They were subject to conditions: sufficient own income, speaking German well and being socially active, for example as a volunteer firefighter.
However, since May 2025, the new Government of conservatives and social democrats announced its intention to veto the so-called three-year “turbo naturalization”. Now, it is a reality.
Representatives of Scholz’s SPD, now junior partners in Merz’s coalition, have defended this decision by pointing out that citizens express which they approved, was used very little: of the 300,000 naturalization cases registered in 2024only a few hundred took advantage of this mechanism.
The original objective, they say, was to attract highly qualified talents in a country with a very high labor demand.
From the Greens, who participated in the previous Government, they affirm ““Germany competes globally for the best minds and if we are chosen, we must do everything possible to retain them.”
However, negative perceptions about immigration grew in Germany, partly due to pressure on public and local services. This change promoted the advance of far-right parties such as Alternative for Germanywho are in first position in the polls.