No more citizenship according to the "turbo" procedure. For some foreign citizens, the possibility of family reunification is abolished. Here are five facts about the new legislative proposals German government, writes Deutsche says.
What was decided?
1. Family reunification
The German government intends to suspend family reunification for a certain group of refugees in Germany for two years. Exceptions are provided only for humanitarian reasons, for example in cases of serious illness.
As a first step, the cabinet approved the corresponding legal amendment on Wednesday (28 May). The final decision is made by the Bundestag, that is, the parliament. The parties of the ruling coalition, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD), have the majority there. After that, the Bundesrat – the upper house of the German parliament that brings together representatives of the 16 federal states – must also approve the change to the law.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrint (CSU) wants the law to come into force before the summer parliamentary break, and reiterated that cities and municipalities are overburdened with the reception and integration of refugees. "First: families don't move, that brings direct relief. Second: it sends a message to the world that this mechanism no longer works when one family member decides to go on a trip, and that also brings relief."
2. Citizenship
Accelerated acquisition of German citizenship after three years for particularly well-integrated immigrants will no longer be possible. That provision, which was introduced by the previous government (SPD, Greens and FDP), will be completely abolished.
3. Officially formulated goal: Restriction of migration
The law on residence will be reformulated. Legal provisions will no longer serve solely to control migration. In the future, the goal will be to "control and limit migration."
Who does it affect?
The changes to the citizenship law affect everyone who wants to get a German passport. In the future, at least five years of continuous residence in Germany will be necessary before an application for citizenship can be submitted. Among the conditions are good knowledge of the German language and permanent employment. In 2024, more than 200.000 people were granted German citizenship – the most in the last 25 years.
The suspension of the right to family reunification affects the so-called persons with subsidiary protection. These are refugees who are not persecuted in the sense of the Geneva Convention on Refugees, nor are they entitled to political asylum, but they face serious danger in their home country, e.g. because of the civil war.
Persons with subsidiary protection have fewer rights than persons with regular refugee status. The European Court of Human Rights has confirmed this. About 388.000 people with this status live in Germany - most of them from Syria, and many from Afghanistan and Iraq.
What currently applies to family reunification?
In 2011, refugees with subsidiary protection were recognized for the first time in Germany. At that time, they did not have the right to bring their spouses and children. That changed at the beginning of 2015. After a large number of refugees from Syria arrived in Germany in the middle of that year, the right to family reunification was again suspended.
Since 2018, a quota has been in effect, according to which a maximum of 1.000 immediate family members per month can obtain a visa for Germany. There was never a legal right to family reunification – approval was left to the discretion of the authorities. The request must be submitted to the German diplomatic mission abroad. During 2023 and 2024, approximately 12.000 visas were issued annually.
How does the government justify its migration policy?
The CDU and CSU want to reduce the number of people coming to Germany as refugees. "We are open to legal migration to our labor market and to our society," Interior Minister Dobrint said in the Bundestag. At the so-called "illegal" or "irregular" migration, that is, when people come to Germany without control, the load limit has already been exceeded, according to him.
Immediately after taking office, Dobrint ordered increased border controls and the return of even asylum seekers. Now additional measures follow. "Our goal is to remove the pull factors that encouraged people to come to Germany," Dobrint said after the cabinet meeting.
What are the criticisms of the measures?
The Greens and the Left Party are against the tightening of measures, while the right-wing AfD - which is partly considered extremist - these measures are not enough.
Left MP Clara Binger called it "the beginning of the ice age in migration policy". It will "negatively change society and make it difficult to live together in solidarity". The "migration turn", as he says, is nothing less than "a deviation from humanity and human rights".
The organization "Pro Asylum" calls the suspension of family reunification a "family destruction law". It is a disaster for people who have fled war and persecution. Mothers, fathers and children continue to live in danger and fear, their families remain separated. Legal and safe escape routes are closing.
And churches reject the suspension of family reunification. That is "ethically very questionable" and has a negative impact on integration, Hamburg Archbishop Stefan Hesse said in an interview. The Constitution especially protects the family.
Is there support?
The Council of Experts on Integration and Migration (SVR) criticizes the suspension of family reunification, but considers the abolition of the possibility of obtaining citizenship after three years justified. This, as they say, corrects the impression that obtaining German citizenship is too easy.
The current regulation has led to "citizenship being acquired more quickly than the right to a permanent residence permit. This is difficult to explain and does not reflect the importance of the citizenship law," SVR president Winfried Kluth said in an interview.
