A series of online claims claim that Germany has accelerated the process for foreigners to naturalize as German citizens.
For example, clip recently resurfaced Alice Weidel of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gave a speech on public broadcaster ARD in July, claiming that foreigners living in Germany were being “turbo naturalized”.
“You no longer need to understand German, because you can easily naturalize with the click of a mouse. Is it politics for our country? I don’t think so,” Weidel said in the video, pointing to the quota set by the Berlin Regional Immigration Office to complete 40,000 naturalization applications by 2025.
Elsewhere, prominent German rapper Capital Bra sparked controversy by claiming he had a newfound sympathy for the AfD. The Ukrainian-raised musician explains why: he said he was rejected I got a German passport before claiming that “all of a sudden people come here, live here for a month, and get a German passport.”
“Turbo naturalization”?
Most of the misleading claims surrounding Germany’s naturalization process stem from the previous government’s decision to change the law regarding the process of becoming a German citizen.
In 2024, Bill passed Under the three-party coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), foreigners living in Germany will be able to obtain a German passport without having to renounce their previous citizenship, reducing the residency requirement from eight to five years.
Germany previously did not allow dual citizenship for non-EU nationals, and foreigners who wanted to become German had to renounce their previous citizenship, except in special cases.
However, contrary to the claim, strict rules To be eligible for this process, foreigners must have legally resided in Germany for five years, have permanent residence, prove that they can support themselves financially, and pass the B1 language and naturalization tests.
They must also have a clear criminal record, declare a commitment to Germany’s basic democratic order, acknowledge Germany’s responsibility for the crimes committed by the Nazis, and be committed to protecting Jewish life.
Also in 2024, the government introduced a “fast track” option for highly integrated foreign nationals. These foreigners can become German citizens after just three years of living in Germany, provided they have strong German language skills at C1 level or higher, have above-average grades at work, school or volunteering, and meet all other requirements.
This “fast track” or “turbo naturalization” Abolished in October 2025 The fact that it was carried out through a vote in the Bundestag under the coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the SPD means that the claims made by Mr Weidel in this video are outdated.
In any case, very few foreigners living in Germany have ever used the so-called fast track. German Statistical Office data It shows that only 7% of all naturalized people took this route in 2024.
Is there a quota for naturalization?
One of Mr. Weidel’s claims about the goal of 40,000 naturalized persons set by the Berlin Immigration Agency (LEA) is certainly true.
In January this year, Iris Spranger, a member of the Berlin House of Internal Affairs, announced by the state This exceeded the previous year’s goal of 20,000 people and set high goals for next year.
But Mr. Weidell’s claims lack context. In January 2024, all naturalizations in Berlin were centralized to be processed in one office. Previously, naturalization applications were processed at offices in Berlin’s 12 districts.
These offices had accumulated a backlog of approximately 40,000 cases. Therefore, part of the reason why the authorities set such a high goal was not to solve the accumulated backlog of cases, but rather, as Mr. Weidel suggested, due to the lack of regulations regarding the processing of German passports for foreigners.
According to the LEA, the agency will also complete the digitization of its systems by mid-2024, which will allow it to significantly speed up the process, explaining that the number of applications processed will increase significantly by the end of 2024, with an increase expected in 2025.
However, it is true that, overall, the number of people acquiring German citizenship has increased in recent years. Germany permission has been granted The number of people who acquired citizenship last year was 290,000, a significant increase of 46% from the previous year.
At least some of this increase is due to the number of Syrians who become eligible for naturalization in 2023 or 2024. The majority of Syrians in Germany arrived as refugees in 2015 and 2016, so they would have fulfilled the previous eight-year residency requirement in the past two years.
Can I get a German passport within a month?
Contrary to Capital Bra’s claims, as a foreigner you cannot obtain a German passport within one month.
Legal residence in Germany for at least five years is a standard requirement for German citizenship.
Heidi Shirer, an immigration lawyer specializing in naturalization, told Euronews’ verification team The Cube that there is only one exception to the five-year requirement. The spouse of a German citizen can start the procedure after three years of residence, provided he has been married to a German citizen for at least two of those years.
In exceptional cases, some people may be able to justify speeding up their application’s processing time, but that’s far from the majority.
“For example, if a player from Poland wants to join the German national (soccer) team and there is a World Cup or European Championship in six months, that is a valid reason,” Shirer said.
“Another example is people looking to become civil servants. Some rules for civil servants will be more restrictive next year, and many people want to naturalize early in order to be appointed,” she said. “That’s also the reason for the acceleration.”
Descendants of German citizens living abroad can also apply for citizenship, but the process is subject to different rules and naturalization is still not allowed within one month.
For the majority of foreign nationals who wish to apply, a five-year residency requirement and subsequent processing waiting period apply.
