INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE ALLOWED TO ACQUIRE GERMANY CITIZENSHIP WHILE RETAINING THEIR NATIONALITY FROM 2024

On December 20, 2023, the German government agreed on new amendments to the citizenship law. These new legal changes may be passed and implemented as early as January 2024. Here are the key points about the upcoming citizenship law in Germany that Vietnamese students need to know:

Future immigrants will be able to become German citizens after 5 years of legal residence (the current law requires 8 years), as long as they can support themselves without government assistance.

If immigrants have good academic performance at school or in the workplace, possess good German language skills, or engage in volunteer work, they can apply for citizenship after just 3 years.

German citizens will be able to retain their previous nationality. This means that Vietnamese students will be able to keep their Vietnamese citizenship when acquiring German citizenship. This is great news for Vietnamese students here.

Children born in Germany will automatically receive German citizenship if at least one parent has legally resided in Germany for at least 5 years.

Acts of anti-Semitism and racism will not be tolerated for acquiring German citizenship.

The new citizenship law also opens a “door” for exceptions regarding income levels, including cases where social benefits are received for certain special circumstances, such as: disabled individuals, women from previous generations who were guest workers, for example, Vietnamese people who worked during the time of the German Democratic Republic (DDR), and those who are retired.

Individuals receiving social benefits or who cannot support themselves will not be eligible for German citizenship.

                                                                                                                                                                      Source: Tagesschau and Mediendienst-integration