Germany Allows Dual Citizenship, Opening Doors for Kenyans
Kenyans are poised to reap the benefits of a recent German directive announced on Friday, January 19, which has relaxed citizenship requirements. The German government has rescinded a prohibition that previously denied migrants the opportunity to hold dual citizenship in the nation.
As per the new directive, non-EU citizens are now eligible for German citizenship, a departure from the past when only Swiss and European Union (E.U) citizens were granted such privileges. Simultaneously, the country has introduced changes to naturalization laws for non-EU citizens residing within its borders.
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Under the directive, migrants who previously had to wait eight years before being eligible to apply for citizenship can now do so after five years.
The Federal Parliament highlighted that efforts to implement this reform have been underway since 2021, coinciding with the assumption of office by the center-left coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens, and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) in the fall of 2021.
In an additional measure aimed at streamlining the citizenship process, children born in Germany to at least one parent who has legally resided in the country for five or more years will automatically acquire German citizenship.
The revised citizenship laws also stipulate that immigrants aged 67 and above will have the option to undergo an oral German language test instead of a written one. German Chancellor Scholz stated that this move is intended to align the nation with other countries such as Canada and the United States in the international labor market.
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Addressing the nation, Chancellor Scholz declared, “With the new citizenship law, we are saying to all those who have often lived and worked in Germany for decades, who abide by our laws, who are at home here: You belong to Germany.”
Data from the German Agency for International Cooperation indicates that only four percent of Kenyans prefer Germany as their destination among Kenyan immigrants. Furthermore, the data reveals that as of 2023, slightly over 14,000 Kenyans have established residence in the country.
Germany Allows Dual Citizenship, Opening Doors for Kenyans