In 2021, around 131,600 foreigners were naturalised in Germany, according to figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday – an increase of around 21,700 – or 20 percent – more than in the previous year.
The steep rise is due to the high number of Syrians who gained German citizenship after fleeing war.
In total, around 19,100 Syrian nationals were naturalised – almost three times as many as in 2020.
As well as Syrians, Turkish (12,200), Romanian (6,900), Polish (5,500) and Italian (5,000) nationals were the nationalities who received citizenship most frequently last year.
In total, people with 173 different nationalities were given citizenship in Germany.
Every fourth person to gain a German passport last year was an EU member state national. Germany allows EU citizens to have dual citizenship, meaning they can keep their original passport.
However, in most cases, non-EU nationals have to give up their original citizenship to become German, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Refugees, for example, are entitled to keep their original nationality, as are citizens from countries like Syria and Afghanistan where renouncing your nationality is not permitted.
As The Local has been reporting, the government plans to relax its dual nationality rules, which will make a huge difference to the lives of many foreigners in Germany.
https://www.thelocal.de/20220610/germany-sees-steep-rise-in-number-of-foreigners-becoming-citizens/