Bild prompts Berlin mayor to question safety of online citizenship applications

An article in the tabloid newspaper Bild has prompted Berlin mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) to question whether the capital’s digitalised citizenship application procedure is secure.

Bild claims German citizenship possible “at the click of a mouse”

A Bild article titled Jetzt gibt’s den deutschen Pass per Mausclick (German passport now available at the click of a mouse) has caused outrage about Berlin’s digitalised citizenship application process.

For over six months, citizenship applications in Berlin have been submitted and processed entirely online. Applicants are also no longer required to attend an interview as part of the naturalisation process. 

Bild highlighted this fact in its recent article, which garnered much attention. The topic made it to the Bundestag floor last week, where politicians were holding heated debates before the parliament broke for summer recess.

Referring to the article, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel claimed the German passport had become a “piece of junk”. Weidel’s claim echoes statements previously made by the CDU, which opposed the citizenship reform passed in the Bundestag in June 2024, claiming it would "cheapen" the passport. 

Since the 2024 reform, introduced by the SPD-FDP-Greens coalition, internationals are eligible for citizenship after five years of residence, and non-EU nationals are eligible for dual German citizenship. Previously, internationals were only eligible for citizenship after eight years, and only EU citizens could hold dual German citizenship.

“The opposite is true”, says Spranger

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) also added to the debate. “Naturalisation requires that the applicant is committed to the free democratic basic order and declares that they do not pursue any anti-constitutional aspirations,” Dobrindt told Bild. “Every applicant must acknowledge their special historical responsibility, especially for the protection of Jewish life. I can hardly imagine that this will work without a personal interview."

Citizenship applicants currently have to declare their commitment to Germany’s constitutional democracy and the country’s responsibility to protect Jewish life as part of their online application. 

Speaking to Bild, Mayor Kai Wegner said he had asked Berlin’s Interior Minister Iris Spranger (SPD) to “demonstrate how a rigorous examination of these legal requirements is guaranteed” in the online application process.

“There are no additional risks linked with the digitalisation of naturalisation procedures,” Spranger responded, “the opposite is true”. “The digital process means that malpractice is basically impossible [...] If someone is found to have a criminal record or identity fraud is confirmed, the applicant isn’t naturalised,” Spranger explained.

Berliners wait average of 11,6 years before naturalising

In 2024, Germany naturalised more people than during any single year since 2000; a record-breaking 249.901 international residents were granted citizenship. The citizenship reform isn’t the only shift behind last year's naturalisation boom; in 2023 and 2024 many Syrian nationals who came to Germany around 2015 and 2016 became eligible after eight years of residence.

Despite the reform and Bild’s claims, according to the Office for Statistics in Berlin and Brandenburg, Berliners live in Germany for an average of 11,6 years before they become citizens - if they decide to at all.

Before they can click the mouse to send away their online applications, residents of most nationalities must have permanent residence in Germany, all applicants must prove they have a steady income, show a rental contract or that they have bought a house, pay for official translations of numerous other documents, including their birth certificate, and pay an application fee of over 200 euros.

Only then does the waiting begin. German citizenship applicants across the country wait an average of 18 months to find out whether their application was successful. Delayed processing times, which digitalisation is intended to alleviate, mean they receive little to no updates during the wait.