Law scrapping route to German citizenship after 3 years comes into effect

From October 30, international residents in Germany are no longer eligible for German citizenship after three years of working in the federal republic.

German citizenship law amendment takes effect on October 30

On October 8, 2025, members of the German parliament (Bundestag) voted to scrap the “fast track” or “turbo” route to German citizenship. This amendment to German citizenship law takes effect on October 30.

The fast-track citizenship scheme was first introduced in June 2024 as part of a broader German citizenship law reform. The scheme allowed international residents who had lived in Germany for only three years but could prove achievements in work or study and “exceptional integration” to apply for citizenship.

The other key citizenship reforms introduced in June 2024 remain in place. For example, international residents are still eligible for citizenship after five years of living and working in the federal republic and non-EU citizens are still eligible for dual German citizenship.

Fast-track citizenship was initially introduced by the previous SPD-Greens-FDP coalition, otherwise known as the traffic light coalition. When the CDU/CSU won the election in February 2025, they brought the fast-track law to the chopping block.

But the centre-right party had to form a coalition with the centre-left SPD. Coalition negotiations led to compromises, including the decision to scrap the route to citizenship after three years of residence, but keep the routes to citizenship after five years and dual citizenship.

CSU member thinks “German-haters” should have their citizenship stripped

Despite having successfully scrapped the fast-track citizenship scheme, members of the CDU/CSU are looking to further limit international residents’ routes to attaining and retaining their German citizenship.

Criminal offences can make it harder for international residents to attain citizenship, but in most cases, it is not grounds to revoke citizenship under German law. Speaking to tabloid newspaper Bild, CSU Bundestag member Stephan Mayer said the government should make it easier for the state to strip certain criminals of their citizenship. 

"Violent criminals, enemies of the constitution, antisemites and German-haters must have their citizenship revoked immediately if they have two passports,” Mayer told the newspaper.

According to Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) statistics, in 65,7 percent of violent crime cases in 2024 the suspect was a German citizen without a recent migration background.

"Dual citizenship should be the exception, not the rule,” Cornell Babendererde (CDU/CSU) also told the tabloid, adding that, when the majority of new citizens also want to retain their original nationality, “the identification with our country is perhaps not so great (and it seems to be) more about receiving the advantages guaranteed by the German passport".

Despite Mayer and Babendererde’s comments, the CDU/CSU-led government is unlikely to find support from the SPD, die Linke, Greens and FDP which it would need to amend the citizenship law further, at least not in the near future.