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Smart move to do this at the exact time when you potentially can brain drain the US of a lot of talent and knowledge. Thanks a lot CDU, real 4D chess.
I don’t think German citizenship is why Americans would want to move to Germany.
It might certainly be a factor, though: German citizenship is very "valuable" in the sense that it opens a lot of possibilities for travelling. A lot of countries (and we are not just talking EU member states here) do not require as much paperwork or none at all if you own a German passport compared to a US one.
Germany allows dual citizenship and I’ve read a study a while back stating that a clear and fast way to citizen status is attractive to many "high performers".
That changes every now and then. Before June last year you had to provide a reason why you’d want to keep the German citizenship when applying for another. Our fear was that the new government would change this back to how it was, so we applied for Canadian citizenship as soon as possible.
On the other hand the bureaucracy to become German is a ridiculously humiliating process. But you can fail more during the citizenship exam compared to the Canadian version. Congratulations to everyone who had to go through it
Setting aside the fact that the government pandering to anti-immigration sentiment will generally dissuade high-skill migrants, being able to get citizenship easily is an attractive prospect.
I 1000% would love to get citizenship in a country I move to. An easier path would certainly help my location decisions.
Ja it’s the half meter Bratwurst for sure. That’s the main motivator to move to Deutschland. Große dicke Bratwurst 🤤
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
It's why I would want to move there.
As someone who moved to Germany in the last two years, gaining a permanent right to stay in this country was a part of our thought process. Gaining citizenship, which gives us voting rights and makes us "German" was just as important because we were picking our new home country. Who doesn't want to feel "at home" in their country, instead of a guest? And earning EU citizenship which further protects us from shitty singular governments like the current grand coalition is even furthermore important.
So yes, this decision sucks ass and it has further cemented my understanding that the grand coalition are centralist or right leaning parties who will continue to allow the decline of society even if it's more gradual than what the AFD would achieve. Our version of Democrats and Republicans-lite.
Had no idea even 5 year citizenship for rando immigrants in Germany existed. Maybe I should look into it, hmm. The US is looking bleak right now.
Smaller cosmopolitian countries tend to have looser immigration laws to accommodate the period influx and exodus of their populations. One of the supposed virtues of the EU was to make trade and travel easier without requiring people to give up and reacquire citizenships every time they move across a border or change a job.
But then a smattering of NATO states decided to start carpet bombing the Middle East, dominoes started falling, climate change took its tool, and now you've got mass migrations of millions fleeing the fallout. And Germans are freaking out over it, in no small part because the old Fash-Heads of the prior generations have found a way to gain political leverage by hitting the PANIC button over and over again.
I had thought easy immigration to EU countries was only if you were coming from another EU country. I had been interested in Hungary for a while since I spent some time there and loved it and have friends there. But that was pre-Orbán and it wasn't part of EU then either. Dunno about now.
I had thought easy immigration to EU countries was only if you were coming from another EU country
It varies by state. My wife got her Italian citizenship through birthright, despite being born American, for instance.
Yes that's another approach, if you have ancestors from that country. A friend of mine got Irish citizenship that way. But I'm talking about randos, like from the Middle East, or worse, the US.
A lot of the "randos" are people with strong business or social relationships in member states. Italy has a big expat community already thanks to the large number of finance bros and engineers that contract with Italian domestic industry.
Well again, in the linked article, I thought that the concern was with mass migration, not with long-established residents.
The US has always been bleak, unless you’re wealthy and designated white.
There goes my backup plan to get out of America
Harder without a phd
This is fucking depressing to read. As someone who moved to Germany two years ago, gaining citizenship is important to us. When we moved here they were just announcing the expedited opportunity and we were stoked to know we were welcome in this country. It reinforced our decision. Now they look to take it away and although the 5 year plan will still exist, it signals clearly that the CDU don't want highly educated immigration - they will blame immigrants while they raid the coffers of their country - and the SPD will gladly move further to the right if it means they get to stay in power.
This is incredibly disappointing. It's not enough to change our plans, like if the AFD won, but I consider the grand coalition to be a "continued decline" coalition. If another country offered me and my family a guaranteed path to citizenship, with similar worker rights and benefits as Germany, we'd now have to consider it seriously. As aerospace engineers we're not exactly struggling to find technical work.
Looks like a duck, smells like a duck.... It's a.... nazi
No, you may disagree with changing the minimum time from 3 to 5 years, but this is not 'a Nazi'. Let's keep that word for actual Nazi things, instead of 'things I vaguely disagree with'.
It's not even that strict. In Denmark you have to have been a resident continually for 9 years, with no long periods of travel abroad, before you can even apply for citizenship, as well as a 'permanent residence' permit.
You also have to have been employed continually for 3½ of the previous 4 years, have a clean criminal record, as well as pass several Danish exams and a citizenship test where you must demonstrate knowledge of Danish society, culture, history and so on.
After that, you have to participate in a ceremony where you shake hands with the mayor or alderman of your municipality, sign a declaration where you swear to comply with the Constiturion, respect Danish values and laws, and support democracy.
THEN your name is added to a formal law which must be passed by the parliament - as Danish citizenship is awarded by law.
Just came back to check on this and see how it aged and just want to say. Germany is a giant NAZI.
Germans do something I disagree with.
Oh if it isn’t the rise of the fourth reich.
This is not AfD unless they have a coalition. For those who don't know Germany deported international students for participating in peaceful protestest.
Not Germany, but Berlin, as in the state. And so far they only tried to, or at least I haven't yet anything to the contrary. It's up to the courts, the Berlin state government will have to demonstrate that those people are a danger to public safety, push come to shove not just before Berlin's administrative courts (which are saner than its administration) but also federal and then European ones.
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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