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Is German citizenship easier to get if you are elderly?

Applying for German citizenship is more straightforward under the newly updated rules but is the process easier for elderly foreigners? We explain how it works.

Published: 4 September 2024 16:51 CEST
Updated: 11 September 2024 09:28 CEST

Is German citizenship easier to get if you are elderly?

Older applicants for German citizenship still have to fulfill most requirements - with a couple of notable exceptions. Photo by Mark Timberlake on Unsplash

One of the perhaps lesser talked-about aspects of Germany’s new citizenship law involves the changes for people aged 67 and over.

Under the system becoming naturalised as a German citizen should be slightly easier for some in this group, compared to standard applicants.

To be clear, most things remain the same for all applicants. The new law, which came into effect in late June, allows multiple citizenship for all applicants. It also reduces the amount of time someone needs to have been resident in Germany before they can apply for citizenship – from the eight years it was previously to five years under the new law.

With the exception of dual citizenship being allowed and a shorter stay required before eligibility, most things remain the same as before.

Most applicants need to pass both a citizenship exam and a test proving they can speak German at a minimum of a B1 level. These requirements change only in a few select cases – one of them being for certain over-67s.

So what don’t over-67s have to do?

Over 67s still have to meet the minimum residence requirement of five years and file a complete application with any relevant supporting documentation proving their residence – such as old payslips, rental contracts, house purchase agreements or the like.

Just like any other applicants, they have to also be free on any serious criminal convictions.

It’s also true that some over-67s no longer have to pass the German citizenship test or a language test in order to naturalise. In practice though, most over-67s will still have to submit these.

Exceptions apply to people who came to Germany in the 1950s and 60s as guest workers – at a time when German and integration courses weren’t available. They also apply to people who might not realistically be able to take language courses due to age-related problems – like illness or disability. A note from a doctor is typically sufficient evidence for this.

To be clear, people who fall under these exceptions still need to be able to speak German, they just do not have to prove their proficiency by passing a B1 language test. As such, they are saved a bit of time and paperwork in their application process.

But other than not having to submit these two tests, over-67s falling under these exceptions should generally assume that they have to fulfil all the other conditions for citizenship that any other applicant would.

If they don’t have to submit a test, how to these over-67s prove they can speak German?

Generally speaking, citizenship caseworkers will decide in-person whether an over-67 applicant falling under one of the exceptions is able to speak German to a level sufficient enough to qualify for citizenship.

Rather than standardised testing, caseworkers will determine this by seeing if the person applying for citizenship can communicate with them in German. This would almost certainly mean being able to get through any in-person appointments with authorities without the aid of a translator – for example. An over-67 falling under grounds for an exception who can do this will generally not have too much to worry about on the language front.

Is there an age limit for applying for German citizenship?

No. Age is a prohibited grounds of discrimination in Germany – and there is no upper limit to how old one can be to apply for German citizenship. The oldest naturalising Germans have been over 95 years of age.

Obviously, older applicants may be rejected for other reasons that have nothing to do with their age.

Note: A previous version of this story implied that all over-67s were exempt from language and citizenship test requirements. While this was in an earlier draft of the law, the current rules allow these exceptions only in certain cases.

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Could Germany's dual nationality law be reversed?

In an article assessing Germany’s latest migration figures this week, Die Zeit raised a pertinent question: “What is actually out of control here,” asked journalist Mark Schieritz. “The migration, or the debate?”

While the number of asylum applications has been sinking dramatically this year – along with the number of so-called economic migrants – the discussion around migration has been building to a fever pitch.

In response to huge gains by the far-right AfD in both EU and eastern state elections, the government immediately sprung into action, extending controversial checks along all nine of Germany’s foreign borders.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) declared his intention to carry out “deportations on a grand scale” as mainstream parties met for a migration summit that quickly collapsed in disagreement.

At the same time, anti-migrant rhetoric has been ramping up, causing Deutschlandfunk to draw parallels with the early 1990s, when Germany saw a spate attacks against both refugees and foreigners who had been settled in the country for decades.

All of this feels very far removed from the Germany that has been desperate to court skilled foreigner workers over the past year, and that has fought to overturn a decades-long ban on dual nationality – which finally happened in June.

But it has caused some to wonder if the tide could be shifting, and if hard-won rights like dual nationality could be set to go out of the window. Here’s where things stand at present.

Threats from the CDU

The biggest threat to the dual nationality law arguably comes from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) parties, who are long-standing opponents of the bill.

Shortly after the new citizenship law entered into force back in June, immigration spokesperson Alexander Throm told DPA that the parties intended to scrap it.

“The CDU and CSU will reverse this unsuccessful reform,” he said. “Dual citizenship must remain the exception and be limited to countries that share our values.”

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

But is this all hot air from a party that has vehemently campaigned against dual nationality for years on end? In the opinion of most political experts, the answer is yes.

“The CDU’s announcement that they would abolish the authorisation of dual citizenship is a desperate attempt to react to the growth of the AfD,” Nils Diederich, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University, told The Local.

However, the party is unlikely to have the numbers in parliament to do so – even if they win the next election.

That’s because Germany’s system tends to rely on coalition governments, and every single one of the CDU and CSU’s viable coalition partners – the Greens, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Free Democrats (FDP) – supports dual nationality.

This was backed up by Greens immigration expert Filiz Polat, who told The Local: “The CDU/CSU is completely isolated with its announcement that it will revoke the citizenship law in the event of a change of government.”

Furthermore, the CDU and CSU are highly unlikely to ever have the numbers in the Bundesrat to change the law. The upper house of parliament is comprised of state coalition governments that all need to agree in order to vote in favour of legislation.

With the exception of Bavaria, where the CSU governs alongside the Free Voters, or Freier Wähler, party, every single state coalition the CDU is part of involves some combination of of the Greens, SPD and FDP. As the parties who worked on and ultimately passed this law, they are unlikely to agree to overturn it.

What about the far-right AfD?

Many foreigners in Germany are understandably worried about the rise of the extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, who seem to be going from strength to strength lately.

In Bundestag debates on the new citizenship law, the AfD spoke out vehemently against the changes – a stance that is reiterated in the party’s Grundsatzprogramm, or key policy programme.

“The AfD rejects the ‘double passport’, i.e. the acquisition of German citizenship with the simultaneous continuation or acquisition of another citizenship,” the party writes. “Although this does not rule out well-founded special cases.”

In addition, they say, the requirements for naturalisation must be significantly increased.

A car drives past a billboard displaying an election campaign poster for Alternative for Germany (AfD) with the lettering 'The east is doing it - class in German' in Altenburg, eastern Germany on August 20th

A car drives past a billboard displaying an election campaign poster for Alternative for Germany (AfD) with the lettering ‘The east is doing it – class in German’ in Altenburg, eastern Germany on August 20th. Photo by JENS SCHLUETER / AFP

In spite of their recent successes in eastern states, however, the far-right party is still a long way away from seizing power in Germany on a national level (or even at the state level).

That’s primarily because all the major parties – including the CDU – have what’s known as a Brandmauer, or firewall, in place, that prevents them from formally cooperating with the AfD.

So, even if the CDU and CSU parties technically have the numbers to enter a coalition with the AfD after next year’s federal elections, the party’s constitution explicitly forbids them from doing so.

Any informal agreement – such as a pact to overturn the dual nationality law, for example – would also be politically toxic, and would almost inevitably split the party.

Where does the government stand?

Currently, the so-called traffic light coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP – named after the parties’ three colours – is engaged in something of a balancing act.

While the rhetoric around migration has taken on a much more combative tone, the coalition has set a clear dividing line between legal skilled migration and uncontrolled, irregular migration.

In a fiery speech in the Bundestag on September 11th, Scholz emphasised Germany’s desperate need for migration to combat current labour shortages.

“There is no country in the world with a shrinking labour force that has economic growth,” he said. “That is the truth that we are confronted with.”

The chancellor also noted that Germany’s constitution mandates the protection of people who face danger and persecution. In other words: asylum seekers.

“Openness to the world is therefore necessary,” he explained. “But cosmopolitanism does not mean that anyone who wants to can come. We must be able to choose who comes to Germany.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Bundestag

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) gives an impassioned speech during the general debate on the budget on September 11th, 2024. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

According to political scientist Diederich, this cuts to the heart of the current issue.

“The authorisation of multiple citizenship has little to do with unregulated immigration,” he told The Local. “Naturalisation is granted to people who have been living legally in Germany for several years and who have successfully integrated into German society.”

On the other hand, Diederich said, the fear of “foreign infiltration” through unchecked, irregular and unwanted migration is being fuelled for political purposes.

“It’s not only the AfD doing this,” he added.

At present, the government seems laser-focused on dividing their pro-migration policies – like the recent skilled worker law and citizenship reform – from the need to quell irregular migration.

For foreigners here legally, this means that routes to German citizenship – and indeed, dual nationality – are set to remain in place for the forseeable future.

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