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INDIANS IN GERMANY

Do Indians still need to renounce citizenship before they can become German citizens?

India does not allow dual citizenship, so any Indians wishing to become citizens of Germany cannot retain their old citizenship if they do so - even though German law now allows multiple citizenship. How does the process work?

Published: 11 September 2024 09:41 CEST
Updated: 11 September 2024 11:14 CEST

Do Indians still need to renounce citizenship before they can become German citizens?

Indians no longer need to renounce their Indian citizenship once they become German citizens - it happens automatically. Photo: Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via AP/TT

India’s Citizenship Act from 1955 has until recently been interpreted in such a way that any Indians gaining another citizenship had to renounce their Indian nationality and surrender their passport, with their children automatically losing Indian citizenship too.

It’s one of the reasons many Indians living here still won’t get German nationality – even after the passage of Germany’s new dual citizenship law. That’s simply because both countries must allow dual citizenship for their nationals – not just one – for it to work in practice.

Now, a new Office Memorandum from the Ministry of External Affairs has clarified how the act should be interpreted.

According to the new memorandum, Indians no longer need to renounce their citizenship once they have gained citizenship of another country – the process happens automatically.

“As prescribed u/s 8(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 Any ‘Citizen of India’ of full age and capacity can renounce Indian citizenship,” it reads.

Indeed, even if they wanted to renounce Indian citizenship, the mere act of becoming a citizen of another country means they are no longer eligible to do so.

“Accordingly, those foreign nationals of Indian Origin who have already acquired citizenship of any other country are not eligible to renounce their citizenship. In fact, their citizenship has already been terminated… by acquiring citizenship of other country,” it continues.

Ultimately though, even if you don’t need to prove renunciation, you will need to hand in any documents related to your Indian citizenship, such as your passport or voter card. This is a separate service to renunciation.

There is more information available on the Indian Embassy’s website. You will receive a passport surrender certificate once the process is complete.

You’ll need that certificate first before you apply for an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card – which comes with a few rights most ordinary visitors to India wouldn’t get.

The Local is looking into how children are affected by the rules and what the new guidance means for families.

Indians in Germany

According to Germany’s statistical agency Destatis, there were around 246,000 Indians living in Germany at the end of 2023.

That compares to around 53,000 in 2011 – with the Indian community in Germany being one of the fastest growing groups of foreigners in the country.

Indian residents in Germany have previously told The Local how they have struggled with the strict citizenship rules.

Yadav, who lives in Berlin with her husband, said: “I have a very strong opinion about not giving up my Indian passport. It’s something that connects me to my country and means a lot to me.

“It’s deeper than just a document. It stands for the values of where you come from, the sense of belonging and culture.”

With reporting by Becky Waterton

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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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