Lord Mayor Florian Janik invited over 200 newly naturalized citizens of Erlangen to a festive reception in the town hall on Thursday. Last year, 474 people in Erlangen took on German citizenship. This is a significant increase compared to the 294 naturalizations in 2022.
Naturalization area expanded and online procedure introduced
This local development also reflects the nationwide trend: last year, 200,100 naturalizations were registered across Germany. This represents an increase of 19 percent compared to the previous year. The largest group of newly naturalized citizens in Erlangen are also people from Syria. Recognized refugees can apply for naturalization after just six years. As a result, many of those who fled to Germany in 2015/2016 are now eligible to apply. This explains the high number of naturalization applications and applicants.
In order to cope with this development, the city of Erlangen has expanded the naturalization department and introduced an online procedure. Nevertheless, the large number of applications continues to lead to longer processing times for both the City of Erlangen and the Government of Middle Franconia. The city continues to expect lively interest in German citizenship. By the end of May, 195 naturalizations had already taken place.
Naturalization now possible after five years
In June, the law on the modernization of citizenship law also came into force. This new law brings with it several simplifications:
- The period of residence is reduced from eight to five years. This is even reduced to three years in the case of special integration achievements
- In future, applicants will no longer have to give up their previous citizenship
- All children born in Germany will automatically receive German citizenship.
Lord Mayor Florian Janik:
"People from over 145 nations enrich our city. They take on responsibility in a wide variety of professional fields, but also through their commitment. I am delighted that so many of them are taking the next step and becoming citizens of our country with all their rights and obligations."
Indian computer scientist Nitesh Nahta gave a speech for the new citizens. He described his journey from training and studies to the decision to apply for German citizenship and emphasized the advantages of the German legal, educational and training system. "Freedom and security are fundamental rights of every human being and yet they are not available to everyone. We are lucky to have found them in the city of Erlangen and in our new home of Germany, and we should all work to ensure that this always remains the case," said Natha.
