Migrants in Germany must gain citizenship “better” and “faster” in order to make Germany a “modern immigration country,” said German Federal Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration Reem Alabali-Radovan, which she argues means dramatically reforming the country’s nationality law.
“We are starting a new beginning in integration policy in solidarity with the federal, state, and local governments. We want to be a modern immigration country. It also means that we finally offer a way out of the intolerable chains of ‘toleration’ for those who have been living here in Germany for more than five years,” said the politician on Tuesday at the spring meeting of the integration officers of the federal and state governments in Berlin, according to a report from the Deutschland Funk radio news service.
The minister was referring to “tolerated” migrants in the country, who are allowed to stay in the country but have not had their asylum approved. If the law passes, 100,000 migrants would receive an expedited permanent residence visa after spending five years in the country instead of the customary eight years, which in turn would allow them to obtain citizenship far more quickly.