The question arose after a Nigerian, Benjamin O. (his surname is not disclosed), filed a complaint with the court about a violation of his civil rights by the state authorities of Baden-Württemberg.
Benjamin O. obtained German citizenship in 2000. In the application form attached to his petition, he stated that he worked at a construction company and provided the relevant documents. Two years later, the police arrested him on suspicion of drug trafficking. During the investigation, it turned out that the immigrant had deliberately misled the authorities the whole time: he was unemployed and got by on illegal earnings, while his namesake worked at the construction company. The authorities of the city of Pforzheim, where O. lived, annulled his citizenship.
The immigrant filed a complaint with the administrative court in Mannheim, citing a violation of the constitutional article, lost the case, and filed an appeal with the Federal Constitutional Court, which is located in Karlsruhe. The plaintiff's lawyer, Heinrich Maul, demands that all charges be dropped against his client and that citizenship be restored. The representative of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Max Manding, acting as the defendant, insists that the article on the impossibility of depriving citizenship should apply only to people "who obtained it in good faith."
Benjamin O.'s case is not unique. Since 2002, 420,000 people have obtained German citizenship. For 84 immigrants, it was later annulled when it turned out that the applicants had provided false information about themselves or concealed criminal records and involvement in extremist groups. The Constitutional Court's decision should become a serious precedent.
Benjamin has a chance of winning the case. During preliminary hearings, Winfried Hassemer, Vice President of the Federal Constitutional Court, doubted that the authorities had an unambiguous legal basis for taking such a measure as revoking citizenship. The court's final decision is expected in the spring of next year.
To obtain German citizenship, an applicant must first and foremost prove knowledge of the German language by obtaining the appropriate certificate. Then they need to show the tax authorities that they have a legal source of income: while living in Germany, they must not receive social assistance or unemployment benefits. The citizenship applicant must not have a criminal record. In addition, they will be checked by the security services to determine whether the person poses a threat to the country. The residency requirement for adult foreigners is 8 years (before 2000, it was as much as 15 years).