“A person who, through their own declaration of intent, acquires foreign citizenship loses German citizenship automatically, without any prior warning.” This is a quote from a letter from the German Interior Ministry. Many copies of it have ended up in recent weeks in the mailboxes of German citizens of non-German origin. Some went to a lawyer, some started packing their suitcases.
According to the Interior Ministry, there are currently several tens of thousands of such “deprived” people in the country. Most of them are citizens of Turkish origin, but there are also many late resettlers from CIS countries. German Turks (or Turkish Germans?) outnumber all others, so they were the first to come under fire from the authorities. About 50,000 of them will become victims of the new provision, according to representatives of the leadership of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD). The loss of German citizenship will entail the need to apply to the foreigners authority with a request for a residence permit, otherwise staying in the country becomes illegal.
However, why is this provision being called new? The ban on dual citizenship has been in effect in Germany since January 1, 2000. Before that, the situation of “two passports in one hand” was not exactly natural, but it was not punished by law. At the same time, with the entry into force of the reform of the Citizenship Act (StAG), it became punishable. One would think that “old-timers” remember the wave of demonstrations and protest rallies against the tightening of legislation that swept across the country in the late 1990s: dual citizenship as a guarantee of a democratic attitude toward foreigners was then demanded by social democrats, left-wing anti-fascists, and your humble servant in the column of emigrant public associations.
Next to us, representatives of the CDU/CSU were collecting signatures “against dual citizenship” – which many then called “signatures against the domination of foreigners.” They turned out to be the winners. Section 25, paragraph 1 of the Citizenship Act became the only provision limiting the number of passports held by any individual to one. The few exceptions under which, when acquiring German citizenship, one does not need to provide documentary proof that the old passport has been invalidated, do not count – that is a completely different topic.
So the reproaches of “unexpectedness” and “novelty” for a considerable group of Germany’s population, which Turkish associations address to the interior authorities, are hardly justified. “Everyone should have known this,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Rainer Lingenthal.
He should have, but for some reason did not. Or did not want to know. Which, generally speaking, is strange. When issuing the naturalization certificate (Einbuergerungsurkunde), the new citizen signs that they have received the “Memorandum on the Loss of German Citizenship.” Its text, in particular, states: “According to Section 25, paragraph 1 of the Citizenship Act, a German citizen loses German citizenship in all those cases where he voluntarily and by his own declaration accepts the citizenship of another country... In doing so, he loses all rights and obligations existing for a German citizen... from that moment he is a foreigner and is not entitled to possess an identity card or a passport of a German citizen.
Documents are confiscated; a person must identify themselves using a passport of the “new homeland”... As a foreigner, he needs to obtain a residence permit in Germany, issued by the foreigners authority, a work permit, issued by the employment agency... It is necessary to immediately report the acquisition of citizenship of another country at the place of residence... If this does not happen and the person continues to exercise the rights granted to a German citizen, penalties will be applied to him.”
So it is rather the reaction of Turkish-Germans that causes bewilderment, as they wonder why the consulate did not explain to them what consequences dual citizenship could entail. In principle, this question should not concern consulates. They do their job, in this case – processing documents for granting national (Turkish) citizenship.
It was precisely for the “old” citizenship that newly minted Germans applied to consulates. Either after the 2000 reform came into force or shortly before. Why? Well, the reasons could be very different – from the desire to insure themselves for the purpose of receiving an inheritance or preserving property in their homeland to simple nostalgia. In fact, from the moment they filled out the first form, they were violating German law. Possibly out of ignorance. But firstly, it does not exempt from responsibility, and secondly, as the Interior Ministry believes, “it is possible that many deliberately intended to commit actions incompatible with the legislation and public order of the Federal Republic of Germany.”
One should not think that the authorities were unaware of the “dual citizens.” It is simply that even without them, the interior authorities have enough problems with both foreigners and local natives. But five years passed, someone needed to change their identity card, someone contacted the relevant authority intending to send an invitation to relatives. Checks began. “In most cases, the secret becomes apparent when these gentlemen encounter bureaucratic authorities,” says Rainer Lingenthal.
TGD and other Turkish associations today demand that the authorities take a “generous” attitude toward people who have found themselves in an unlawful situation “because of a loophole in the law.” “Many of them applied for Turkish citizenship before January 2000 and fell victim to delays in processing documents,” complains TGD Chairman Hakki Keskin.
"The authorities promise to be "magnanimous": the chairwoman of the Bundestag's internal affairs committee, Cornelia Sonntag-Wolgast, called on the state interior ministries to resolve contentious situations with people who have been given six months to obtain a residence permit "as quickly as possible and without excessive bureaucracy," in particular to "simplify the procedure for re-examining an application for German citizenship." One can only imagine the reaction of an official when a new application from an applicant lands on his desk, beginning with the sentence: "Deprived of citizenship in accordance with..."
Some "former Germans" tried to save the situation by urgently renouncing their Turkish passports. It turned out to be too late – now they have none at all. Needless to say, one feels sorry for the foreign brother. But the law, however unsympathetic it may be, must be obeyed. Or at least read what you are signing.