Registration of such people at the German consulate does not affect the preservation of German citizenship. But I believe that such registration would help establish and maintain ties with the German foreign representation in the country of residence. This would facilitate communication with German authorities on various pressing issues, such as registering children and obtaining German documents for them, traveling to Germany and Europe, receiving a German pension, etc.
Many German citizens permanently residing abroad would like to maintain ties with their country of citizenship and participate in federal elections. It should be noted that such a desire can only be welcomed. Participation in elections makes this group of voters interesting to politicians. A German permanently residing abroad has the right to seek help from his or her Bundestag deputy. The political activity of such a group of citizens will not allow Germany to forget about people like them.
True, the Election Law states that German citizens who have lived in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany for at least three months before leaving the country have the right to vote (§12 Abs. 2 Bundeswahlgesetz). Those who cannot prove the aforementioned fact lose their suffrage. According to the legislator, the three-month period is given to a citizen to familiarize themselves with the electoral system and parties of the FRG.
This provision of the law was declared by the Federal Constitutional Court to be incompatible with the Basic Law (Constitution) of the country following a complaint by a German citizen who has lived in Belgium since birth (in 1982) to the present day and has never been a resident of Germany. For this reason, the electoral commission excluded the plaintiff from the voter lists. The excluded citizen cited the general nature of elections without taking into account the residency requirement of the country's citizens.
The Constitutional Court also saw inequality in granting suffrage to Germans abroad based on the three-month residency requirement before departure. The Court did not see sufficient justification for such treatment. It is unclear why exactly three months is considered sufficient time to delve into the political system of Germany? What about those who left the country many years ago under different political conditions or who were too young during their stay in Germany and not mature enough for an objective assessment of the country's political system.
Of course, three months is a sufficient period to identify persons who do not wish to have anything in common with Germany (except citizenship) and deprive them of the important right to elect deputies and thus influence the political system of the FRG. Yet this fact inadmissibly infringes on the rights of German citizens, deprives them of contact with the country, especially Germans living in countries bordering Germany. After the court's decision, all German citizens abroad have the right to vote in federal elections for the Bundestag.
Thomas PUE,
German lawyer.