More than 18,000 Israelis Applied for German Citizenship in the First Nine Months of 2024
Key Takeaways
- In the first nine months of 2024, Israeli nationals accounted for 18,448 naturalization applications in Germany.
- The figures from the first nine months of this year show that an increase in Israeli nationals applying for German citizenship was registered compared to 9,178 registered in 2023 and 5,705 in 2022.
- An increase in applications for German citizenship from Israeli nationals has been marked since October 2023.
A total of 18,448 naturalisation applications have been received by German authorities from Israeli nationals in the first nine months of 2024, according to the figures from the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The Ministry’s figures indicate that there was an increase in the number of naturalisation applications filed by Israeli nationals in the first nine months of this year, compared to 9,178 registered in 2023 and 5,705 in 2022. Applications from Israeli citizens living in another country, such as the United States, were not included in these statistics.
Increase in Number of Applications Since October 2023
Since October 2023, when the Israel-Hamas war began, the number of applications for German citizenship from Israelis marked an increase.
Since August 2021, victims of persecution by the Nazi regime, deprived of their German nationality and their descendants, are permitted to be naturalised in Germany.
“Special rules on naturalisation will apply for victims of persecution by the Nazi regime who were deprived of their German nationality on political, racial or religious grounds between January 30 1933 and May 8 1945. Within the framework of reparations, these persons and their descendants are entitled to be naturalised under Article 116 (2) sentence 1 of the Basic Law” German Missions in the US
Record Number of Naturalisation in Germany in 2023
In 2023, more than 200,000 people from different countries acquired German citizenship, according to government statistics, marking a record since 2000.
These figures show that the number of naturalisations increased by nearly 31,000 or 19 per cent compared to 2022’s statistics. The majority of naturalised German citizens came from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Romania, among others.
Syrian nationals alone accounted for over a third or 38 per cent of total naturalisations, with the number increasing by 27,100 to around 75,500. “The high number of naturalisations of Syrians correlates with the high number of Syrian asylum seekers who migrated [to Germany] between 2014 and 2016,” Germany’s government press release
New Nationality Law to Accelerate Process of Acquiring Citizenship
On June 27, 2027, Germany implemented the new Nationality Law, making the process of obtaining citizenship easier for foreigners living in this country. Following the implementation of this law, foreigners are no longer required to renounce their previous nationality.
The Minister of Interior of Germany, Nancy Faeser, said that through the new law, internationals living in Germany who meet all the requirements and share the same values would be eligible to obtain citizenship more quickly. "