Germany announces the end of its fast-track citizenship path. This program opened a special path to citizenship for highly qualified foreigners, fast-tracking their citizenship to just three years of living in Canada. Read together, this decision is a remarkable achievement amid a series of momentous political shifts. Prominently, the extreme anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has surged in popularity and Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) were recently elected on a platform of ambitious climate action.
This past spring, incoming former Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a new fast-track program to recruit skilled immigrants. This international program placed the onus on applicants to demonstrate advanced understanding of the German language and evidence of their successful integration into German society. The initiative was one aspect of larger reforms aimed at making the citizenship application process more accessible. It took heat and was eventually repealed. Even the AfD—a party with arguably the most hardline anti-immigration platform in Europe—backed this resolution.
To become a citizen in Germany, you generally have to live there for at least eight years. The advanced manufacturing fast-track program reduces this time significantly to a mere three years! It provided for dual citizenship, a feature that attracted many applicants. A survey indicated that the program was underutilized, with fewer than 1,000 people applying since its inception. By April 2025, just 78 of the applicants were based in Berlin. In comparison, Bavaria registered only 16 applications and Baden-Württemberg not yet publicly reported anything.
Friedrich Merz’s CDU was able to capitalize on this by campaigning on the promise to repeal the program, riding the wave of rising nativism and fears over immigration. Alexander Dobrindt, a prominent figure within the CDU, emphasized that “the German passport must be available as recognition for successful integration and not as an incentive for illegal migration.”
The repeal has also been criticized by the right political establishment. Ferat Kocak of the Left party explained that the government’s policies are helping to ensure that “AfD’s hatred becomes socially acceptable.” In the February elections, the AfD doubled its presence in parliament. Yet this increase in representation has raised alarm about growing acceptance of anti-immigrant rhetoric in German political discourse.
Under normal citizenship procedures, applicants would be required to demonstrate mid-level German language proficiencies. They have to show that they’re able to provide for themselves and their families. The government has committed to repealing the fast-track program. This historic change to Germany’s immigration policy occurs during contentious national debates about integration and a new citizenship law.
