Before completing even a month in his ministry, the German Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, has already brought two significant immigration-related bills to Parliament, as he had previously announced, clearly intending to send a message that the country’s policy is becoming tougher.

One bill concerns limiting the cases in which refugee family reunification will be allowed, and the other abolishes the so-called “express” naturalization for special cases, which allowed citizenship after only three years of residence in the country.

“Today is a crucial day in the effort to reduce irregular migration and to combat the overload on integration systems,” Dobrindt stated. “Our goal is to reduce the factors that act as incentives, to bring more order to the migration process, while equally respecting the principle of humanitarianism.”

The lack of a solution to the migration issue has significantly contributed to social polarization, the minister argued, and the time has come for measures to be taken.

Family reunification concerns individuals under the so-called subsidiary protection status. These are refugees who are not granted asylum or full refugee protection in Germany, but are still allowed to stay because they face political persecution, torture, or the death penalty in their countries of origin.

According to the draft law, by the end of March, nearly 390,000 people with subsidiary protection were living in Germany. Since August 2018, 1,000 individuals per month have been granted entry into the country as relatives of those under this protection status — totaling 12,000 annually.

In total, 229,751 people applied for asylum for the first time in Germany last year. Family reunification was previously limited to close relatives — i.e., spouses, registered partners, and minor children. Those with subsidiary protection will no longer be allowed to bring family members to Germany for two years. Exceptions are made for cases of exceptional hardship; however, the bill does not specify exactly what constitutes such cases.

Naturalizations Become More Difficult

In addition, the “black-red” (conservative-social democrat) government also wants to abolish the rapid naturalization that was established after three years of residence for particularly well-integrated migrants — a measure previously enacted by the former three-party coalition. These so-called “turbo naturalizations” had already been a thorn in the side of the Christian Democrats while they were in opposition, and abolishing them was one of their campaign promises.