News

Italy considers naturalisation of second generation immigrants

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In his inaugural speech at the Italian Senate, the new Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi committed himself to reforming the citizenship law in order to provide better access for the children of the country’s many immigrants. He urged the political parties to find a compromise between advocates of ius soli for all children born in the country to legally resident parents and those favouring naturalisation based on completing school education in Italy. In his speech, Renzi referred to his belief that a shared identity is a basis for integration. He asserted that the opposite of integration is not identity but disintegration.

Read more details in Stranieriinitalia.it

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Austria: Slight increase in absolute numbers of naturalisation, stagnating naturalisation rate

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By EUDO citizenship expert Gerd Valchars

Naturalisation numbers in Austria remain at a low level. In 2013 7,418 persons obtained Austrian nationality. Compared to 2012 their number increased by 4.4 per cent (plus 311 in absolute numbers). The naturalisation rate – the number of naturalisations as the percentage of the total number of resident non-nationals in the country – reached again 0,7 per cent, as it did in 2012. Regional figures show a diverse pattern: While in some provinces the number of acquisitions increased significantly compared to last year (Styria: +31.8 per cent, Carinthia: +24.2 per cent) it decreased in others (Vienna: -2.7 per cent).

36.7 per cent of all naturalisations in 2013 concerned non-nationals born in Austria (2012: 35.7 per cent). 37.8 per cent of all naturalised persons have been under the age of 18.

Naturalisation in Austria had reached an all-time high in 2003, both in absolute numbers and in relation to the non-national population. In that year the number of naturalisations peaked at 45,117 with a naturalisation rate of 5.96 per cent. After 2003 and due to several amendments to the law, numbers massively dropped and reached a low point in 2010 (6,135; 0.67 per cent). Last year’s amendment, which inter alia introduced an alternative track towards citizenship with higher requirements but a shorter residence period of six years for those considered to be ‘exceptionally well integrated’ (in force since 1 August 2013), seems to have had no effect on naturalisations yet. Only 12 applicants obtained nationality under this new provision in 2013. 

Read the press release from Statistics Austria (in German) and a short version in English.

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Russia considers an investor citizenship scheme

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Following the experience of many EU countries, Russian government also considers an investor citizenship scheme. The Ministry of Economic Development together with Federal Migration Service drafted a bill which would allow naturalisation of foreigners who invest about 10 million rubles (about 285,000 EUR). The daily Kommersant aptly notes that this is the price of a good apartment in one of the big Russian cities and that more than half of the EU states already have such schemes.

 

Read full story in Kommersant (in Russian), RT (in English) and the Voice of Russia.

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Spanish dual citizenship offer for Sephardic Jews creates huge interest among Israelis

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Spain amends its law to allow the descendants of the Sepharadic Jews expelled in 1492 receive Spanish citizenship while retaining their current citizenship. While there is little interest in returning to their ancestral homeland today, Israeli citizens consider the benefits of free movement in the EU a Spanish passport gives. According to one of their organisations in Israel which is already receiving applications, some 3,5 millions may apply. Organisations of the descendants of the Moors (who were also kicked out soon after the Jews), support the measure, but called for equal rights for all those who were expelled. 

 

Read the full story in Reuters and in The Local here and here.

Read the statements of the Spanish Minister of Justice made during his visit in New York in the New York Times and the Jewish daily Forward. 

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German coalition partners at odds on dual citizenship for children born in Germany

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Germany debates amendment to its law to allow dual citizenship for the children of immigrants. Currently, the second generation immigrants can lose their German passports on their 23th birthday if they have not renounced any other citizenship they have. Tolerance of dual citizenship for immigrants was an important campaign issue for the social-democrats but upon forming the coalition with the Christian-Democrats they agreed to allow it only for second generation immigrants. Now the CDU insists on restricting this further with additional conditions for them to retain German citizenship only if they have 12 years of continuous residence in Germany.  According to EUDO Citizenship Co-Director Rainer Bauböck such a condition may violate EU law since if it leads to EU citizens losing their EU citizenship as a result of having made use of their free movement rights. This would be the case if a child born in Germany to third country national parents settles in another EU member state at an age where he or she has not yet had 12 years of residence in Germany and may not be eligible for naturalisation in the state of residence.

Read the full story in Spiegel Online (in English).

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New criteria for awarding Austrian citizenship on grounds of special achievement

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by Rainer Bauböck (EUDO CITIZENSHIP co-director)

A much criticized provision in Austria’s citizenship law allows to waive residence conditions, language and civic knowledge tests and the renunciation of a foreign citizenship “if the granting of nationality is in the particular interests of the Republic by reason of the alien’s actual or expected outstanding achievements” (Art. 10(6)). The critique focused mainly on the lack of transparency in the administrative procedure. Opera singer Anna Netrebko thus became an Austrian citizen although she does not speak German and does not live in Austria. In a famous case of political corruption, a Carinthian party official of the right wing populist Freedom Party had offered Austrian citizenship as “part of the game” if a Russian oligarch would contribute to party coffers. Austrian authorities reacted by not granting citizenship under this provision during the last two years. 

Now the Ministry of Interior has proposed a list of criteria that will in the future clarify the conditions for awarding what is commonly called “Promi-Staatsbürgerschaft” (citizenship for VIPs). The emphasis seems to be on expected future contributions to Austrian sports, arts, science or to the economy rather than on past achievements. Reports about the government bill, which has not yet been published, indicate that residence in Austria will still not be a requirement. In this respect, the Austrian reform proposal does not seem to have taken into account the recent intervention of the EU Commission against a Maltese law that had offered investors citizenship without a residence condition. The Maltese government has agreed to introduce a condition of residence for at least 12 months in order to make sure that big investors applying for naturalisation have a genuine link to the country before obtaining an EU passport.  

Read the latest news here (in German) and the previous reports in Die Presse, ORF online and Salzburger Nachrichten.

Read our news about the controversy over the Maltese citizenship for sale scheme in European Parliament here and Malta backing down here.

Read the Report by the Minister of the Interior to the Council of Ministers on the criteria for awarding Austrian citizenship based on special achievements.

 

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EUDO Citizenship launches a new database on electoral rights

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The EUDO CITIZENSHIP launches its new comparative database on Electoral Rights, which provides information on the conditions and procedures for voting of citizens and for non-citizens in the 28 EU Member States, in 10 types of elections. Data on the electoral rights of citizens who are not resident in their home state to be added in March.

The comparative database was commissioned by the Committee of Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament.

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Malta backs down on selling citizenship after negotiations with the European Commission

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Malta changes its controversial citizenship law to introduce a 12 months residency as a precondition for naturalization.  In a joint press release last week Malta and the European Commission had already announced that the Individual Investment Program, which amounted to selling Maltese (and hence European) citizenship for cash will be amended.

The amendments seek to ascertain that there is a genuine link of the prospective citizen with the country before the passport is issued. According to the Prime Minister Muscat, quoted in Malta Today, the Commission committed itself to assure that the investor citizenship schemes operated in other countries meet the same conditions. In the past Montenegro has considered similar scheme, but backed down before it became operational under the Commission’s pressure in the course of its EU accession negotiations.

This comes after the Maltese government was subject to pressure both from the EU and from the domestic opposition. While the law has already become operational so that the first applications were being prepared, the oppositional Nationalist Party filed a declaration in court that it will repeal the scheme and withdraw the citizenships granted under it whenever it comes to power. The revocation of all citizenships acquired through the scheme would create problems of its own, and the Times of Malta turned for comments to the EUDO experts Maarten Vink and Jelena Dzankic who argued that any blanket revocation would be arbitrary, would violate the principle of proportionality of the EU law and Malta’s own law. On the other side, the scheme was heavily criticised by virtually everybody in a heated debate in the European Parliament and the European Commission threatened Malta with infringement proceedings for violation of its duty of sincere co-operation under Art. 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union.

 

Read more details about the amendment in Malta Today. 

Read the joint press release of the European Commission and Malta and the news about it in EUobserver and in Malta Today.

 

Read about the declaration of the opposition in the Times of Malta.

Read about the Commission considering infringement proceeding in the EUobserver. Read about the earlier debate in the European Parliament and the reactions in Malta here.

Read EUDO Citizenship expert Jelena Dzankic comparing Maltese and Montenegrin investor citizenship policies for the Times of Malta.

Read an interesting comment on the compatibility of the Maltese citizenship scheme with EU law here.

 

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