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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Citizens’ Rights and the Right to Be a Citizen

Ernst Hirsch Ballin discusses the significance of citizens’ rights against the backdrop of ongoing migration and urbanization in the beginning of the 21st century. The traditional view that each state has the sovereign power to give or withhold citizenship, puts Read More …

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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Inside out? Directly elected ‘special representation’ of emigrants in national legislatures and the role of popular sovereignty

by Michael Collyer, Political Geography, xxx (2014), 1-10

It is increasingly common for political rights to be extended to citizens who are permanently resident outside their state of citizenship. In a small minority of cases (13 countries as of October 2013) emigrants are not only able to vote but also able to vote for their own representation. Such systems of ‘special representation’ introduce members of national legislatures who are responsible for emigrants across large parts of the world. These electoral systems highlight the problematic characterisation of states as territorial entities with an ‘inside’ and an ‘outside’, since the state would then be turning itself ‘inside-out’ by performing domestic functions on foreign territory without the intervention of foreign states. Drawing on data from a recent survey of electoral systems to highlight common patterns between the 13 countries in which special representation is currently operated, the paper highlights the role of inter-national migrants as emigrants, rather than as immigrants. It concludes that such developments cannot be explained territorially without serious problems for states that are manifestly not occurring. Special representation can only be understood as a re-emphasis of the significance of popular sovereignty. Democracy re-founds the legitimacy of the state in ‘the people’ but its extra-territorial performance results in a disarticulation between nation and state which states must creatively contain.

 

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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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