Greece: comprehensive citizenship reform passed in parliament on 11 March. Read a summary by EUDO CITIZENSHIP expert Dimitris Christopoulos

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by Dimitris Christopoulos

 

On 11 March the Greek Parliament approved a bill proposed by the Greek government that comprehensively reforms Greek citizenship law. The law will come into force upon publication in the Official Gazette. The main points of this important reform are:

1.Double ius soli. Automatic acquisition of Greek citizenship if one of the parents is born and permanently resides in the country (Article 1, par. 2, al.a).

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Germany: denial of naturalisation on grounds of ideological orientation

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By EUDO CITIZENSHIP expert Anuscheh Farahat

A member of the German Left Party (Die Linke) has recently been denied naturalisation due to her membership in this left-wing party. Jannine Menger-Hamilton is Member of the regional parliament (Landtag) of Schleswig-Holstein functioning as spokesperson of the parliamentary group of her party. Mrs. Menger-Hamilton has been born in Germany; her mother is an Italian national, her father a British national.

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Citizenship and Immigration

In a sweeping review of the entire field of citizenship and immigration, this book argues that citizenship in Western states is converging on a liberal model of inclusive citizenship with diminished rights implications and increasingly universalistic identities. “This is a Read More …

Malta: Most acquisitions of Maltese citizenship by naturalisation occur through ties of marriage or parentage

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By EUDO CITIZENSHIP expert Eugene Buttigieg

Among those who acquire citizenship by naturalisation, only a minority do so without any ties of marriage or parentage, according to statistics by the Maltese Parliament.

According to an article by the local newspaper Malta Today on Sunday, “few people get citizenship in Malta unless they marry a Maltese or have a Maltese parent’. Over 2,000 of the 2,817 new Maltese citizens in the last four years became Maltese citizens either by marriage or from birth to a Maltese parent.

Statistics show that since 2004, over 1,000 men and women married foreigners, who after five years of marriage became Maltese citizens. Foreign wives who gained citizenship mainly hailed from Britain (157), Australia (83), and Russia (55). Husbands mainly were of British (107), Australian (78), but also Italian (56) and Libyan origin (49). ‘The statistics presented in Parliament show that there is a significant gender imbalance in the acquisition of a Maltese citizenship. For example, just one of 16 Nigerians granted Maltese citizenship was a woman.

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