Germany’s newly formed center-right coalition government has taken a decisive step to tighten immigration controls, approving a bill on Wednesday that restricts family reunification rights and reverses fast-tracked naturalization for well-integrated immigrants.
The legislation, which still requires parliamentary approval, primarily targets refugees granted subsidiary protection status—those allowed to remain in Germany due to risks of persecution, torture, or death in their home countries, despite not having formal asylum recognition. As of March 2025, nearly 388,000 people hold this status.
Under the proposed law, these individuals will be barred from bringing family members such as spouses, registered partners, and minor children to Germany for two years. Exemptions may apply for cases of economic hardship, though the bill does not clearly specify eligibility criteria.
This move echoes a similar suspension of family reunification between 2016 and 2018 under the previous CDU-SPD coalition, which was justified at the time by concerns over integration challenges and resource burdens.
The bill also ends the accelerated naturalization pathway that had been available to immigrants demonstrating strong integration. However, existing citizenship reforms remain intact, with plans to shorten the standard naturalization period from eight to five years and preserve the right to dual citizenship.
Under Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s directive, the Interior Ministry has intensified border controls and implemented new deportation procedures targeting undocumented migrants and asylum seekers at the border. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt formally revoked a 2015 directive from Angela Merkel’s tenure that permitted undocumented migrants to enter Germany and apply for asylum on humanitarian grounds.
The government aims to reduce asylum applications, which stood at 352,000 in 2023 and fell slightly to 250,000 in 2024. Officials emphasize adherence to EU law requiring asylum claims to be filed in the first EU country entered, such as Greece or Italy, rather than Germany.
Further reforms include speeding up asylum case processing and increasing deportations of rejected applicants and individuals convicted of violent crimes. The government is also seeking bilateral agreements with transit and origin countries to facilitate deportations.
Germany’s new coalition government is rapidly enacting a conservative agenda to curb irregular migration and overhaul the asylum system.
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