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Berlin Officials Defend Digital Naturalization as Critics Question Security

Officials have invited Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt to review the system that consolidates security checks into a single digital process with an in-person loyalty declaration.

Einbürgerungsfeier im Rathaus: Bürgermeister Peter Tschentscher (r., SPD) überreicht eine Einbürgerungsurkunde.
Eine Einbürgerungsfeier Mitte Juli im Hamburger Rathaus – mit Chorauftritt
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Mann steht vor roter Wand mit der Aufschrift Bild100

Overview

  • Since taking on 40,000 backlogged cases in January 2024, the LEA has naturalized 42,000 people and recorded 700 rejections, and it now plans to process up to 40,000 more applications in 2025.
  • Berlin’s fully digital workflow starts with an online Quickcheck for eligibility, allows 24-hour submission of all documents and integrates automated security and identity verifications before a final in-person loyalty statement.
  • Interior Senator Iris Spranger and Mayor Kai Wegner have rejected CDU/CSU allegations of political quotas, insisting that no target numbers are set and that digitalization has strengthened fraud detection.
  • Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Union lawmakers argue that early in-person interviews are necessary to assess constitutional loyalty, prompting Spranger’s invitation for them to observe the LEA’s procedures directly.
  • In Hamburg, the Senate reported 6,026 naturalizations by early July with only 13 of 7,655 applications denied since January, while the new federal government plans to reverse the reduced residency requirement and dual-citizenship rule introduced last year.