By IPS Correspondents
BERLIN, Jul 26 2000 (IPS)

Germany’s new citizenship law, which came into force this January, was designed to make obtaining German nationality easier.

But in many cases the new rules are making it more difficult for foreigners to become naturalised.

In particular a new language test, specially for those seeking naturalisation, has been criticised as a major deterrent.

Citizenship is dependent on adequate knowledge of German which, the authorities say, is important for the integration of immigrants into the host society.

However, particularly the written language tests have been the subject of the much controversy as written German is not the same as spoke German.

The test, which concentrates on comprehension skills, was recently criticised by members of the Green party, part of the country’s ruling Green-Social Democrat coalition, who said the language test was far too difficult and its failure rate too high.

In Berlin, one in five fails the test, according to statistics collated from the districts, although the Berlin authorities earlier claimed the number was under 15 per cent.

The Green party laid the blame for the ‘disgracefully low levels’ of naturalisations in Berlin on the language test.

Under the new law, which came into force in January, foreigners can apply for naturalisation after eight years residence instead of 15 years in the past.

However, Berlin’s interior minister, Eckart Werthebach, has said the number of applications for citizenship in Berlin – which has one of the largest Turkish immigrant communities in the country has actually dropped by 15 per cent compared to the same period a year ago – before the citizenship law was in place.

This compares with a rise of 20 per cent in the port city of Hamburg compared to this period last year. Deputies said such a variation in statistics could only point to administrative and other barriers in Berlin.

Other states have yet to provide their statistics for comparison.

In Bavaria, for example, applications were only accepted from March when it brought in its own language test which many maintain is more difficult than the language tests in other states and includes a written component rather than multiple-choice questions.

Michael Weiss, a linguist who helped design the test for the Berlin districts, defended the standard of the test saying it would ‘raise the language level’ of applicants. He said he had seen people make a greater effort to learn the language.

‘No one is expelled from the country if he or she fails the test,’ Weiss said, adding it did no one any harm to enrol in a German course.

However, teachers of German as a foreign language, have said it was evident that applicants became de-motivated if they failed the test. ‘It is particularly a problem for older applicants,’ said one teacher.

City community colleges offer courses to prepare for the test but admit the demand is greater than the number of courses available.

The Turkish Federation and other immigrant organisations have also set up special courses, and have criticised the authorities for not promoting language acquisition by immigrants.

Cem Ozdemir, a member of the Green party of Turkish origin said the state needed to make far more effort to improve the language levels of immigrants, ‘the hopes of the past that this problem (of language) would resolve itself the longer people were in the country, has not been realised,’ he said.

In Berlin special remedial German classes for immigrant children were stepped up just two years ago when it was found the level of German of second and third generation immigrants was, in some cases, worse than first generation immigrants.

However, there is no comprehensive policy on teaching German as a foreign language to immigrant groups, as there is in other European countries.

Although the rules for children born in Germany have made it easier to obtain citizenship, Marieluise Beck, responsible for foreigners Affairs in the Federal Government has said the naturalisation of children was ‘well below expectations.’

The majority of the 700,000 children born in Germany in the last 10 years to non-German parents now have the right to nationality.

However, the parents must apply by the end of this year. Only a small proportion have made applications. According to Beck parents may have been deterred by the 500 mark administrative cost.

However, children of school age do not need to take the language test, except in Bavaria where children between 10 and 16 only need to take a language test if they have spent less than four years in a German school.

The stricter rules in the conservative-rule southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg go against Federal directives which lay down the rules of the language tests as well as other aspects of the naturalisation law.

‘The most restrictive states should not be allowed to dictate who is naturalised and who is not,’ said a spokesperson for the Federal Commissioner for Foreigners Affairs in Berlin.

Yet the Federal authorities admit they have little leverage over the administration of the language test as long as it is conducted, as stated in the regulations, by language specialists rather than immigration officials.

Even within states, particular different district offices apply different criteria, interpreting the law in its own way and making acquiring citizenship in Germany a lottery based on place of residence, according to the Green party.

Some district offices in Berlin announced they would take no more applications, as they had been overburdened by numbers.

Others have almost nothing to do, waiting for applicants coming through the door. Only now are underworked officials being sent to overworked district offices to help clear the backlog, according to the Berlin city authorities.

Member of the left-leaning Party of Democratic Socialism, Karin Hopfmann, provides several examples of how absurd the applications procedure has become.

In one case a 37 year old internet page designer from the former Yugoslavia, who has been resident in Berlin for eight years, was asked to prove a knowledge of the German language.

However, her university degree in German philology was not accepted and the woman was asked to sit a language test.

The rules in Berlin normally allow for those over 60 and those who have a German school leaving certificate, or four-years schooling in Germany not to have to do the test.

The Green Party deputy Hartwig Berger cites another case in Berlin of a Turkish family whose three and four-year old children were ordered to sit a language test. The order was only dropped when the family lodged an official complaint.

The new law was passed after a heated debate. A vociferous anti- foreigner campaign by the opposition Christian Democrats meant that a stricter law was passed than originally proposed.

Adults who receive German citizenship must give up their previous nationality, which, Berlin’s senator responsible for foreigners affairs, Barbara John, said was keeping many foreigners, particularly Turks from taking advantage of the new law as this meant they would loose inheritance rights in their own country.

Children, however, may keep dual citizenship till they turn 23 when they must renounce one.

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