Report on Citizenship Law Germany Anuscheh Farahat and Kay Hailbronner1 1. Introduction The turn of the millennium marked an important change in German nationality law. The Nationality Law of 1913 (Reichs- und Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz), valid from the German Empire to the Third Reich and the Federal Republic and subject to many changes and amendments, was replaced by the Nationality Act,2 which came into force on 1 January 2000. The new nationality law was the result of a highly controversial debate between the major political parties in 1998, preceding the federal parliamentary elections. Although in many respects still based upon the provisions of the law of 1913, the Nationality Act of 2000 (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz) has conformed to the trend of recent European nationality laws by substantially facilitating naturalisation; including a stronger toleration of dual nationality; replacing discretionary regulations with individual rights; introducing new modes of acquisition and, in particular, by introducing a ius soli element into German nationality law. As indicated by the Act’s name, German nationality law refers to the term Staatsangehörigkeit (nationality) rather than Staatsbürgerschaft which may be translated as ‘citizenship’. Staatsbürgerschaft has a somewhat stronger political connotation and may refer particularly to the substantial democratic rights and obligations related to legal status. Following German legal terminology, the term ‘nationality’ will be used in the following report. 1 The report on Citizenship Laws in Germany was originally authored by Kay Hailbronner and published in November 2009. The report was subsequently revised and updated by Anuscheh Farahat in October 2012, December 2014 and December 2019. The present version of the report was published in February 2020. 2 Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (StAG) of 15 July, 1999, Federal Law Gazette, vol. I, p. 1618. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/5 - © 2020 Author(s) 1