Anuscheh Farahat and Kay Hailbronner further assistance for integration, particularly in order to facilitate professional education and the education of juveniles. The procedure for acquiring legal status as a German repatriate is divided into two steps. The first step in the readmission procedure is to find out whether a person meets the basic requirements for admission under the Federal Expellees Act and whether admission is within the quota for admission. A person who has passed the admission procedure receives a certificate of admission (Aufnahmebescheid), which entitles the person to take up permanent residence in Germany. After entering into Germany, a further procedure results in the issuing of a certificate of recognition as a German repatriate (Spätaussiedlerbescheinigung) according to Section 15 of the Federal Expellees Act which states with binding force for all authorities that the person is entitled to all privileges and rights as a German repatriate. The issuing of this certificate leads to the automatic acquisition of German nationality according to Section 7 of the Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz. The fact that this occurs in two separate procedures has been subject to criticism. A certain coordination has been achieved by concentrating the authority for both certificates in the Bundesverwaltungsamt in Berlin. The certificate of recognition as a German repatriate is issued automatically on the entry into force of the Immigration Act and does not require an application. However, there are a number of unresolved issues relating to the acquisition of German nationality by German repatriates. Restrictions concerning the necessary knowledge of the German language have been generally acknowledged as an essential element of the general integration policy. About 50 per cent of all applicants do not pass the German language test. From an administrative point of view, it is envisaged to replace the existing two-step procedure by a single procedure, which terminates in the recognition of the legal status as a repatriate. 3.3 Institutional arrangements Institutional arrangements concerning nationality law first of all reflect the fact that Germany is a federal state. The legislative competences and executive competences to implement the law are divided between the State and the German Länder as laid down in the German Basic Law. The legislative process Under Article 73 of the Basic Law, the Federation has the exclusive power to legislate with respect to citizenship in the Federation. Special authority is granted the Federation by Article 116 of the Basic Law which defines a German as a person who either possesses German citizenship or has been admitted to the territory of the German Reich within the boundaries of 31 December 1937 as a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or as a spouse or descendant of such persons. Article 116 para. 1 provides explicitly for further legislation (‘unless otherwise provided by a law’). The exclusively federal legislation on nationality means that nationality issues are usually dealt with by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which is in charge of matters of nationality. However, the law reforms during the last fifteen years have been substantially controversial and frequently accompanied by an emotional public debate. As a result of the development of Germany into a de facto immigration country with a high percentage of immigrants, nationality issues have become very closely connected with general migration RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/5 - © 2020 Author(s) 29