Anuscheh Farahat and Kay Hailbronner to be reduced from fifteen to eight years. Other proposed amendments related to a right to naturalisation for minors and a reduction of the residence requirement to three years for spouses of German nationals. Dual or multiple nationality was to be accepted in all these cases (Hailbronner 1999a: 51) .2.2 The nationality law reform of 2000 These proposals met heavy resistance by some of the Länder, particularly since the first draft presented by the Ministry of the Interior provided for a broad acceptance of dual and multiple nationality and the introduction of the ius soli principle.14 Due to changing majorities in Parliament a new proposal was submitted by the Social Democrats, Bündnis ’90/Die Grünen and the Liberal Party (FDP) comprising not only the introduction of the ius soli principle, but also the insertion of the ‘optional model’. Both chambers went on to adopt this draft with minor changes15 in May 1999.16 The new law on the reform of the German citizenship law of 15 July 1999 entered in force on 1 January 2000.17 In addition, administrative guidelines for its application were to be adopted. One of the major changes was the introduction of the ius soli principle in Article 4 of the German Nationality Law implying that a child of foreign parents acquires German citizenship under the ‘optional model’ on the condition that one parent has legally had her habitual residence in Germany for eight years and that he or she has been in the possession of a residence permit, an Aufenthaltsberechtigung or an unlimited Aufenthaltserlaubnis for three years; the model of the ‘double ius soli’ in force in some other European states has therefore not been introduced. Foreign children legally residing in Germany were entitled to naturalisation upon their tenth birthday if the above-mentioned conditions were fulfilled at the time of birth (para. 40b StAG; transitional regulation which expired on 31 December 2000). Due to the fact that children usually acquire the nationality of their parents by descent, the introduction of the ius soli principle will entail at least double if not multiple nationalities for foreign children born in Germany. Thus, para. 29 StAG introduced the highly disputed optional model and the obligation to decide upon reaching the age of eighteen which nationality to keep and which to renounce. If the young adult declares that he or she intends to keep his foreign nationality or if he or she does not declare anything on reaching the age of eighteen, he or she will lose his or her German nationality. If, on the other hand, he or she declares an intention to keep German citizenship, the young adult is obliged to prove the loss or renouncement of the foreign nationality (para. 29 (2) StAG) unless German authorities have formally approved that he or she may keep his foreign nationality. According to para. 29 (4) StAG, this permission to retain the former nationality (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung) is to be issued if renunciation of the foreign nationality is either impossible or unreasonable or if— in the case of naturalisation—multiple nationality would be accepted according to the general rules. 14 Zeitschrift für Ausländerrecht 1999, 50: ZAR-Nachrichten: ‘Zuwanderung, Integration und Reform des Staatsangehörigkeitsrechts’; Barwig, Brinkmann, Hailbronner, Huber, Kreuzer, Lörcher & Schumacher 1999. 15 Bundestagsdrucksache (Official Records of the Bundestag), No. 14/867. 16 Plenarprotokoll des Deutschen Bundestages No. 14/40, p. 3415 ff.; Bundesratsdrucksache (Records of the Bundesrat) No. 296/99; on the consultation of the Committee on the Interior see Bundestagsinnenausschuss-Protokoll (Protocol of the Committee on the Interior) No. 12, dated 13 March 1999 17 Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette), vol. I, p. 1618; on the amendments see Hailbronner 1999c;; Huber & Butzke 1999, 2769. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/5 - © 2020 Author(s) 7