Anuscheh Farahat and Kay Hailbronner As a result, they were no longer counted in the statistics on naturalisation after August 1999. This explains why the number of naturalisations, which in 1998 had been at a peak of 291,331, dropped to 248,206 in 1999 and to 140,731 in 2003. Until August 1999, repatriated ethnic Germans accounted for up to two-thirds of the naturalisations. In general, repatriate Germans kept their previous nationality. Dual nationality of repatriate Germans has always been accepted under the respective laws although hardly any Germans knew about this situation. Therefore, the largely theoretical dual nationality of repatriate Germans has never been a subject of public controversy. The 186,688 foreigners who achieved German nationality by naturalisation in 2000 indicated an increasing willingness of foreigners to become German nationals. However, the numbers have fallen in the following years to 140,000 in 2003, and 101.570 in 2010. This amounts to a decrease of more than 40 per cent between 2000 and 2010, which needs to be taken as a serious sign that the nationality legislation has not reached its goals in the long run. Even today, the average time of residence prior to naturalisation is 15.3 years. This number suggests that despite the legislative residence requirement of eight years for ordinary naturalisation, the other requirements pose serious obstacles. Another possible explanation may be a lack of promotional activities in most of the Länder. As a result of new provisions in the German Aliens Act of 1990 (Ausländergesetz) which provided for the individual right to naturalisation, the number of naturalisations had already increased in the mid 1990s from 45,000 (1993) to 106,790 (1998). The overall rate of naturalisations rose from 0.46 per cent in 1991 to 2.43 per cent in 2001 and then again fell to 2.2. in 2010. The increase in the number of naturalisations of foreigners in 1999 was primarily due to an increase in naturalisations of Turkish citizens. In 1999, former Turkish citizens made up two-thirds of all naturalisations of foreigners.55 The increase in 2000 of 30 per cent is largely attributed to the ability to deal with problematic applications more quickly as a result of the entry into force of the new provisions of 1 January 2000. For example, numerous applications by Iranian applicants could be decided positively since the new provisions reduced the required time of habitual residence to eight years and since the new provisions made it possible to accept dual nationality on a much larger scale if an application for renouncement had been communicated to the Iranian authorities. This also explains to some extent the relatively high number of naturalisations without renouncement of a previous nationality of 44.9 per cent in 2000. The statistics demonstrate a significant impact of the nationality legislation on the acceptance of dual nationality. While in 1998 only 15,006 (19.1 per cent) of 78,474 persons were naturalised under the general provisions of Section 85 of the Aliens Act and by acceptance of dual nationality, in 2000 as much as 80,856 (44.9 per cent) of 186,688 naturalisations were by acceptance of dual nationality, compared to 57,285 out of 142,406 in 2003. In 2010 dual nationality has been accepted in the figure of 53.930 (53,1 per cent) out of 101.570 naturalisations and in the figure of 49.7 per cent of all naturalisations in 2013.56 In some of these cases acceptance of dual nationality is only temporary. By law the loss of nationality takes place only if a former national has acquired the nationality of a different state, in order to prevent statelessness. In the German administrative practice, temporary dual nationality arises as a result of naturalisation on the promise to submit an application for renunciation, which may sometimes take years. Temporary dual nationality is subsequently 55 See Press Release Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office Germany) of 28 December 2000: ‘Einbürgerungen von Ausländern 1999 gegenüber 1998 um ein Drittel gestiegen’. www.destatis.de. 56 For current statistical data on naturalisation see: Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office Germany): https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesellschaftStaat/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/Eingebuerge rtePersonen/Tabellen/StaatsangehoerigkeitEinbuergerungen.html. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/5 - © 2020 Author(s) 25