Germany saw at least 309,852 naturalisations in 2025, Welt am Sonntag reported at the weekend, exceeding the previous record in 2024 of 291,955.
The newspaper collected data from 14 of Germany's 16 states. Official figures on naturalisations in 2025 have have not yet been released.
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The spike in naturalisations is partly attributed to the 2024 reform brought in by the previous coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP). Foreign residents in Germany are now eligible to apply for citizenship after five years of residence instead of the previous eight, and can hold dual citizenship.
Amid growing calls from some right-wing politicians to clamp down on citizenship rules, a migration expert from Die Linke (The Left) party told The Local that rising naturalisations are a welcome development.
'Permanent residence permit before citizenship'
Following the publication of the figures, Christian Democrat Alexander Throm, who has long been an opponent of the reform, reiterated calls for the government to dismantle the law, or at least make it harder for many foreigners to access.
He said the governing coalition – made up of the CDU/CSU and centre-left Social Democrats – abolished the "worst part" of the reformed citizenship law last year, referring to the fast-track path to citizenship that allowed well-integrated individuals with C1 level German to naturalise after three years.
Throm, who is the domestic policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, said ideally he wants to see the residence requirement reversed back to eight years, and dual citizenship shelved. However, he noted that the Union parties had not been able to achieve this during coalition negotiations with the SPD.
Throm therefore proposed an alternative approach. He suggested that people living with protected status (Schutzstatus) in Germany, such as refugees, should not be able to apply for naturalisation directly from that status. Instead, Throm suggests they should first have to obtain a permanent settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis), after which the waiting period for citizenship eligibility would begin.
Under current German law, foreigners can generally apply for naturalisation after five years of lawful residence, without necessarily having to hold Niederlassungserlaubnis.
It means that many internationals – including recognised refugees, skilled workers and other residents with qualifying residence permits – can count years spent legally living in Germany towards citizenship eligibility.
READ ALSO: When does your residency in Germany start counting toward citizenship?
Hesse’s interior minister Roman Poseck (CDU), meanwhile, backs allowing long-term foreign residents who have contributed to the state to become German.
But he said people should only be allowed to keep their original nationality alongside a German passport in exceptional cases.
"Dual citizenship makes integration more difficult," he told Welt.
'Punishing success with bureaucracy'
In response to the comments, Clara Bünger from Germany's Left party told The Local the conservatives were "once more waging a dangerous campaign against millions of fellow citizens".
"Demanding that people wait longer for citizenship just because more of them are applying is punishing success with bureaucracy," she said.
"People who live and raise their families here are already part of this society. A longer waiting period does not make them more German, it just makes them less equal for longer. If naturalisation numbers are rising, that is something to welcome, not to reverse."
Bünger accused the CDU of "exploiting current naturalisation numbers for its cheap culture war".
She said that instead of hurdles, The Left wants to see a "faster path to a passport and full voting rights for everyone who lives here".
READ ALSO: 'I've never felt welcome' - why immigrants are leaving Germany
'We won't change naturalisation law'
An SPD spokesperson also said the rise in naturalisations is a positive sign – and wants to shut down the conversation on tightening the law.
"This means that many people are working here, speaking the language and have settled in," said SPD domestic policy expert Hakan Demir, adding, "We won’t change anything about that."
Instead of talk on tightening immigration laws, Demir said the conversation should be centred on how Germany can encourage people "who work here and are integrated" to stay in the country.
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