Naturalisation and political interest of refugees , Date: 2024.11.28, format: brief analysis, area: Authority

Source: © BAMF

The BAMF Brief Analysis 07|2024 analyses the occurrence of naturalisations and the political interest of refugees who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2019 for the years 2021 and 2022.

The analysis is based on data from wave six and seven of the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees. The first part of the study compares the occurrence of naturalisations for the years 2021 and 2022 and examines the sources of information used, the stated reasons for intending to naturalise, and a self-assessment for the fulfilment of naturalisation requirements. As former foreign nationals are granted full voting rights through the acquisition of German citizenship and thus become potential voters, the second part focuses of the study on the political interest of refugees.

Key findings

The occurrence of naturalisation is subject to dynamic development.

In 2022, 14 percent of refugees who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2019 applied for naturalisation, while a further 3 percent already hold German citizenship. In the previous year, these shares were 6 percent and 1 percent respectively. Only 3 percent of refugees did (rather) not intend to apply for naturalisation. The most frequently cited reasons for applying for naturalisation are better future prospects, security of residence, equality with people of German origin and a strong sense of connection with Germany.

Naturalisation requirements are often not met due to insufficient income.

Certain requirements must be met for naturalisation. According to their own assessment, which does not necessarily correspond to the objective situation, around three quarters of all refugees (77 percent) stated to have the required length of stay in 2022 and around half considered their German language skills to be sufficient (50 percent). Having independent means to support oneself was least likely to apply (42 per cent). Overall, the share of refugees who, according to their own assessment, fulfilled all naturalisation requirements in 2022 was 22 percent.

Refugees show little political interest in 2021.

Naturalisation offers the opportunity for full political participation in Germany. Around 80 percent of refugees stated that they were not at all or hardly interested in politics in 2021. While women are less likely than men to show an interest in politics, level of education, German language skills and trust in political parties are positively correlated with political interest. The extent to which political interest will increase with increasing length of residence and the extent to which this is reflected in later voter turnout of naturalised refugees, remains to be determined by future research.

The Brief Analysis was written by: Dr. Kerstin Tanis

This download is available in other languages, too.

• Einbürgerung und politisches Interesse von Geflüchteten (German)