Filipinos born and raised in Germany are now entitled to dual citizenship after the country amended its citizenship laws. Germany has abolished the rule where children born in Germany to foreigner parents are obligated to choose one citizenship over the other.
Under the new rule the Department of Foreign Affairs in Germany will allow children born in the country after January 1, 2000, to foreign parents or a parent who has stayed legally in the country for eight years, may now opt to have dual citizenship when they turn 21.
Before the citizenship law was amended, children born to non-German parents had to to choose one or the other, not dual.
The German Nationality act states that a child born to non-German parents should have grown in Germany, stayed in Germany for eight years, attended a school in Germany for six years or graduated from a school in Germany, to avail the dual citizenship.
Philippine Ambassador to Germany Melita Sta. Maria-Thomeczek noted that the new citizenship law allows Filipino-German youths to identify themselves to their parent’s homeland.
“The changes to the immigration law are important in ensuring that Germany continues to be an open and multicultural society,” Sta. Maria-Thomeczek said.
The Philippines’ current citizenship law entitles children born of mixed marriages to dual citizenship by reason of blood.