Germany adopted birthright citizenship for immigrant children only in 2000

Evidence

Ultimately broadening the criteria for citizenship would come only with the election of a center-left government. The victory of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s Social Democratic–Green coalition in 1998, which ended sixteen years of CDU rule, resulted in reforms that went into effect in 2000.44 For the first time, automatic citizenship was conferred at birth (jus soli, or law of the soil) for children born in Germany to at least one parent with eight years of residence. The path to citizenship was eased for children of foreign residents born prior to 2000. In addition, the beneficiaries could now claim dual citizenship up to the age of twenty-three, at which point they would have to opt for one or the other. The term of residence required for naturalization was reduced from fifteen years to eight. — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 208

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The FRG’s citizenship law unified diverse German groups by descent — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 183; German citizenship law defines national belonging through racial blood descent — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1716; Residence, not just descent, came to confer German citizenship. — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 208 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• German citizenship law defines national belonging through racial blood descent #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1716
• The FRG’s citizenship law unified diverse German groups by descent #complicates (0.75) — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 183
• Residence, not just descent, came to confer German citizenship. #corroborates (0.75) — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 208
• Popular opposition forced German citizenship reform into a weaker compromise #qualifies (0.72) — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 209