Erfahrungen mit Einbürgerungsprozessen in Baden-Württemberg 2012

Experiences of naturalized citizens with naturalization processes.

Topics: length of procedure in months; difference between naturalization year and the year of application; assessment of the progress of the procedure; emitted documents after the application; time between naturalization decision and the application for naturalization in months; assessment of the German authorities regarding the naturalization procedure; nationality before naturalization; keep original nationality; kind of formal release from the former citizenship (automatically or application); duration of the dismissal procedure; assessment of dropping the previous citizenship; naturalization of another family member; experience of the naturalization procedure in the authority (friendly staff, complicated procedure, good information by staff, long latency time, felt welcome, delays in processing); concerns about the successful course of the naturalization procedure; reasons for these concerns (knowledge of the German language, naturalization test, discharge from the former citizenship, necessary documents from abroad, examination of police file and criminal file, proof of livelihood, possible reactions of the authorities or other concerns); feelings after naturalization (joy, sense of belonging, nothing, emptiness, glad that it´s over, torn, free, other); assessment of the presentation of the certificate of naturalization; event (e.g. naturalization ceremony) in the own administrative district or city; receipt of the certificate of naturalization during a naturalization ceremony, in the issuing authority, or otherwise; not seen as a foreigner with a German passport; information behavior before naturalization in selected organisations (town hall at the residence, foreigners´ registration office, state authority, federal authority, migrant organisations, welfare organisations, associations, family or friends) and kind of information (personal, Internet, brochure or flyer); decision to naturalize at own request or at the request of the family; importance of specific reasons for personal naturalization (living in Germany, sense of belonging, living in Germany anytime, freedom to travel, participation in elections, no treatment as a foreigner, elimination of bureaucracy with authorities of the country of origin, professional future, living and working in other EU-countries, social constitutional state, the future of the family); other reasons for naturalization.

Demography: age (year of birth, categorized); gender; highest school degree; professional qualifications; marital status; children; country of birth; reason for immigration to Germany; year of immigration.

In addition, comments of the respondents to various survey questions were recorded.