German or EU citizenship without german language skills

[scook17 247]

Is this possible in any way?

 

As a British guy who now has a brexit permanent residency in Germany, is there any way to get EU citizenship?

 

No I will never learn German to whatever level. Honestly I don't need it in an IT role.

 

I would be prepared to take yet another degree, if taught in English. I wonder if that route might work? I have two masters degrees to date.

 

I even consider to work in Ireland for 5 years plus to get Irish, and thus EU citizenship again.

 

No, languages, and giving up Uk citizenship are no-gos for me. So what choices are there?

 

Suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks.

[murphaph 9,648]

I think to naturalise here you must be able to pass the B1 language examination. I'm not aware of any way around that requirement for someone without a disability that actually prevents them from learning the language to that (arguably fairly basic) level. Given you are degree educated I doubt you can plausibly argue any such disability. In any case as the law currently stands you would have to give up your British citizenship to be allowed to naturalise here, though this is supposed to change during this parliament. So the Irish route may be the easiest/only option available to you right now, unless there is a country with an even shorter minimum residence period that doesn't also require you to learn the local language. Ireland clearly poses no language barrier and allows dual citizenship without restriction.

 

I think the only other option would be the so called investment passports. Some countries allow you to invest a minimum sum (for example in real estate) and this entitles you to citizenship, though the sums involved are usually quite high I believe.

[RedMidge 6,638]

Getting to B1 is really very easy, easpecially for someone with your education .

Not sure I understand your problem !

 

[LukeSkywalker 7,600]

43 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Ireland clearly poses no language barrier and allows dual citizenship without restriction.

Have you been to Cork 👻?

[murphaph 9,648]

Lol I considered a joke at the expense of the people's Republic myself but thought better of it. 

[Fietsrad 386]

You want to live in Germany without speaking German? How do you do shopping, communicate with doctors, neighbours, police etc?

 

I love the German language, first started leaning it more than forty years ago. Not perfect yet😉

[optimista 5,839]

Two masters and can t sit down to a bit of language learning ?  Doesn t compute. German is a PITA. Granted. But you are inventing an obstacle where there is none. Save yourself 5 years of your life in IE if Germany is where you want to be. Get over yourself. The superlearning method works quickly if you are already able to do the deep relaxation part of it in advance. Throw the money at it and reap the rewards. 

 

Who the hell wants to go back to the miserable, wet, windy, rat racing, poverty stricken, criminal place that the UK has become ?

 

On the other hand, Ireland would likely be more of a blast, if only you could find a decent place to live.

[starkebogen 149]

12 hours ago, murphaph said:

I think to naturalise here you must be able to pass the B1 language examination.

 

There are some exceptions to this rule.  One exception is age - persons over a certain age (not sure what age) are, or were, exempt from the language requirement.  To illustrate:  Both my partner and I were granted German citizenship in January 2021, having applied in 2020.  I could have passed B!, but my partner certainly would have not been able to.

 

[Dembo 493]

I think they waive the language requirement if you're over 65. Also I read that parliament will debate dual citizenship in December, so perhaps it's not too far off. 

 

I agree with the sentiment about language. You're asking a country to make a commitment to you but you can't be arsed taking some language lessons. B1 is probably bit useless in reality, but it does demonstrate that you're serious about settling in the country.

[murphaph 9,648]

2 hours ago, starkebogen said:

 

There are some exceptions to this rule.  One exception is age - persons over a certain age (not sure what age) are, or were, exempt from the language requirement.  To illustrate:  Both my partner and I were granted German citizenship in January 2021, having applied in 2020.  I could have passed B!, but my partner certainly would have not been able to.

 

Good info. I forgot that age as well as a disability can allow an exemption to the language requirement part. Presumably won't help skook but will help others.

[skinnypuppy 87]

5 hours ago, Dembo said:

I think they waive the language requirement if you're over 65. Also I read that parliament will debate dual citizenship in December, so perhaps it's not too far off. 

 

I agree with the sentiment about language. You're asking a country to make a commitment to you but you can't be arsed taking some language lessons. B1 is probably bit useless in reality, but it does demonstrate that you're serious about settling in the country.

Out of curiosity, where did you read that? I know it was a campaign promise, but haven't head any more since the election. I hope it is indeed in the works.

[Feierabend 1,136]

7 hours ago, starkebogen said:

 

There are some exceptions to this rule.  One exception is age - persons over a certain age (not sure what age) are, or were, exempt from the language requirement.  To illustrate:  Both my partner and I were granted German citizenship in January 2021 ...

 

Not if you are in Brandenburg. They are very rigid, as my 70 yr old OH found when he entered pre-Brexshit. He passed the oral and citizenship components but not the written. Despite being highly qualified  on the scientific side of things he finds language learning extremely difficult. As he ruefully says, it took him three goes way back yonder to get through the then English O-Level requirement for uni entry!

Berlin was apparently more lenient as some of my colleagues found.

[Dembo 493]

2 hours ago, skinnypuppy said:

Out of curiosity, where did you read that? I know it was a campaign promise, but haven't head any more since the election. I hope it is indeed in the works.

Actually it was here:

https://www.thelocal.de/20221019/exclusive-german-bundestag-to-debate-law-allowing-dual-citizenship-in-december/

Naturally I only read the first couple of lines as I wasn't going to pay for a subscription.

[Fietsrad 386]

We can be glad if we do not have to do the Integrationskurse.

 

Getting citizenship is quite expensive, I bet some eligible people can not afford it, for example if they are bringing up some future taxpayers, sorry, children😉

[fraufruit 41,940]

2 hours ago, Feierabend said:

He passed the oral and citizenship components but not the written. Despite being highly qualified  on the scientific side of things he finds language learning extremely difficult.

 

Exactly. Languages don't come easy to many people even if they are fully educated with Masters degrees, etc.

[skinnypuppy 87]

3 hours ago, Dembo said:

Actually it was here:

https://www.thelocal.de/20221019/exclusive-german-bundestag-to-debate-law-allowing-dual-citizenship-in-december/

Naturally I only read the first couple of lines as I wasn't going to pay for a subscription.

Seems like a reliable source...

[MonikaG 1]

Citizenship requires B2….. permanent residence requires B1….?Correct?

[optimista 5,839]

Re finding language learning difficult, yes, I get it. But refusing to learn and saying you can t is setting up a self fulfilling prophecy. If you expose yourself to language it will seep in.

[Fietsrad 386]

How can one live in a country for many years without picking up the language?

[jeba 4,345]

2 hours ago, Fietsrad said:

How can one live in a country for many years without picking up the language?

That´s easy. I´ve been living in Cyprus for almost 7 years. Initially I started Greek language classes but dropped out after A1 because it isn´t needed.