Human Rights Law Discussion Group - The administrative burden of citizenship acquisition: Refugees in the German naturalization system

The administrative burden of citizenship acquisition: Refugees in the German naturalization system.

Dr Marie Walter-Franke, The Expert Council on Integration and Migration (SVR), Germany

Room: Röda Tornrummet and Zoom

The seminar starts at 12.15, respecting the academic quarter, and involves 20-30 minutes of presentation, followed by approx. 30 minutes of discussion.

For people outside the Faculty of Law at Lund University who wish to participate either on site or digitally please register your participation by sending an e-mail to daria [dot] davitti [at] jur [dot] lu [dot] se or zvezda [dot] vankova [at] jur [dot] lu [dot] se.

Faculty members, graduate students and all interested in interdisciplinary research involving law are most welcome!

Convenors: Chris Cowan, Amanda Kron, Björg Valgeirsdóttir, Pablo Pastor Vidal

Senior Members: Dr Daria Davitti, Dr Zvezda Vankova and Dr Sara Arapiles

The Human Rights Law Discussion Group is kindly funded by the European Studies at Lund University and supported by ERC Starting Grant project “Refugee Finance: Histories, Frameworks, Practices (REF-FIN)” and by VR project “Refugee protection or cherry picking? Assessing new admission policies for refugees in Europe” (ARISE).

Abstract:
The administrative burden of citizenship acquisition: Refugees in the German
naturalisation system Dr Marie Walter-Franke, Dr Hakan Yücetas, Dr. Fabian Gülzau, The Expert Council on Integration and Migration (SVR), Germany Naturalisation tends to improve immigrants’ life chances and opportunities. For refugees, acquiring citizenship equals securing their future and accessing full civil and political rights in their countries of refuge. Naturalising requires fulfilling a set of conditions, which reflect the dimensions of integration considered necessary for becoming a full member of the citizenry. While research shows a high level of integration among refugees that arrived in Germany in 2015/16 (Brücker et al. 2025), they encounter more barriers and challenges than other immigrant groups, in particular on language acquisition and economic selfsufficiency (Gülzau/Schneider 2024, Kosyakova et al. 2025). These challenges, in turn, impact their chances of naturalisation and their interaction with naturalisation authorities. Identity and civil status clarification adds an administrative challenge specific to several major groups of refugees, regardless of their level of integration. In addition, local German naturalization authorities struggle with high application volumes, low levels of digitisation, and understaffing, resulting in long processing and waiting times which may lead to frustration and anxiety. Therefore, even though naturalisation is a right in Germany, accessing citizenship in practice implies important learning and compliance costs and may have a substantial psychological impact on refugees. Using the concept of “administrative burden” by Moynihan et al. 2014, we shed light on exclusionary and inclusionary effects of the German naturalisation system for refugees, and how these are perceived and dealt with by refugees and street-level-bureaucrats. We draw on 29 interviews conducted with persons mainly from Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, as well as participant observation in 9 German naturalisation offices and 67 interviews conducted with street-level-bureaucrats. Speaker’s bio

Dr Marie Walter-Franke is Researcher at the Expert Council on Integration and Migration (SVR), with a focus on refugee naturalisation and integration processes. She was awarded her doctorate by Freie Universität Berlin in 2023 for her thesis on EU asylum governance. Marie Walter-Franke studied politics at Sciences Po Paris and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), majoring in European studies and migration research. She has previously worked on the German Council on Foreign Relations’ migration programme, for the Jacques Delors Centre, the European Commission and the International Labour Organization (ILO).