Administrative Court Augsburg, 10.03.2015, Case No.: AU 1 K 14.1697
Under § 8 Abs. 1 StAG, a foreigner can be naturalized upon application if they have lawfully resided in the country, are capable of acting according to § 37 Absatz 1 Satz 1 StAG or are legally represented; have not been convicted of an unlawful act or had a measure of improvement and security imposed due to their lack of criminal responsibility; have found their own accommodation; and are able to support themselves and their dependents.
These conditions must generally be met cumulatively. Exceptions can only be made under § 8 Abs. 2 StAG for public interest reasons or to avoid undue hardship.
Under § 9 Abs. 1 StAG, the spouses or registered partners of German citizens should be naturalized under the conditions of § 8 StAG if they lose or renounce their previous citizenship, or if there is a reason to accept multiple citizenships under § 12, and it is ensured that they integrate into the German way of life unless they lack sufficient knowledge of the German language (§ 10 Abs. 1 Satz 1 Nr. 6 and Abs. 4 StAG) and do not fulfill an exception under § 10 Abs. 6 StAG.
In the following case, the plaintiff sought naturalization under § 8 Abs. 1 StAG in conjunction with § 9 StAG, as he lives and works in the Federal Republic of Germany with his German wife and their son.
Facts of the Case:
The plaintiff sought to compel the defendant to naturalize him.
Plaintiff was an Indian national with a settlement permit
The plaintiff entered Germany in December 2007 as an Indian citizen to join his German wife and their son. Shortly thereafter, he received a residence permit, and in February 2011, he was granted a settlement permit.
On 21.09.2010, the plaintiff was fined 50 daily rates for intentional drunk driving, and his driver’s license was revoked.
Plaintiff was fined 50 daily rates for drunk driving
On 30.12.2011, the plaintiff applied for naturalization, submitting the required documents. He provided a medical-psychological report in August 2013 at the defendant’s request. However, no decision was made regarding his naturalization.
On 26.11.2014, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit to compel the defendant to naturalize him. He argued that he had a right to naturalization since his conviction on 21.09.2010 did not constitute a naturalization impediment under § 12a StAG. Additionally, he had been working full-time since April 2014, securing his livelihood.
Immigration authority saw the livelihood as insecure due to frequent job changes
The defendant argued that the plaintiff’s ability to support himself, a requirement for discretionary naturalization, was not assured due to frequent job changes. Furthermore, the main obstacle to naturalization was the revocation of his driver’s license related to his conviction. Therefore, a case-by-case decision was needed to determine whether this measure could be disregarded. No such discretionary decision had been made, as the necessary report on the plaintiff’s fitness to drive was only available at the end of March 2014.
Judgment of the Administrative Court Augsburg:
The court ruled that the lawsuit was admissible and well-founded. The plaintiff was entitled to naturalization under § 8 Abs. 1 StAG in conjunction with § 9 Abs. 1 StAG.
The requirements of § 8 Abs. 1 StAG were met. The plaintiff was capable of acting according to § 80 Abs. 1 AufenthG, had his own accommodation, and was able to support himself and his family. The court considered this condition fulfilled, especially as the plaintiff could provide further evidence of income that demonstrated stable employment.
The court found the prior conviction unproblematic and livelihood secure
The court also found that the fine and the associated measure did not preclude naturalization. § 8 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 StAG requires that the foreigner has not been convicted of an unlawful act or had a measure of improvement and security imposed due to their lack of criminal responsibility. This was not the case with the plaintiff, as he was not convicted „due to his lack of criminal responsibility,“ but for a criminal offense. Under § 69 Abs. 1 StGB, the driver’s license can be revoked if a person is convicted of an unlawful act committed while or in connection with driving a vehicle, or if they were not convicted because their lack of criminal responsibility was proven or could not be ruled out.
Since the plaintiff was fined, the latter case was dismissed. Therefore, the measure did not prevent naturalization. Any other interpretation was impossible due to the clear wording of § 8 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 StAG and considering Art. 20 Abs. 3 GG. The judgments cited by the defendant from the Federal Administrative Court (NVWZ 2009, 1205) and the Administrative Court Munich (M 25 K 09.2082) were not applicable, as they referred to the old legal text. The new wording from 2007, using „due to lack of criminal responsibility,“ left no room for interpretation or discretion to deny naturalization due to measures imposed for a culpable criminal offense.
The measure of correction and security should only be used as an obstacle to naturalisation if no penalty could be imposed for the underlying misconduct. This is to be assumed if the foreigner was incapable of guilt. In all other cases, the sentence imposed is the decisive criterion for the examination of the naturalisation requirements.
The plaintiff had a right to naturalization according to the court’s decision
The court found that the statutory requirements of § 8 StAG and § 9 StAG were met. Therefore, the plaintiff had a right to naturalization.
According to the wording of § 9 StAG, the applicant “shall” be naturalized if the additional requirements of § 9 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 and 2 StAG—such as those met by the plaintiff—are fulfilled.
This authority grants a fundamental right to naturalization. This means that naturalization must generally be carried out and may only be refused in atypical cases (Marx in: Commentary on Nationality Law, § 8 StAG Rn. 128). An atypical situation was not present in this case.
Thus, the plaintiff was entitled to naturalization. The lawsuit was therefore upheld.
Source: Administrative Court Augsburg
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