Foreigners who want to become German citizens will have to prove that they can speak good German, have committed no crimes and are not claiming the dole, according to a draft law unveiled by Mr Gerhard Schroder's centre-left government yesterday.
Up to four million of Germany's seven million foreign residents could become German citizens under the new legislation, which is expected to come into effect before the summer.
The Interior Minister, Mr Otto Schily, appealed to the Bundestag to seize this opportunity to overhaul the country's 85-year-old citizenship law and make Germany's foreign residents feel more secure.
"The vast majority of these people are going to stay here permanently. We can no longer afford to treat them as foreigners outside state society," he said.
The new law would reduce the length of time foreigners must live in Germany before becoming citizens from 15 years to eight years. Foreign spouses of German citizens will wait for only three years and all children born in Germany will receive a German passport, as long as one parent was also born in the country.
The most controversial element in the new legislation is the decision to allow foreigners applying for German citizenship to retain the passport of their home country. The opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) are planning a petition against the dual citizenship clause, which they claim will hinder the integration of foreigners in German society.
The CDU petition is backed by parties of the extreme right but is opposed by the churches, trade unions and the Liberal Free Democrats.
Mr Cem Oezdemir, a Green member of the Bundestag whose parents moved to Germany from Turkey, said yesterday that dual citizenship was among the least important elements of the new law. But he said it was necessary as a transitional measure, particularly for those immigrants who moved to Germany more than 30 years ago.
"Some of these people have now been here for three generations. We now have to make it easier for them to become citizens by building bridges to them. Dual citizenship is one such bridge," he said.
As well as taking a German language test, aspiring citizens will have to sign a document pledging them to uphold the German constitution and the democratic system. They must also prove that they can support themselves financially without state assistance.
Mr Schily said that most foreigners living in Germany already fulfilled these conditions and, far from being a burden on the state, contributed much to the German economy. "I hope as many of them as possible will decide to apply for German citizenship," he said.
