A record number of new German citizens, both from EU nations and conflict zones, opted to keep their old passports last year, German media said Friday.
Germany’s federal statistics bureau estimated that 61.4 percent of the 112,211 migrants naturalized last year held on to their original nationality, the Welt newspaper reported.
Of those, 38,707 were from EU countries. The outlet said 99 percent of them became dual citizens. None of the 2,689 Iranians, 2,479 Syrians or 2,400 Afghans gave up their first nationality.
This is primarily because many origin countries have tough procedures in place for those wishing to renounce their citizenship, but also because Germany does not demand this anymore.
The migration agency BAMF estimated that 4.3 million Germans have at least one other passport, most often a Polish, Russian or Turkish one.