Celebration in the House of Representatives for new Berliners

The House of Representatives will welcome new Berliners at a central naturalization ceremony on Thursday.

The President of the House of Representatives, Cornelia Seibeld, will welcome the guests in the parliament's ballroom at 6 p.m. Senator for Culture Joe Chialo will then give a keynote speech. The CDU politician, who was born in Bonn to a family of Tanzanian diplomats, says that he sees himself as both German and African.

State Office for Immigration centrally responsible from 2024

As a rule, naturalization ceremonies are organized by the districts in Berlin. However, around ten years ago, the House of Representatives decided to welcome newly naturalized Berliners once a year. In 2022, 8875 foreigners were naturalized as German citizens in Berlin. Until now, the districts have been responsible for naturalizations, but from January 2024, the State Office for Immigration will take over centrally. It will then have to deal with a considerable backlog of applications.