Migration Processes in Central and Eastern Europe - Multiple Choices

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Normative and Methodological Discussion of Migration and Integration
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68
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How Long Should
Immigrants Wait
to Become
Citizens?
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Petr Kafka
This work examines citizenship laws in the Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. More
specifically, it is a normative study of one of the
most salient conditions of naturalisation: the
length of required residence. There are other important
issues regarding naturalisation, but I feel the discussion
will be more manageable if we focus on one set of issues.
The broader question behind this inquiry is what should be
the naturalisation requirements in liberal democratic countries
that these four Member States of the EU claim to be. 1
In this paper, I argue that while different countries
are entitled to their specific nationality laws and there is a
range of morally permissible regulations, there are also
limits on the restrictions and requirements of naturalisation
these countries adopt. I suggest that while it may be justified
to require longer residence record (three to eight years) as
a pre-requisite of obtaining citizenship, it is unreasonable
to demand a similar or longer period of temporary residence
before granting permanent residence without counting
at least some portion of this temporary stay towards the
citizenship requirement.
This paper offers a normative reflection on one
of the naturalisation policies in Central Europe and the
implications these specific measures have for integration
of immigrants.
DIVERSE POLICIES OR ONE SET OF
HARMONISED NATIONALITY LAWS IN THE EU?
Before delving into a discussion of the residence
requirements, let me clarify the legal context of the European
legislation in which the nationality laws are set. It is common
knowledge that there are at least two types of policies
concerning migration. The first set of policies regulate the
entry of immigrants into the receiving state. Rules concerning
visas, border control, asylum, and undocumented migration
belong in such a category. These policies are usually
referred to as immigration policies. The second type of
policies, frequently labelled integration policies, are measures
defining treatment of migrants once they are in the
country. These are measures concerning the rights and
duties of particular categories of immigrants and conditions
of gaining different legal statuses, including citizenship.
This term may also refer to measures helping immigrants
settle in the new society, but this area is beyond the scope
of my analysis. Following the Treaty of Amsterdam, immigration
policies were transferred as the first pillar of the
European community under the jurisdiction of the
European Commission. The EC has put forward a number
of regulations, directives, proposals and recommendations
concerning migration that serve as standards for the
Member States. However, most of these EC measures are
of the first type, that is they regulate entry of immigrants.
Treatment of immigrants who made it through the border
control primarily remains within the jurisdiction of the individual
Member States.
That does not mean that there are no European
standards in the area of treatment of immigrants. There are
two important directives within the framework of the
Community Law, namely on the family reunification and
the status of third-country nationals who are long-term
residents. In addition, there is the 1999 Convention on
Nationality put together by the Council of Europe, which
includes many instrumental regulations concerning treatment
of migrants.
However, there are three crucial things we need to
say about these European standards. First, these norms do
not cover the complexity of immigrants' life in the receiving
country the way citizenship laws in individual countries do.
Second, as we will see, these standards are often defined in
rather general and ambiguous terms. Third, only 7 out of
the 25 EU countries have signed and ratified the
Convention on Nationality. This means that 18 EU countries
are not bound by this standard-setting Convention.
Consequently, there is considerable room for the Member
States to define their own treatment of migrants.
Of course, the format of this paper will not allow
me to touch on all the important issues related to citizenship
laws. What I decided to do instead is to examine one set
of controversial requirements regarding naturalisation
and consider some of the challenges these residence
requirements produce.
HOW LONG IS, AND HOW LONG SHOULD BE,
THE STAY REQUIREMENT?
Residence requirements for naturalisation vary
considerably from country to country within the European
Union. Just to give you a sense of the outliers, the requirement
can range from fifteen years in Austria to only four
Migration Processes in Central and Eastern Europe: Unpacking the Diversity