Authorities in Germany have uncovered a sophisticated fraud network that allegedly deployed paid operatives to take language and naturalization exams on behalf of migrants, with the fraud taking place on a nationwide scale.
The investigation, centered in Nuremberg, suggests a coordinated effort to bypass residency and citizenship requirements. Notably, potential applicants for citizenship must display a basic understanding of the German language.
Prosecutors say the network functioned by providing substitute test-takers who possessed a high command of the German language. According to investigators, candidates used forged identification documents that displayed the substitute’s photo but contained the personal data of the actual applicant, according to Welt.
Applicants reportedly paid between €2,500 and €6,000 per examination. Since the documents appeared legitimate, “the examiners were thus unable to detect the fraud,” resulting in the issuance of genuine certificates used to obtain residence permits or citizenship.
The Middle Franconia Police Headquarters announced on Monday that two individuals are currently in custody, including a 39-year-old Iraqi man, identified as the primary mediator, who is in pre-trial detention.
Additionally, a 22-year-old German man was arrested in January while actively “trying to take such a language examination.”
Furthermore, the scale of the network was highlighted in December when “10 people were also identified as operatives at a language school in North Rhine-Westphalia while they were taking exams for other schools.”
While the current arrests were made in Bavaria, the “investigations concern the entire federal territory.”
Police noted that while “proceedings for forged language certificates have already been underway in the past,” this specific method of using look-alike deputies represents a significant escalation. Following an initial review of the evidence, Bavarian investigators “assumed that there will be a high double-digit number of further investigations.”
Concerns about the mass naturalization of foreigners have already been raised, with potentially thousands or even theoretically tens of thousands of foreigners using fraud to obtain their citizenship.
In one case, hundreds of forged certificates were found by just one official, who found that these certificates were being sold on a huge scale on TikTok.
Furthermore, many of the fraud cases have likely gone undetected. The language test required for German citizenship, which must show proficiency in only B1, hardly proves a strong command of the German language either. Nonetheless, there are numerous cases involving migrants paying thousands of euros for a forged certificate or for test takers to take the test for them.
Already, there have been broad concerns about foreign workers in Germany who lack an adequate level of German for their roles as doctors and police officers.
