This photograph shows a woman from Tunisia with her certificate of naturalization. On September 12, 2006, she was awarded German citizenship, along with 52 other immigrants, during a ceremony in the city hall in Berlin-Neukölln. In 2006, 124,830 people become naturalized German citizens through the help of a public information campaign and a new accelerated application process. That year the number of naturalizations increased slightly over previous years; it was the first increase of its kind since 2001. As in the previous years, the largest group of naturalized citizens by far came from Turkey, followed by Serbia, Montenegro, and Poland. Usually, immigrants can apply for naturalization after eight years of residence in Germany. The naturalization process differs in each federal state.