The Effect of Cultural and Religious Factors Regarding Immigrants and Locals on the Integration Process

As immigration and the cases of asylum requests escalated worldwide, the issue of integration of immigrants and asylum seekers in the receiving societies especially in European countries, received more attention. Cultural and religious factors are among the most important factors that influence the integration process. This essay tries to shed some light on the effect of cultural and religious factors regarding immigrants and locals on the integration process by investigating the opinion of German locals and natives on the matter of the migration wave in 2015, through a field study and with the help of Human capital theory and Group threat theory. The results of this study show that the social visibility of Islam challenges integration yet merely having Islamic beliefs is a recognized right in Germany.