Information about citizenship law

Start by checking whether you need naturalisation or already hold German citizenship. It helps to distinguish citizenship, naturalisation and a passport. Take a closer look at citizenship acquired at birth, both through a German parent and through birth in Germany to foreign parents, as well as adoption, declaration and ethnic German resettler status. We explain how existing citizenship can be established and proved and what legal entitlement and discretion mean for naturalisation. Separate issues arise with renaturalisation and applications from abroad and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants.

Residence involves more than counting years in Germany. Alongside the required length of residence, you need to know which periods count, including study, vocational training and permission to remain during asylum proceedings or earlier periods of tolerated stay and deemed residence status. For interruptions caused by time abroad, see the explanations of travel and semesters abroad and return deadlines, earlier residence and gaps in residence status. The status required at the time of naturalisation is a separate matter: learn about eligible residence permits and when a change is needed and residence rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens. For older applications, we also explain the former three-year rule and subsequent changes in the law.

The authority must be able to establish who you are. The tiered approach to identity evidence explains what evidence may be considered, from a passport as the primary form of proof to other options when a passport is unavailable. Depending on your circumstances, these may include passport substitutes and official photo identification, other official certificates, unofficial documents and witness statements and, where evidence is particularly difficult to obtain, your own account as part of an overall assessment. Another key issue is what cooperation in obtaining documents is possible and reasonable. This particularly affects refugees asked to obtain a passport from their embassy. Where documents do not match, we explain how to deal with different names, birth dates and previous statements.

Assessing whether you can support yourself starts with comparing your needs with your available resources: which expenses and maintenance obligations must be considered, and what income and assets are available? The assessment of your future financial position is particularly relevant during probation, fixed-term employment or a job change and for fluctuating self-employment income. When discussing social benefits, we distinguish citizen's benefit and social assistance from housing, family, education and insurance benefits. We separately explain exceptions for full-time workers, partners with a minor child and guest workers, contract workers and spouses who joined them, the transitional rule for older applications and particular hardship in discretionary naturalisation.

Naturalisation involves both language skills and knowledge of Germany. We explain how to prove your German language skills through B1 examinations and language certificates or school, vocational training and university qualifications. For the naturalisation test and the ‘Life in Germany’ test, you will find guidance on registration, preparation and the test itself and qualifications that may replace a test. Possible relaxations or exemptions are covered in articles on children, guest workers and contract workers, illness, disability and age-related limitations and learning difficulties, personal efforts and evidence of hardship.

The application includes declarations concerning the free democratic basic order and Germany's special historical responsibility. We explain what you confirm through the constitutional commitment and other declarations and which grounds may exclude naturalisation. These include extremist activities, acts of support and credible disengagement as well as polygamy, gender equality and serious grounds for expulsion.

A criminal history requires careful assessment. Start with which decisions the authority considers and the significance of fines, imprisonment, juvenile criminal law and minor-offence thresholds. Separate issues arise with multiple convictions or a small exceedance of a threshold, antisemitic, racist or other contemptuous motives and convictions abroad. Ongoing investigations may also affect the procedure. The article on certificates of conduct, the Federal Central Criminal Register and deletion of entries also explains what you must disclose.

Applications arise in different life circumstances. For naturalisation as a family, we distinguish between partners of German citizens, including after separation, divorce or death, and joint naturalisation with a foreign partner. For children applying independently or alongside a parent, age limits and reaching adulthood during the procedure and custody and legal representation become relevant. Further articles address school pupils, apprentices and university students, recognised refugees and others entitled to protection and people who are stateless or have an undetermined nationality, including the special entitlement for stateless people born in Germany. We also address the circumstances of older people, people with disabilities, single parents and family carers.

Preparing an application starts with identifying the responsible authority and the appropriate documents, translations and certifications. Next come submission and proof of receipt and the choice of acting yourself or appointing a representative. During the authority's assessment, requests for further evidence and changes in personal circumstances may matter, alongside security checks and access to the file. To help you plan, we explain the costs involved, particularly authority fees and possible reductions and translation, examination and legal support costs. A separate article explains how to handle incorrect or incomplete information and the consequences it may have.

If you are still waiting for a response, start with processing times, status enquiries and reasons for delay. For an action for failure to act, we explain the requirements and waiting periods and court procedure and its limits. If a refusal is being considered, distinguish the hearing before a decision from a refusal notice already issued. After a refusal, particular attention is needed to service, deadlines and the correct remedy. Further articles explain actions to require a decision, review of discretion and urgent judicial relief, appeals and further remedies and litigation costs, reimbursement and legal aid.

At the end of the procedure, the first issue is when naturalisation takes effect through the certificate and how to obtain or update your identity card, passport and other documents afterwards. With multiple citizenships, the consequences in your country of origin also matter. Your rights as a German citizen include voting rights, secure residence and access to occupations as well as EU citizenship, free movement and consular protection. We also explain withdrawal and loss of citizenship: the consequences of fraudulently obtained naturalisation for the person concerned and family members, possible renaturalisation after withdrawal and other grounds for loss or renunciation.