Income and securing your livelihood

Naturalisation does not depend on a particular occupation or a standard minimum salary. The fundamental question is whether the funds available are sufficient to cover your own subsistence and that of family members entitled to maintenance. Your family circumstances, housing costs and the reliability of your income all matter. If you receive benefits or are not currently working, you must also consider what type of benefit is involved and whether a statutory exception applies.

For naturalisation by entitlement, § 10 (1), first sentence, no. 3 StAG generally requires applicants to support themselves without benefits under Book II or Book XII of the Social Code. The law does not consider the applicant in isolation. Family members entitled to maintenance are also included in the assessment. The same income may therefore be sufficient for a single person, while a family with several children may require a more detailed calculation.

The requirement concerns your financial circumstances at the time of the decision. An application does not freeze your income situation as it stood on the day it was received. If you have since taken a better-paid job, you can provide evidence of that change. If you become unemployed during the proceedings, however, you must explain how you are now supporting yourself. A previous salary that was sufficient at the time does not replace evidence of your current situation.

The calculation starts with needs. These include ordinary living expenses, any special additional needs, accommodation and heating, and adequate health and long-term care insurance. On the other side are the income and assets that can be taken into account. This comparison is different from asking what standard of living someone personally prefers.

A high gross salary can leave considerably less available after tax, social security contributions and existing obligations. With a lower salary, on the other hand, low housing costs and another reliable household income may be decisive. You therefore cannot derive a personal income threshold from someone else's naturalisation. Nor does a particular number of payslips, by itself, prove either that funds are sufficient or that they are sustainable.

The Social Code provides important benchmarks for this assessment. It uses standard needs, special needs and rules on how income is taken into account. A simple calculation of “net income minus rent” is therefore insufficient in borderline cases. If you would like to start by preparing a clear overview, the article Calculating needs and available funds explains the approach. It distinguishes the statutory calculation of needs from the way the household is actually financed.

We assess your financial situation for naturalisation even if you already hold a settlement permit. Residence law and nationality law apply different statutory standards; your financial circumstances may also have changed since the earlier decision. We use earlier documents to establish the history and supplement them with current information. The fact that another authority considered the income sufficient at an earlier stage does not answer every question that arises today.

Similarly, a decision refusing social benefits must be read in light of its reasons. It may be based on sufficient funds, but it may also rest on other legal requirements. For the subsistence assessment, what matters is what the decision actually establishes. Referring only to its heading or the fact that benefits were refused can therefore cause misunderstandings.

Spouses and children are particularly common considerations. If they live together in Germany, their needs and their own income must be recorded. A child may, for example, receive child benefit or maintenance. These funds must neither be overlooked nor counted twice. A child's maintenance needs do not disappear simply because only one parent is applying for naturalisation.

In our calculation, we distinguish people sharing an address from family members who actually have a maintenance entitlement. A shared flat, an unmarried partnership and a marriage may be assessed differently under social welfare law and family law. An adult child may also still have a maintenance entitlement, depending on their education or training and their own resources. We therefore set out actual living arrangements and legal obligations rather than merely listing registered residents.

For relatives abroad, we examine the standard applicable to your route to naturalisation. Under § 10 StAG, the current connection to Germany and a move to Germany that is specifically foreseeable are relevant. At the same time, maintenance obligations that actually have to be met reduce the available funds. Discretionary naturalisation under § 8 StAG applies a broader standard. A calculation developed for § 8 must therefore not be applied to every application under § 10 without examining whether it is appropriate.

Alongside wages, we record other resources that may establish how your livelihood is secured. For employees, the contractual remuneration, wages actually paid and any regular supplements are relevant. A one-off special payment is assessed differently from a permanently guaranteed salary component. Attachment of earnings or substantial repayment obligations may explain why the amount shown on a payslip is not fully available to the household.

For self-employed people, turnover is not the same as personal income. Business expenses, taxes and personal social protection must be taken into account. A tax assessment also usually relates to a previous year. Current business figures and ongoing orders may be needed to understand the situation today. A business with a large bank balance may also have substantial liabilities falling due.

Assets can supplement financial support or, in suitable circumstances, provide it. Ownership, access, encumbrances and how long the assets are likely to last are relevant. Property cannot simply be treated like freely available money in a bank account. Nor do all of a spouse's assets automatically become freely available assets of the applicant. The detailed article Wages, self-employment, assets and a partner's income discusses the different types of income.

The statutory distinction depends on the legal basis of the benefit. Child benefit, the supplementary child allowance, housing benefit, parental allowance, education funding and insurance benefits are not detrimental simply because they are paid by a public body. In principle, they must be treated differently from benefits under SGB II or SGB XII. However, their amount, duration and significance for future financial support must still be considered.

Unemployment benefit paid through unemployment insurance can, for example, provide temporary financial support. Receiving it is not equivalent to receiving means-tested SGB II benefits. Nevertheless, as the entitlement approaches its end, the question arises of what funds will be available afterwards. Saying “This benefit is not detrimental” therefore does not automatically mean that the entire subsistence assessment is complete.

The change in terminology must also be noted: since 1 July 2026, the cash benefit under SGB II has been called Grundsicherungsgeld. Authorities may continue to use “Bürgergeld” until the end of 2026. Both points follow from §§ 19 and 65a (4) SGB II, including the record of commencement in the Federal Employment Agency's official collection of legislation. For § 10 StAG, the decisive point remains that these are benefits under SGB II. Details and the assessment of combinations of benefits can be found in Social benefits and naturalisation.

The authority does not examine just one month. It also assesses whether the funds are likely to be sufficient in the foreseeable future. This income forecast takes account of your employment history, current work, qualifications and specifically identifiable changes. It must not require a guarantee that you will never lose a job.

A permanent contract often makes the assessment easier, but it is not a separate statutory requirement. Fixed terms, probationary periods and changing orders must be considered in context. Ongoing work in a sector where fixed-term contracts are common may be assessed differently from a first job that is about to end. Conversely, a new job following completion of training may establish a sound basis for future development.

Past receipt of benefits is not a lifelong obstacle. It may be relevant to the development of your financial circumstances, but must be assessed alongside later changes. Financial support that has since become sustainable in the long term must not be disregarded solely because of a past period of hardship. Long-term financial security: the income forecast explains the specific criteria.

The current law sets out three exceptions. They concern certain former guest workers and contract workers, together with spouses who joined them in a related period; people who meet defined full-time employment requirements; and certain spouses or registered civil partners living as a family with a minor child. Each exception has its own conditions, and they must not be confused with one another.

The family exception requires a spouse or registered civil partner who meets the relevant full-time employment conditions and a minor child living with them as a family. It does not apply indiscriminately to all parents or every unmarried partnership. Questions about the scope of an additional forward-looking assessment must be separated from the conditions expressly set out in the legislation. A blanket requirement to be entirely independent of benefits in future would defeat the purpose of the full-time employment exception.

For applications submitted on or before 23 August 2023, § 40a StAG requires a comparison to establish which rules are more favourable. The former subsistence rule must be applied insofar as it is more favourable. Under that rule, it could be decisive that the person was not responsible for their receipt of benefits. The cut-off date is not the date on which the 2024 reform entered into force. An application made at the end of 2023 therefore does not automatically fall within this transitional provision.

Under the new law, health limitations, caring responsibilities or single parenthood do not generally create another unwritten exception to § 10. They may, however, be relevant to special hardship and discretionary naturalisation. The specific burdens, opportunities to work and applicable legal standard must be examined. A hardship assessment is neither ruled out nor automatically successful simply because a particular personal situation exists.

The appropriate order is therefore to examine ordinary coverage of needs first, followed by the relevant statutory exception and, where the application was made in time, the more favourable rules for older applications. Only if none of these establishes an entitlement does the separate question of hardship under § 8 arise. A low wage alone does not determine which route is appropriate. For the comparison, the type of benefit, periods of employment, family circumstances and application date must each be recorded separately.

We prepare a timeline with you showing when each source of income starts and may end, and what subsequent support has already been agreed. This makes it possible, for example, to explain an expiring parental allowance together with employment that will start afterwards. We distinguish mere expectations from binding commitments. Where there are several sources of income, such an overview prevents the same payment from being counted twice or a transitional month from being missed altogether.

If the calculation shows a shortfall, we assess its cause and legal significance. The issue may be an incomplete calculation, missing evidence, an applicable exception or a different route to naturalisation. Simply forgoing social benefits that you need does not, however, create reliable financial support. What matters is how the household is actually supported and how it is likely to be supported in future. The other requirements for naturalisation must also be met independently.