Citizenship
According to the Citizenship Act, which came into force on June 27, 2024, you can become German citizen if, at the time of the decision:
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- have your habitual residence in Germany since 5 years,
- have a specific residence title – naturalization is not possible with the following residence titles: §§ 16a, 16b, 16d, 16e, 16f, 17, 18f, 19, 19b, 19e, 20, 22, 23a, 24, 25 paragraphs 3 to 5 and § 104c,
- in the case of C1 German language skills and special professional/school achievements or civic commitment the duration can be reduced to 3 years
- the previous nationality does not have to be renounced (dual citizenship),
- naturalization is not possible if you receive social welfare (exception: people in full-time employment or hardship cases)
- German citizenship will no longer be lost if you accept a foreign citizenship (“Beibehaltungsgenehmigung” is no longer required).
Even if you submitted your naturalization application before 27 June 2024, the more favourable regulations will apply to you.
Spouses and children under the age of 16 can be naturalized, even if they have not been in Germany long enough.
Spouses of a German can be naturalized if they have been legally resident in Germany for three years and the marriage has existed for at least two years.
Further naturalization requirements are: B1 language skills, naturalization test and no serious criminal record.
Spouses and children under the age of 16 can continue to be naturalized, even if they have not been in Germany long enough.
Children, born in Germany after June, 27 2024 obtain the German citizenship by birth, if on the day of birth either one of the parents is German citizen or
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- has his legal residence in Germany since 5 years and
- has a settlement-permit.
If you live in Berlin, please also note the following:
Since 1 January 2024, a central naturalization office at the Immigration Office is responsible for processing naturalization procedures in Berlin. New applications should be submitted digitally via an online platform.
All unprocessed applications have been digitized and will be processed by the new central authority. Due to a high amount of unprocessed applications, a longer processing time is still to be expected.
It is generally possible to submit a new online application with updated documents. This might speed up the process; however, the administrative fee must be paid again in this case.
We are happy to help you with your application for naturalization, but unfortunately we have no way of speeding up the processing of ongoing procedures.
Due to the length of administrative court proceedings, an appeal for inaction to the Court does usually not accelerate the proceedings.
If you have questions regarding your citizenship get in contact to our Specialist in Immigration Law Sven Hasse.
