Einbürgerung Verleihung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit für Ausländer mit Einbürgerungsanspruch

§ Section 10 (1) of the Citizenship Act (StAG)

Naturalization gives you German citizenship and makes you an equal citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany with all rights and obligations.

Among other things, you can exercise your right to vote in the federal states and for the German Bundestag, enjoy freedom of movement in the European Union as a citizen of the Union and can also travel to many countries outside Europe without a visa.

If you meet the requirements, you are entitled to acquire German citizenship.

This means that you must have been legally resident in Germany for 8 years, your identity and nationality must have been established, you must have the capacity to act or be legally represented and you must hold a residence permit for permanent residence or an unlimited right of residence. You are able to support yourself and your dependent family members without receiving certain public benefits. You have not been convicted of a criminal offense. You have sufficient knowledge of the German language and civic knowledge. You give up or lose your foreign citizenship. Your integration into the German way of life is guaranteed, i.e. in particular, you are not married to several spouses at the same time. You are committed to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law, i.e. you do not support or have not supported any anti-constitutional or extremist activities, unless you have credibly renounced any previous persecution or support.

Naturalization becomes effective when the naturalization certificate is issued.

The competent authority is the citizenship authority in your place of residence.

• Valid national passport or official identity document with photograph
• Valid residence permit
• Civil status documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decree or death certificate of the spouse, if applicable), with translation, legalization or apostille, if applicable
• School, vocational, training and/or study qualifications obtained in Germany
• If you are a pupil, a current school certificate
• if you are a student, a current certificate of study
• If you are employed, employment contract and proof of income
• if you receive a pension, pension certificate / pension insurance history (issued by the German Pension Insurance)
• if you are self-employed, business registration, current income tax assessment and proof of profit (e.g. informal certificate from your tax advisor on net income or business analysis)
• rental agreement
• Proof of health insurance cover
• Proof of pension provision (e.g. property ownership, private life insurance / pension insurance)
• Proof of renunciation or loss of previous citizenship
• Proof of sufficient German language skills (e.g. B1 certificate); for children under the age of 16, age-appropriate language development is sufficient
• Proof of civic knowledge (e.g. certificate "Living in Germany / naturalization test") from the age of 16
• For minors: Proof of custody (e.g. in the case of divorced or unmarried parents by custody decree),
  in the case of joint parental custody - declaration of consent from the other parent with custody rights

Further documents may be required depending on the individual case.

The commitment to the free democratic basic order and the declaration of loyalty are submitted at the personal interview.

When submitting foreign documents, please refer to the information on the homepage of the Federal Foreign Office (www.auswaertiges-amt.de) under the heading "International document traffic".

Foreign certificates or documents must be submitted with a translation by an accredited translator.

You can find out which translator is authorized on the following website:

www.justiz-dolmetscher.de/suche.jsp

The translation must be firmly attached to a copy of the document and sealed.

Naturalization pursuant to Section 10 of the Citizenship Act (StAG) requires an application.

You must have legal capacity or be legally represented. Anyone who has reached the age of 16 has the capacity to act.

Furthermore, your identity and nationality must be established and you must have

• have been legally resident in Germany for eight years
  (shortening options:
  to 7 years if you have successfully attended an integration course with written proof or
  to 6 years in the case of special integration achievements),
• have a permanent right of residence at the time of naturalization (e.g. settlement permit; EU citizens entitled to freedom of movement and nationals from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland and their family members; Turkish employees or their family members who have a right of residence on the basis of the EU's right of association with Turkey) or have a residence title that is basically intended for permanent residence (a residence permit for the purpose of studying, for example, is not suitable for naturalization),
• are committed to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany and make a declaration of loyalty (from the age of 16),
• provide for your own living expenses and those of your dependent family members (i.e. without benefits from the basic income support for jobseekers or social assistance, unless you are not responsible for claiming social benefits)
• give up or lose your previous nationality(exception = nationals from member states of the European Union and Switzerland, refugees and persons from countries where giving up foreign nationality is not possible or only possible under particularly difficult conditions),
• not have been convicted of a criminal offense.

This means that you have neither been convicted of a criminal offense nor have you been sentenced to a detention order on the grounds of incapacity.

The following are not taken into account

• Educational measures or correctional measures under the Juvenile Courts Act
• Convictions for fines of up to 90 daily rates
• sentences of up to three months' imprisonment that have been suspended and remitted after the probation period has expired.
• These exceptions do not apply if you have been convicted of an unlawful anti-Semitic, racist, xenophobic or other inhuman act and sentenced to imprisonment, a fine or juvenile detention and such a motive has been established in the judgment.
  If you are currently under investigation on suspicion of a criminal offence, the naturalization procedure must be suspended until the proceedings have been concluded.
• have sufficient knowledge of German (proven, for example, by a B1 language certificate)

Exception:

This is waived if you are unable to fulfill this requirement due to a physical, mental or psychological illness or disability or due to age

• have knowledge of the legal and social order and living conditions in Germany (from the age of 16)

Exception:

This does not apply if you are unable to fulfill this requirement due to a physical, mental or psychological illness or disability or due to your age

• ensure your integration into German living conditions. This includes in particular that you are not married to more than one spouse at the same time

and

• do not support any anti-constitutional or extremist activities or have credibly renounced any previous persecution or support.

• Applications can be submitted online or in writing.
• A (first) interview is then required (among other things to declare your commitment to the free democratic basic order, verify and clarify your identity, check the authenticity of foreign documents)
• The naturalization authority checks the requirements and decides on your application.

The further procedure now depends on whether you are allowed to keep your previous citizenship or whether you have to give it up:

If you cannot give up your previous nationality or can only do so under particularly difficult conditions, you will be naturalized while accepting multiple nationalities.

In all other cases, you must give up your previous nationality in order to be naturalized.

If the previous nationality can be renounced before naturalization, you will receive a so-called naturalization assurance from the naturalization authority. This guarantees naturalization in the event that you can prove that you have renounced your previous citizenship. You must then apply to be released from your previous citizenship.

If, according to the law of the foreign country, the previous citizenship can only be renounced after naturalization or if this is only possible when you reach a certain age, you will be naturalized subject to certain conditions. You are obliged to give up your foreign nationality as soon as this is possible.

To apply for renunciation, contact the competent diplomatic mission in your country of origin.

Please provide evidence of the loss of your foreign nationality to your naturalization authority.

• If the requirements are still met, you will be issued with a naturalization certificate. You are then a German citizen or German national.
• Before the certificate is issued, you must make the following solemn declaration: "I solemnly declare that I will respect the Basic Law and the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany and will refrain from doing anything that could harm it."

Naturalization only becomes effective when the naturalization certificate is issued.

• Naturalization Conferral of German citizenship for foreigners entitled to naturalization
• Become a German citizen or German national with all the associated rights and obligations.
• Competent authority: Citizenship authority of the respective place of residence

You can find out which authority is responsible for your naturalization from the city or district administration of your place of residence, the foreigners authority or the migration advice service for adult immigrants or the youth migration services.

Persons living abroad permanently can only be naturalized in exceptional cases and under different conditions to those for naturalization in Germany. The Federal Office of Administration in Cologne is responsible for them. The first point of contact here can be the locally responsible German mission abroad (embassy, consulate general or other consular office).

You can find out which authority is responsible for your naturalization from the city or district administration of your place of residence, the foreigners authority or the migration advice service for adult immigrants or the youth migration services.

Persons living abroad permanently can only be naturalized in exceptional cases and under different conditions to those for naturalization in Germany. The Federal Office of Administration in Cologne is responsible for them. The first point of contact here can be the locally responsible German mission abroad (embassy, consulate general or other consular office).