Einbürgerung Verleihung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit für heimatlose Ausländer

§ Section 21 Act on the Legal Status of Homeless Foreigners in the Federal Territory (HAuslG)

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 in the 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.

As a homeless foreigner, you are entitled to naturalization if you have been legally resident in Germany for at least seven years and have not been convicted of a criminal offence (with the exception of convictions for fines or juvenile or prison sentences of up to one year, the execution of which has been suspended on probation).

The requirements to be fulfilled by you are less extensive compared to the naturalization options under the Citizenship Act. The administrative effort and the fee incurred are also lower than for the legal basis of the Citizenship Act.

You also have the option of naturalizing your spouse and underage children, even if they have not lived in Germany as long as you have.

Naturalization becomes effective when you receive your naturalization certificate.

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

• Valid travel document for foreigners
• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate / divorce decree, if applicable

For persons under the age of 16:

• Proof of legal representation only required if this is not provided by law by the custodial parents
• Further documents may be required depending on the individual case.

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 a licensed 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.

• You must have submitted an application for naturalization
• You must be capable of acting, i.e. at least 16 years old or legally represented
• You are a homeless foreigner

This means that

You are stateless or have a foreign nationality and had to leave your home country after the Second World War and were in the area of application of the Basic Law on June 30, 1950.

The same legal status applies to persons who are descended from homeless foreigners and were residing in the Federal Republic of Germany on 01.01.1991.

• They have been lawfully and habitually resident in the Federal territory for 7 years.
• They have not been sentenced to imprisonment without probation or to a suspended sentence of more than one year.
• If you are under investigation on suspicion of a criminal offence, the naturalization procedure must be suspended until the proceedings have been concluded.
• You do not pursue or support any anti-constitutional or extremist activities and have not done so in the past.

Your spouse and/or your underage children can also be naturalized together with you if they have not yet resided legally and habitually in the Federal Republic of Germany for 7 years.

• After receiving the application, the competent authority checks the requirements and makes a decision.
• If the requirements are met, a naturalization certificate will be issued at the end of the procedure and handed over to you personally.
• Naturalization becomes effective upon delivery of the naturalization certificate.

Naturalization only becomes effective when the naturalization certificate is issued.

Action before the competent administrative court

• Naturalization Conferral of German citizenship for homeless foreigners
• Homeless foreigners are stateless persons or persons of foreign nationality who had to leave their homeland after the Second World War and were residing in the area of application of the Basic Law on June 30, 1950.
• The same legal status applies to persons who are descended from stateless foreigners and who resided in the Federal Republic of Germany on 01.01.1991.
• Competent authority: Citizenship authority of the respective place of residence

Forms available: Yes

Written form required: No

Informal application possible: Yes

Personal appearance necessary: Yes