Deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit beantragen (für Ausländer mit Einbürgerungsanspruch)

If you are a foreigner and would like to become a German citizen with all rights and obligations, you are entitled to naturalization under certain conditions.

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

With German citizenship you can, among other things

• exercise your right to vote in the federal states and in the German Bundestag,
• enjoy freedom of movement within the European Union as a citizen of the Union,
• travel to many countries outside Europe without a visa

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

• You must have resided lawfully and habitually in Germany for 5 years.
• You have legal capacity or are legally represented.
• Your identity and nationality have been established.
• You are credibly committed to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law and the special historical responsibility of Germany and credibly submit the so-called declaration of loyalty,
• You are in possession of a residence permit for permanent residence or an unlimited right of residence.
• You are in a position to sustainably and permanently support yourself and your dependent family members without receiving certain public benefits. A current receipt of benefits under the Second or Twelfth Social Code SGB II or XII is only irrelevant in certain cases if you are generally assumed to be able to support yourself on a sustainable and permanent basis.
• You have not been convicted of a criminal offense.
• You have sufficient knowledge of the German language (level B1).
• You have civic knowledge, which can be proven by a naturalization test, for example.

Naturalization becomes effective when you receive your naturalization certificate. Before receiving it, 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."

Your district of residence is responsible for advising and accepting applications and, if applicable, for issuing the naturalization certificate. The Ministry of the Interior, Building and Sport, as the naturalization authority for Saarland, is responsible for processing and deciding on applications.

Registration certificates

For children under 14 of unmarried parents: proof of custody;

In the case of joint parental custody, a declaration of consent from the other parent with custody, if applicable;

Power of attorney if necessary;

Valid national passport, (especially for EU nationals) valid identity card or, in individual cases, other official identity documents (especially those with a photograph),

Civil status documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decree or death certificate of the spouse, if applicable) - with translation, legalization or apostille, if applicable,

Valid residence permit (if no entitlement to freedom of movement),

Proof of German and civic knowledge, e.g. German certificate at level B1 or higher,

so-called naturalization test or certificate "Living in Germany/naturalization test", if applicable, certificates of school, vocational, training and/or study qualifications obtained in Germany;

If applicable, current school certificate and school reports, or current certificate of study;

Proof of ability to support yourself: proof of your own and, if applicable, your family's income (employment contract, salary statements), in the case of self-employed persons, tax office notices, business registration if applicable, proof of profit made (e.g. informal certificate from the tax consultant on net income or business analysis),

If applicable, proof of receipt of public benefits, pension certificate;

Proof of own health insurance cover, pension provision (pension insurance history and pension information, proof of private pension provision if applicable) and proof of cover in the event of nursing care and, if applicable, corresponding proof from family members;

Further documents may be added depending on the individual case and may also be requested by the naturalization authority.

Please note the following information:

Foreign certificates or documents must be submitted with a translation by a licensed translator. Authorized translators can be found at www.justiz-dolmetscher.de/Recherche,

Translations must be firmly attached to a copy of the document and sealed;

whether foreign documents must be submitted in legalized form depends on the specific case/country of origin; further information can be found on the homepage of the Federal Foreign Office (www.auswaertiges-amt.de) under the heading "International document traffic".

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

You must have been legally resident in Germany for 5 years.

The required period of residence can be shortened to up to 3 years in accordance with § 10 Para. 3 StAG if you can prove special integration achievements, in particular particularly good school, vocational qualification or professional achievements or civic commitment, you are able to support yourself and your relatives and you have German language skills at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

You are capable of acting (i.e. in the area of nationality law, you must have reached the age of 16) or are legally represented.

Your identity and nationality have been clarified.

You are credibly committed to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law and to Germany's special historical responsibility and credibly submit the so-called declaration of loyalty.

You can only make an effective declaration of allegiance if you are familiar with the core elements of the free democratic basic order. Such knowledge is regularly assumed if you have proven civic knowledge. Otherwise, this knowledge must be verified by the citizenship authority.

You have a permanent right of residence at the time of naturalization - for example, you have a settlement permit, are an EU citizen entitled to freedom of movement or a citizen of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland or their family members; a Turkish employee with a right of residence based on the EU's right of association with Turkey or their family members - or you have a permanent residence permit. Temporary residence titles are not suitable for naturalization.

You are in a position to sustainably and permanently support yourself and your dependent family members without basic security benefits.

A current receipt of benefits under the Second or Twelfth Social Code SGB II or XII is only irrelevant if it is generally assumed that you are able to support yourself on a sustainable and permanent basis,

if you entered Germany until June 30, 1974 as a guest worker or until June 13, 1990 as a contract worker or their spouse in a temporal context,

if you are currently employed full-time for 20 months in the last 2 years or

if you live as a spouse/domestic partner with such a person and a minor child in a family relationship.

You have not been convicted of a criminal offense that precludes naturalization. This means that you have neither been sentenced to a penalty nor have you been ordered to undergo a detention order because you are not guilty.

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,

Convictions for prison sentences of up to 3 months 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 a juvenile sentence and such a motive has been established in the judgment. If such motives have been established, naturalization is excluded.

If you are currently under investigation on suspicion of a criminal offence, the naturalization procedure must be suspended until the proceedings have been concluded.

You have sufficient knowledge of the German language (level B1).

For children under the age of 16, age-appropriate language development is sufficient.

If you entered Germany as a guest worker up to June 30, 1974 or as a contract worker of the former GDR up to June 13, 1990 or if you are a spouse who joined your family in the same period, it is sufficient if you can communicate verbally in German in everyday life without any significant problems.

To avoid particular hardship, it may be sufficient in individual cases if you can communicate in everyday life without significant problems and learning the language is no longer possible or permanently difficult for you despite serious and sustained efforts in the past.

If you can prove that you are unable to speak German due to illness, health or age, you will not be required to provide proof of the necessary German language skills.

You have civic knowledge, which can be proven by a naturalization test, for example. Children under the age of 16 do not have to prove this knowledge. With regard to the possible exceptions, the information on German language skills applies accordingly.

The regular fee is EUR 255.00.

Minor children without their own income who are naturalized together with their parents: EUR 51.00

Additional costs may arise

• for the submission of civil status certificates
• for proof of civic knowledge or language skills
• for translations of foreign documents by sworn translators and certification/legalization fees

Applications can be submitted online or in writing:

In any case - even if you apply online - you will need to attend an appointment at the citizenship authority responsible for your place of residence, among other things to declare your commitment to the free democratic basic order, to verify your identity and to inspect the original documents.

The naturalization authority at the Ministry of the Interior, Building and Sport then checks whether you meet all the requirements for naturalization, requests any other documents required for the decision and decides on your application.

If all the requirements are met, the office accepting your application will issue you with the naturalization certificate and you will become a German citizen.

Under German law, you can retain your previous citizenship(s). Please contact the respective state authorities to find out whether the law of your home country also permits dual citizenship or whether you will automatically lose your home country citizenship when you accept German citizenship. German authorities have no influence on this.

Due to the strong increase in interest in naturalization, considerable waiting times are currently to be expected when applying and also when processing your application.

Please do not apply for naturalization until you meet the naturalization requirements.

Information on naturalization in Germany on the website of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF)
Information on naturalization in Germany on the website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs (BMI)
Information on naturalization on the website of the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration

An appeal against the rejection of an application for naturalization can be lodged with the Saarland Administrative Court. Further details can be found in the information on legal remedies attached to the rejection notice.

Naturalization Conferral of German citizenship for foreigners entitled to naturalization

With naturalization, you acquire German citizenship with all rights and obligations.
Among other things, German citizenship enables you to

• exercise the right to vote in the federal states and in the German Bundestag,
• to enjoy freedom of movement within the European Union as a citizen of the Union,
• to travel to many countries outside Europe without a visa.

You are entitled to acquire German citizenship under the following conditions:

• have been legally and habitually resident in Germany for 5 years,
• Capacity to act or legal representation exists,
• Identity and nationality have been established,
• Declaration of commitment to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law and to Germany's special historical responsibility and submission of the so-called declaration of loyalty,
• Possession of a residence permit for permanent residence or a permanent right of residence,
• Ability to support themselves and their dependent family members without receiving certain public benefits,
• no conviction for a criminal offense,
• sufficient knowledge of the German language (level B1),
• knowledge of the legal and social order as well as living conditions in Germany (e.g. by passing a naturalization test);

However, naturalization is excluded,

• if anti-constitutional or extremist activities are currently being supported or persecuted or have been supported or persecuted in the past and there is no credible rejection of previous persecution or support;
• if there are indications of a polygamous marriage and disregard for equal rights for men and women

Naturalization becomes effective when the naturalization certificate is issued.

The district of residence is responsible for advising and accepting applications and, if applicable, for issuing the naturalization certificate. The Ministry of the Interior, Building and Sport, as the naturalization authority for Saarland, is responsible for processing and deciding on applications.

Your district of residence is responsible for advising you and accepting your application and, if applicable, issuing the naturalization certificate.

The Ministry of the Interior, Building and Sport is responsible for processing and deciding on applications as the naturalization authority for Saarland.

Persons living permanently abroad 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 may be the locally responsible German mission abroad (embassy, consulate general or other consular office).