Deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit für Ausländer mit Einbürgerungsanspruch beantragen

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 requirements, you are entitled to acquire German citizenship:

• You must have resided lawfully and habitually in Germany for five years.
• Your identity and nationality have been established.
• You have the capacity to act or are legally represented.
• You have 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 (level B1).
• You have civic knowledge, which must be proven in a naturalization test.
• You acknowledge Germany's special historical responsibility for the unjust National Socialist regime and its consequences, in particular for the protection of Jewish life, as well as for the peaceful coexistence of peoples and the prohibition of waging a war of aggression.
• They are not married to more than one spouse at the same time and recognize the equal rights of men and women.
• 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: current school certificate
• if you are a student: 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 about 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 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 (for example, in the case of divorced or unmarried parents through a custody order)
• in the case of joint parental custody: declaration of consent from the other parent with custody rights
• The commitment to the free democratic basic order and the declaration of loyalty as well as the commitment to Germany's special historical responsibility for the National Socialist reign of injustice are submitted at the personal interview from the age of 16.

Further documents may be required depending on the individual case. Please note the following information:

• 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 authorized 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 been legally resident in Germany for five years.
  • Possibility of shortening to three years: in the case of special integration achievements and language skills at level C1
• Your identity and nationality have been established.
• You have legal capacity or are legally represented.
  • Anyone who has reached the age of 16 has the capacity to act.
• At the time of naturalization you have
  • an unlimited right of residence
    • 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 based on the EU's right of association with Turkey
  • or a residence permit that is based on the principle of permanent residence
    • not suitable for naturalization, for example a residence permit for the purpose of studying.
• You are able to support yourself and your dependent family members without receiving certain public benefits,
  • i.e. without benefits from the basic income support for jobseekers or social assistance.
• You have not been convicted of a criminal offense.
  • This means that you have neither been sentenced to a penalty nor have you been ordered to undergo a detention order due to incapacity to pay.
  • 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 an investigation is currently underway 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).
  • Exception: This is not the case if you are unable to meet this requirement due to a physical, mental or psychological illness or disability or due to age.
• You have civic knowledge, which must be proven by a naturalization test.
  • Exception: This is waived if you are unable to meet this requirement due to a physical, mental or psychological illness or disability or due to age.
• You are not married to more than one spouse at the same time and recognize the equal rights of men and women.
• They are committed to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law and make a declaration of loyalty (from the age of 16).
• They acknowledge Germany's special historical responsibility for the unjust National Socialist regime and its consequences, in particular for the protection of Jewish life, as well as the peaceful coexistence of peoples and the prohibition of waging a war of aggression.
• Naturalization is excluded if
  • there are factual indications that justify the assumption that the applicant for naturalization is pursuing or supporting efforts that are directed against the free democratic basic order or the existence or security of the Federation or a Land, or are aimed at unlawfully impairing the official conduct of the constitutional bodies of the Federation or a Land or their members, or that endanger the foreign interests of the Federal Republic of Germany through the use of violence or preparatory acts directed towards this, unless he or she can credibly demonstrate that he or she has turned away from the earlier pursuit or support of such efforts,
  • there is a reason for deportation in accordance with § 54 No. 5 or 5a of the Residence Act. The only decisive factor here is whether the conduct constitutes grounds for deportation in the abstract.

• The regular fee is EUR 255.00.
• Bn the case of naturalized children who are minors and have no income of their own within the meaning of the Income Tax Act, the fee is EUR 51.00.

An application can be made in writing, in some citizenship authorities it can be made online:

• First of all, an initial interview is required, among other things to submit the necessary confessions and declaration of loyalty, identity verification and clarification as well as verification of the authenticity of foreign documents. In the case of online applications, this appointment is held after the application has been submitted.
• The naturalization authority will check the requirements and decide on your application.
• If the requirements are 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."

12 months and longer

If an assurance of naturalization is given, this is usually limited to 2 years; it can be extended. During this time, the previous citizenship must be revoked.

• 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
  • enjoy freedom of movement within the European Union as a citizen of the Union
  • to travel to many countries outside Europe without a visa.
• If the requirements are met, there is a right to acquire German citizenship:
  • have been legally and habitually resident in Germany for five years
  • Identity and nationality have been clarified
  • Capacity to act or legal representation exists
  • Possession of a residence permit for permanent residence or a permanent right of residence
  • Able to support themselves and dependent family members without receiving certain public benefits
  • not convicted of a criminal offense
  • Sufficient knowledge of the German language (level B1)
  • civic knowledge, in principle to be proven by a naturalization test
  • no polygamy (married to several spouses at the same time) and recognition of equal rights for men and women.
• Commitment to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law and declaration of loyalty, i.e. exclusion of current and previous support for anti-constitutional or extremist activities. In the case of previous support, credible renunciation of previous persecution or support is required.
• Commitment to Germany's special historical responsibility for the National Socialist reign of injustice and its consequences, in particular for the protection of Jewish life, as well as to the peaceful coexistence of peoples and the prohibition of waging a war of aggression.
• Naturalization becomes effective when the naturalization certificate is issued.
• Responsible: 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.

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).