Eligibility quiz
Did either of your parents live legally in Germany as their usual home for at least five years up to your birth?
Benefits
Benefits for youBenefits for you
German passport and ID
German citizens can use a passport and identity card for travel and identification.
If documents are lost abroad, a German mission can issue a travel document for the return to Germany and, in suitable cases, a temporary passport.
Passports and identity cards expire and must be replaced.
Live in Germany for life
German citizens have an unconditional right to enter, live in and return to Germany.
Citizenship does not expire because of time spent abroad.
Study in Germany
German citizens can study in Germany and use public education.
Work in Germany
German citizens can work in Germany without restriction or run a business.
Get help abroad
German missions can help abroad after arrest, serious illness, an accident, death, or the loss of money or documents, and refer you to lawyers, doctors or interpreters.
Where Germany has no mission, you can seek urgent help from another EU country's mission.
Vote and run for office
German citizens can vote in German federal elections from age 18 if they meet the residence and eligibility rules.
Citizens abroad can vote by post if registered and sufficiently connected to Germany.
In other EU countries, citizens can vote and run in local and European Parliament elections on the same terms as that country's citizens.
Use public healthcare
German citizens can use public healthcare in Germany.
Access depends on the relevant rules, such as where you live and your contributions.
Use public support
German citizens can use public services and support, including pensions, unemployment support, housing support and child benefit.
These are not automatic payments; eligibility depends on rules such as residence, contributions, income and family circumstances.
How to apply
Applying at a local officeApplying at a local office
Find your local office
Find the office that handles German nationality certificates where you live.
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Get the application form
Get the nationality certificate application form and document checklist from your local office.
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Fill in the form
Complete the form clearly and in German, and sign it. For a child under 16, all people with custody sign.
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Gather your documents
Prepare the required documents for your local office.
See required documentsHand in your application
Ask your local office how to submit your signed form and documents, then send or bring them as directed. The office may ask you to book an appointment.
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Pay the fee
Pay the fee in the way your local office asks you to.
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Wait for the decision
Wait for the local office to decide, and answer any questions or requests for more documents.
Searches DuckDuckGo for “How long does a German nationality certificate application take in your city?”
Receive your certificate
If your application is approved, receive your German nationality certificate from the local office. You can use it as proof of your citizenship when applying for a German passport.
Searches DuckDuckGo for “How do I receive my German nationality certificate in your city?”
Documents needed
Family certificates and recordsFamily certificates and records
Birth certificates
Get your birth certificate from the registry office where your birth in Germany was recorded, and your German parent’s birth record if needed to show your family connection. If you were adopted, add the adoption decision and, for an adoption outside Germany, evidence of its recognition or conversion in Germany and your age when the adoption application was filed. If your claim is through your father and his parenthood needed to be officially recognised or decided by a court, add that record and evidence of when it was made or started.
Marriage certificates *
Get your parent’s marriage certificate from the office that issued it. If a name has changed, also provide the name-change record from the office that issued it.
* Only if your parent married or you or your parent changed names and the record is needed to show your family connection.
May need translationMay need apostille/legalisationParent’s citizenship records *
Provide records showing that your parent was German when you were born, or that your adoptive parent was German when they adopted you. These can include a German passport or ID card, a citizenship or naturalisation certificate, a certificate of citizenship by declaration or option, a Heimatschein, or an official register extract showing German citizenship.
* Only if you claim citizenship through your German parent or German adoptive parent.
May need translationMay need apostille/legalisationParent’s residence record *
Provide records showing that the same parent had lived lawfully in Germany for at least five years when you were born and had a permanent right of residence at that time. The records can include a residence record and the parent’s permanent residence permit or, where applicable, a qualifying residence permit under the agreement with Switzerland.
* Only if you claim citizenship through a parent’s residence in Germany.
May need translationMay need apostille/legalisationConsiderations
Things to think aboutThings to think about
Military checks for men
German men born in 2008 or later must answer the military questionnaire truthfully and undergo a medical assessment.
Military service is not generally compulsory unless the system is activated or changed.
Citizenship can be lost
Giving up citizenship needs approval and another citizenship.
Adults can lose it for actively fighting for terrorists abroad or joining their other country's forces or similar armed group without German defence consent, if not left stateless.
Citizenship gained by application can be withdrawn for deceit, threats, bribery or deliberate false or incomplete key information, normally within ten years of notification.
Discuss
Online communitiesOnline communities
Berlin Expats
English Facebook group for people living in Germany interested in German citizenship
Join on FacebookGerman Visa & CitizenShip Information
English Facebook group for people interested in German citizenship and visas
Join on FacebookEinbürgerung in Bonn/Citizenship in Bonn
Facebook group for people interested in German citizenship (English & German)
Request to joinConsultation
Talk to a professionalTalk to a professional
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