Eligibility Quiz
Documents Required
Documentation requirements are extensive and must prove both family relationships and citizenship status of each generation in the chain.
Core Documents for You
- Valid passport or national identity card
- Birth certificate (original or certified copy)
- Marriage certificate(s) (if applicable)
- Divorce decrees (if applicable)
Documents for Each Ancestor in the Chain
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate(s)
- Divorce decrees (if applicable)
- Death certificate (if deceased)
- Naturalization documents or proof that no naturalization occurred
- German passport or identity card (if available)
- Registry office extracts (Auszüge aus dem Geburtsregister, Heiratsregister, etc.)
For Establishing Citizenship of the German Ancestor
- German birth certificate
- German passport or identity card
- Naturalization certificate (if the ancestor was naturalized into Germany)
- Proof of German nationality at the relevant time
Additional Documents That May Be Required
- Consular registration documents
- Emigration documents
- Passenger lists
- Proof of residence
- Court determinations of paternity (for unmarried father cases)
- Criminal record certificate
Document Authentication and Translation
All foreign documents must be apostilled (certified with an Apostille de La Haye). All non-German documents must be translated into German by a certified translator recognized by German authorities. Translation costs are significant—approximately €50–€100 per page in Germany.
Where to Obtain Documents
- US documents: USCIS (post-1906 naturalization records) and National Archives (pre-1906)
- Canadian documents: Library and Archives Canada
- Australian documents: National Archives of Australia
- South African documents: Department of Home Affairs
- German documents: German registry offices (Standesamt) and Registry Office I in Berlin
Processing times for obtaining historical documents routinely take weeks to many months.