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“Am I a German citizen?” - Basics of acquiring German citizenship
Want to know if you have German citizenship? Looking for general information on acquiring German citizenship?
Acquiring German citizenship
If one of the following scenarios applies to you, you cannot apply for German citizenship – you are already German.
German citizenship is mainly acquired by descent, by legitimation, adoption, naturalisation, declaration or birth in Germany after 2000. You will find information on this in the following sections.
German citizenship by descent
The majority of Germans acquired German citizenship automatically at birth because one parent was a German citizen at the time. Whether this applies to you or not depends on when you were born, and whether your parents were married at the time of your birth.
If your parents were married at the time of your birth, please select your date of birth:
You became a German citizen by birth if your father was a German citizen at the time.
If only your mother was German, you could not have acquired German citizenship through her. There was a possibility of obtaining German citizenship retrospectively by declaration until 1978.
If no declaration was filed by that date, as of 20 August 2021 you are able to file a declaration with a view to acquiring German nationality. More information on naturalisation can be found here.
You became a German citizen by birth if your father was a German citizen at the time.
If only your mother was German, you only became a German citizen if you would otherwise have been stateless.
If you acquired another citizenship at birth and only your mother was German, you could not have acquired German citizenship through her. There was a possibility of acquiring German citizenship retrospectively by declaration until 31 July 1977.
If the deadline was missed, you have the possibility since 20 August 2021 to acquire German nationality by declaration. More information on naturalisation can be found here.
You became a German citizen by birth if your father or your mother was a German citizen at the time.
You became a German citizen by birth if your father or your mother was a German citizen at the time.
If your parents were not married at the time of your birth, please select your date of birth:
You became a German citizen by birth if your mother was a German citizen at the time.
If only your father was a German citizen, you did not become a German citizen by birth. You may potentially be German by legitimation if your parents got married at a later date.
There was also the possibility of acquiring German citizenship by declaration through your father up until your 23rd birthday if certain criteria like having been resident in Germany for three years were met.
If this declaration was not (successfully) filed, you have the possibility, since 20 August 2021, of acquiring German nationality by declaration. Further information on naturalisation can be found here.
You became a German citizen by birth if your mother or your father was a German citizen at the time.
If only your father was a German citizen, a legally valid acknowledgment of paternity had to be made or a court procedure initiated before your 23rd birthday. Biological paternity itself was not sufficient.
You became a German citizen by birth if your mother or father was a German citizen at the time.
If only your father was a German citizen, a legally valid acknowledgment of paternity had to be made or a court procedure initiated before your 23rd birthday. Biological paternity itself is not sufficient.
German citizenship by birth in Germany
A child born to non-German parents on or after 1 January 2000 may acquire German citizenship if the child was born on German territory.
At least one parent must have had their legal habitual residence in Germany for at least eight years at the time of the birth and - for children born on or after 28 August 2007 - the parent must also hold permanent residency in Germany. If only the father meets the conditions, a legally valid acknowledgment of paternity must be made or court proceedings to determine paternity must be initiated before the child’s 23rd birthday. Biological paternity itself is not sufficient.
Children born before 1 January 2000 cannot retroactively apply for German citizenship under this provision. Children who were younger than 10 years old on 1 January 2000 had the option to apply for naturalisation within one year if the above conditions were met.
If you were born in Germany to non-German parents prior to 1 January 2000, you did not acquire German citizenship by birth. Being born in Germany does not give you automatic entitlement to naturalisation.
German citizenship by adoption
If you were adopted by a German citizen on or after 1 January 1977, you may be a German citizen. If the adoption took place outside of Germany it has to meet certain requirements.
Children who were adopted by a German parent between 1 January 1959 and 31 December 1976 could, subject to certain criteria, become a German citizen by declaration. The right of declaration ended on 31 December 1979.
German citizenship by legitimation
Children born out of wedlock could acquire German citizenship between 1 January 1914 and 30 June 1998 if their legal parents got married.
German citizenship by marriage
Since 1 January 1970, a foreign woman marrying a German man is no longer automatically entitled to German citizenship. If resident in Germany, the spouse of a German citizen can now only be naturalised if they meet the criteria set out in sections 8 and 9 of the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz - StAG).
Between 1 April 1953 and 31 December 1969 there were various ways for a foreign woman who married a German citizen to acquire German citizenship, including by declaration or naturalisation.
Between 1 January 1914 and 31 March 1953, a foreign woman who married a German man automatically acquired German citizenship.
German citizenship by other routes
German citizenship may also have been acquired by naturalisation or other routes.
Germans in the former German Democratic Republic were German citizens and generally still are today. There are also special provisions for members of German minorities in Central and Eastern Europe, who may have acquired German citizenship by collective naturalisation during the Second World War.
If none of the above is applicable to you but you still believe you are German, please contact us using our contact form.
Contact form
If after reading the information on our website you still have questions about German citizenship, please answer the following questions by email via our contact form (select the topic: Citizenship enquiries).
- When and where were you born?
- What was the nationality of your parents at the time of your birth? Have your parents ever had or do they still have a German passport?
- Were your parents married to each other at the time of your birth? If applicable, when and where did your parents get married? If not, has your father acknowledged paternity?
- When and where were your parents born?
- What was the nationality of your parents when they were born?
- Have your parents ever acquired British (or a different) citizenship? If so, when?
- What nationality (nationalities) did your grandparents have at the time your parents were born?
- Were your grandparents married to each other at the time your mother/your father was born? When and where did they get married?
- Have you, your parents or your grandparents ever applied for British (or a different) citizenship? If so, please state who was naturalised, and when, and which family members may have been included in the (parents’) application.
- Have you, your parents or your grandparents ever performed military service in a country other than Germany? If so, when?
- Are you or was one of your ancestors adopted? If so, who and when?