I have noticed that I receive many e-mails with the same questions, so I have started to post the most frequent questions – and of course the answers to them – for everyone to read for free. As this section might already answer many of your questions, I invite you to browse these FAQ before you contact me about your case. If you do decide to contact me, you can increase your chances of getting a response by supporting this blog.
1. Is it true that you are on sabbatical?
Yes. I took a break from lawyering in August 2009 after having worked as a lawyer for 7 years. I wanted to pursue some of my other interests and to travel more. I have since even found the time to complete an MA in philosophy.
2. When will you be back?
Probably not for a few more years. If you follow my blog, you will be the first to know once it happens.
3. Is there no chance you can help me with my question?
The point of my sabbatical is to work less, so I cannot reply to all the requests I continue to receive.
But there are two ways you can try to tap my knowledge: I answer some questions for a a small donation and sometimes I might do some extra work for really nice people (see question no. 6 et seq.).
4. What do I have to do to get my question answered for free?
Please read the relevant FAQ and the comments, which may already answer your question. I am more inclined to answer a new question, which hasn’t been posed before.
5. How can I thank you adequately for this free service?
I have a wishlist of books (and another one for German language titles) and I would appreciate if you choose and mail me a few books. Or you can support this blog with a small donation. Getting quality legal advice for free should be worth such a relatively small effort, right?
6. Would you also be available for more individual questions or more legal help?
I might. From time to time, I will accept a case on a freelance basis.
Please note that I am currently not admitted to the bar as an attorney, so I cannot officially represent you in court cases. I can of course give general advice, strategic advice, draft letters and briefs, perform legal research and legal translations.
7. Do you charge for this?
Of course. For an initial consultation, whether by phone, e-mail or in person, I charge 400 € or the equivalent in your currency. The easiest way to pay is through PayPal.
The consultation will be thorough and in-depth. It will draw not only on my legal knowledge but also on my vast trial and strategic experience. I will set aside several hours of my time to answer all of your questions.
If we decide to proceed together after the initial consultation, we will agree on the fees for that.
8. How can I contact you?
The best way is to send an e-mail to moser@moser-law.com and provide a detailed account of your situation, preferably pointing out that you have already read these FAQ and haven’t found the answer therein. You can also contact me on Skype at “andreas_lawyer”.
9. Can you recommend any other lawyer in Germany?
No, unfortunately not. But I have put together the 10 ultimate guidelines for finding the best lawyer.
The Happy Hermit 
Pingback: More Pestering Questions from the Philippines | The Happy Hermit – Andreas Moser's Blog
Pingback: 10 FAQ on divorce in Germany | The Happy Hermit
Pingback: 10 FAQ on citizenship law in Germany | The Happy Hermit
Pingback: 10 FAQ about child custody law in Germany | The Happy Hermit
Pingback: 10 FAQ about filing a Constitutional Complaint in Germany | The Happy Hermit
Pingback: 10 FAQ on Inheritance Law in Germany | The Happy Hermit
Pingback: 10 FAQ on international child abduction | The Happy Hermit
Pingback: “How do you finance your travels?” | The Happy Hermit
Pingback: Money-Back Guarantee | The Happy Hermit
hello,
i m an indian girl living in italy,having carta di soggiorno(without expiry).I can come in german n having legally right to work there.Now i m pregnant,delivery date is in october.Can i come to german n give birth baby there ?Can i n my baby get citizenship of german in this way?pls can u help me in any way?
Thanx.
Please have a look at my FAQ about German citizenship law.
hello sir
i need your advice on some issue
my wife got pregnant and she wanna have her babe in Germany but she is having resistance of Italy will you please let me know that weather our child will get Germany citizenship or not
Please have a look at my FAQ on German citizenship law, where this question is answered.
Pingback: FAQ on Naturalization in Germany from Abroad | The Happy Hermit
Hello Andreas,
I have been in Germany since October 2008. I have been now over 5,5 years in Germany. 2,5 years as a Master degree student and almost 3 years working. I now have a Permanent Residency from Germany (Niederlassungserlaubnis). I have lately received a very attractive job offer from Belgium which I am very much in favor of, but my concerns are as follows
– How can I keep my permanent residence permit without losing it due to the fact that I won’t be working in Germany.
– I would like to get the German passport since it makes traveling etc much easier. So can I actually get it -since I won’t be residing in Germany. if yes, when can I apply for it. End of this year?
Please note that I have been in a relationship with a German for over 7 years, and I will definitely be traveling frequently to Germany and will keep my German residence.
thank you so much
Hh
I am American my wife is German (we were married in the USA) and agreed to take our son (age 3 , born in the USA) to Germany. I was hesitant about the change (not speaking the language) my wife assured me we could make it work and in the USA agreed we should at least give it 2 years. ( I have witnesses that she was present when we had these discussons on more than one occation) a little over a year later here in Germany she tells me our relationship has ended (after she had spent 7 weeks in a clinic for Angst.) I am unable to find real work having such little understanding of the language. All our finances are in her name only and she now tells me I have 2 weeks to move out of the house. I really don´t know what I should do. I would like for my wife to honor our agreement and we return to the States but she now (and her Mother) refuse to aknowledge this trail ever existed. What are my options?
First of all, ignore the mother-in-law. It’s none of her business.
If you want to return to the US with your son, you would need your wife’s consent (unlikely) or a German court order (tricky), otherwise it would constitute an international child abduction. Your chances of obtaining such a court order are higher the closer your son is attached to you, the better your professional prospects are in the US, the less integrated he is in Germany. But such a case is generally an uphill battle as courts tend to favor the status quo unless there are compelling reasons to change it.
As to your question about moving out, I would really need to know much more about your options, plans and opportunities to make an informed recommendation. I’ll be happy to set up a telephonic consultation, so that we can speak about all questions involved in great detail and also cover the strategic and tactical approach. I charge 200 EUR for such a consultation.
Pingback: 10 FAQ on Freedom of Movement in the EU | The Happy Hermit
I am a citizen of the USA and I am looking to gain a second citizenship in Germany through ancestry. My grandparents both came to the USA from Germany. My grandfather was born in Austria and moved to Germany. How do I go about having you or someone else helping me achieve my goal?
There are two possibilities:
1) I recommend reading my FAQ on German citizenship including the questions and comments below the article. You will then learn what kind of documents you need and what kind of issues might have lead to a loss of German citizenship of your grandparents, your parents or yourself. In your specific case, you also need to make sure your grandparents were German citizens, not Austrian ones.
2) Or you can send me an e-mail with all the details about your grandparents, your parents, their respective citizenship, date and place of birth and so on, and I will look into it for you. Depending on how complicated your case is, I will charge either a book from my wishlist or 200 EUR.
My husband recently became naturalized as a US citizen and in turn (unknowingly) lost his German citizenship. He was reassured by an attorney that he could have dual citizenship but we now realize that he needed to get permission from the Germans. This is a blow, of course, for many reasons, but primarily because we hadn’t yet obtained German citizenship for our daughter who was born in the US in 2010. My husband, her father, was a German citizen at the time of her birth (I’m American). Can we still apply for German citizenship for her?
Your daughter automatically received German citizenship at birth (§ 4 I 1 StAG) because her father was German at the time of birth. There is no need for her to apply for German citizenship, she already has it. She will be able to keep both because she obtained neither through naturalization.
And please sue that attorney’s ass off. Anyone who knows anything about citizenship law could have told you what the law is. Your attorney only would have needed to read my FAQ or the law. It’s not a complicated law and it’s not an unusual case. I am shocked, although I hear of such cases over and over again.
Pingback: German Law on Having Babies | The Happy Hermit
I have a friend who is a US citizen and his wife took their child to Germany and he was abducted he has all the paper work showing he had legal custody of the child. He is having a very hard time getting him back due to alot of red tape. I believe the child is now a teenager can he legally leave Germany on his own and at what age can he make his own decision to leave Germany? What do you suggest to get him back. Many times they have located the mother and she would then move again. It’s a very long story and the fight has been going on for years, she blatenly abducted this child and this child wants no more than to be with his father in the U.S.
As more than one year has passed since the abduction, the Hague Child Abduction Convention can no longer be invoked. He would need to go through a normal German custody proceeding.
The boy really can only make the decision once he is 18, but as the Hague Child Abduction Convention no longer applies once he turns 16, that’s the age when the wife couldn’t do much if the boy decided to go to the US.
Wow that is ridiculous he has been fighting to get this child back and she continuously moves around so he can not be in contact with him. So in the U.S. it clearly states she abducted the child that was in his custody and Germany allows this even though she broke the law. Wow.
No, that’s not true at all. It sounds like he didn’t take the proper legal steps. He can contact me if he wants, but you see my fees mentioned above.
Hi, I’m hoping you will be able to answer my question. I’m a German citizen by birth, but
I have been living in Canada for many years w/o any legal status because I have no documents other than a birth certificate, expired travel passport and expired passport. As I understand it, I will have to go to Germany to get new/renewed passports.
I was planning on doing that later this year, but 2 weeks ago I was diagnosed with high grade uterine cancer (aggressive, fast growing and fast spreading). It may be possible for me to get treatment here in BC which I will have to pay for, but only if it’s approved by… actually I’m not sure who decides that.
If I’m not approved, can I go back to Germany and get treatment there with my expired passports right away? Due to the high grade rating, time is very much of the essence.
Also, is it even possible to go back to Germany with no valid passport?
Thank you for your time
Iris
Hello Iris,
you cannot travel with expired passports. It’s not even an immigration issue, but the airline wouldn’t let you board the plane.
But you can renew German passports at any consulate, including the ones in Canada.
I wish you all the best!
Unfortunately I cant… I don’t have the documentation required in order to renew them. Thank you for your reply though.
Iris
You only need a birth certificate and an old German passport or any other proof of identity. Also, the German consulate can get the documents from Germany.
Actually, this is the reply I got from the German Consulate
Dear Ms. Acton,
we cannot issue a passport without a proof that you are still German. If you cannot apply for the PRC, please apply for a status verification. That is possible without a passport and should be a little faster, too.
If you do not have any documents, it will be very difficult to issue a passport. Perhaps it would be best if you would get in touch with the German Consulate General in Toronto to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship first.
For more information, please consult:
http://www.kanada.diplo.de/Vertretung/kanada/en/02/citizenship/__citizenship.html
Best regards
Daniela von den Driesch
Basically, what they are asking for is some evidence that you did not become Canadian (because you would have lost German citizenship in the process, § 25 I StAG).
I would love to help, but I would need to know what kind of documents you exactly have and a bit more of your background (my e-mail: moser@moser-law.com). Unfortunately, I would need to charge my consultation fee of 200 EUR in that case.
Dear Andreas, Is it possible to get German citizenship early say 5 years (range official is 3-8 years for non-EU). My HR Director say that I can get it without their insisting German language. I am indian, 57 years. I came to Germany five years back, with Niedrlassungserlaubnis from the first day without German language requirement for me or for my wife (house-wife). AN attorney did this immigration service when i moved from Beijing to here. It appears he has done under High skilled category. I lived 1998-2003 in France earlier. Since he could get PR from the first day, may be HR director is correct, that I can even get German pass. Company HR any way do not do this and the earlier attorney may not be keeping all my records with him, and say the normal rules as you have written in FAQ. If you see that there is a way, i want to use services of an attorney like you. Hence this question. Thanks if you can advise. I work for international department here hence no German so I did not spend any time for German language.
There is no exception from the language requirement. You also have to keep in mind that you have to pass the citizenship test, which will be done in German. So, without adequate German skills, you may not even pass the citizenship test.
Both my parents were German citizens they moved to America in 1954. My mother still receives a pension from Germany. I am first generation born here. Do I qualify for dual citizenship?
It depends if either of your parents was still a German citizen by the time you were born or if they had lost their German citizenship due to naturalization in the US at that time.
They were required to become citizens as part is being allowed to come here post WWII . My mother still receives her pension from Germany
Hi Andreas,
Hope u r enjoying your travels :)
I would like to check with you whether I have a case for getting German citizenship and proceeding to a consultation with you..
I was born in Germany in 1973 to 2 Iranian parents (married in Iran), My father lived in Germany for 15 years and never applied for German passport. At the age of 5 (in 1978) we moved back to Iran and I was never allowed from my parents to apply for German citizenship before I turned 18.
I am 42 today and I have Iranian and Australian passport (live in australia)
Do you think that I can apply for German documents? I don’t even have a copy of my Brith Certificate (which I can probably locate through Germany Agencies)
My parents have divorced and don’t have any relations with Germany, I do have a step sister who is German.
Please advise if you see any opportunity for me to apply for German citizenship in my story?
THANK YOU SO MUCH,
Laila
Hello Laila,
I don’t see any chance:
– Being born in Germany did not provide German citizenship before 2000.
– None of your parents was German at the time of your birth.
– You don’t seem to have strong enough ties to Germany to warrant a naturalization from abroad.
Your only way would be to move to Germany (you don’t need citizenship for that) and apply for naturalization after a few years. Your stay as a child could still be partially counted towards the residence requirement (§ 12b II StAG), but only if you still speak German based on that time spent in Germany.
Thank you so much :)
Pingback: Gaining German Citizenship Without Living in Germany | Mkenya Ujerumani
Dear Andreas,
I look for some help in order to obtain a german passport and citzenship.
My mother already has a german passport. She was born in Brazil in 1943.
Her father ( my grand father ) was also born in Brazil, in 1921. He was the son of a german father and mother, both were born in German, and they arrived in Brazil around 1920.
I was born in 1968 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Some of my cousins -sons of my mother´s sister – those who was born after 1975 already have the german passport. So, my aunt has four sons, just two was able to obtain the german passport.
I think maybe it is possible to contest this impossibility. In my vision, the law before 1975 had a “gender bias”, once treated differently who has german ancestries through mother´s provenance ( woman ) than who have the through father´s provenance (man ), cause in this last case, there was not any problem, and still there isn’t any problem, to obtain the passport. This gender bias consequence is still on.
So based on the principle of equity in laws, that need to treat genders equally, do you think it is possible to succeed? If yes, could you help me?
Best Regards
Eric
See no. 8 of my FAQ on naturalization from abroad.
Pingback: Don’t write me on Facebook! | The Happy Hermit
Pingback: AllExperts is dead | The Happy Hermit
HI
I am canidain citizen and living here in Germany for last 10 years
I have tow kids 15 and 16 year s old they are going to school here in the 10 great now
My question is that can my kids get a German passport with there Canadian
Nationalty
They went to school from great one until great 10 here ?
Thanks
Rahimi
Your children could only apply for German citizenship if they gave up Canadian citizenship.
Hi Andreas. Im a Namibian citizen currently having a 2year old daughter with a german that works in german. I dont work and the father of my kid is complaining he has a small salary. And dont sent enough money for the daughter. What link do i apply so that i can ask help from the german goverment so that my daughter can be assistant with some monthly funds
If you live in Germany, you go to the municipality.
If you live in Namibia, there is no assistance from the German government.
“Children who were born to a German mother and a non-German father before 1975 often did not receive German citizenship by descent. This obvious discrimination against the maternal line of descent is now being rectified by allowing these children to apply for naturalization under this clause.”
Is being rectify how? My grandfather was german, he married my grandmother (argentinian citizen) and my mother was born in 1929. She married my father and I was born 2 years later in 1955 so I was not granted German citizenship and they didn’t know about the option to register me in the embassy between 1975-77.
I also married and had a daughter in 1991. She studied the languague and culture and speaks german fluently, went to Germany twice and wants to move there. Is there anything we can do? Thank you.
Yes, you can apply for naturalization in Germany without living there.
I will be happy to help with more details once I receive a donation to keep this blog going (the Paypal address is blog@moser-law.com) or a few books from my wishlist. Thank you very much already!
Hey Andreas!
Is your book list up to date? We’d love to send you a few and ask some questions, if possible.
Hello Carissa,
oh, thank you very much for raising that exciting prospect!
Yes, the lists (there is one in English and one in German) are up to date. For the coming months, the address in Portugal is probably better because I can’t leave soon. But if you are in Germany and shipping to Germany is much cheaper, then of course you can also use that address. My father will then notify me once the books will have arrived.
Thank you already!
Thank you! We are in the states right now (my husband is German), but we did send a couple books to Germany for you. “Guns, Germs and Steel” and “Everybody Lies“.
Oh, thank you so much already!
Everything with germs is highly topical. :-)
Hello Carissa,
I have received both books, thank you very much!
Fire away with your questions, either here or by e-mail to moser@moser-law.com.
Thank you Andreas! We emailed, so if it doesn’t come through just let us know!
I am just working on the reply… :-)