FAQ on Reclaiming German Citizenship – updated 2025

Posted on 2025-03-08 by Andreas Moser

The FAQ on German Citizenship are the most popular post on my blog. But some aspects are so complicated, they warrant their own list of FAQ, like those on reclaiming German citizenship or German citizenship by restitution.

I am a German lawyer, specializing in German citizenship law. These FAQ are supposed to give you an overview of the basic principles governing this area of law, so you can decide whether a paid consultation is worth it.

Before asking a new question, please read through the many comments which may already answer your question. And if you find these FAQ useful, or if you ask a new question, it would be very nice of you to support this blog. Thank you!

1. Why would someone lose German citizenship in the first place?

The main ways to lose German citizenship were applying for and receiving citizenship of another country without prior permission from Germany (§ 25 StAG until June 2024), voluntarily serving in the armed forces of another country (§ 28 StAG) and renunciation (§ 26 StAG).

But it becomes endlessly more complex because different laws were in place at different times. Until 1949 or 1953, depending on the specific circumstances, German women who married a foreign man automatically lost German citizenship. Until 1913, German citizenship could be lost by living abroad for more than 10 years and not registering with a German consulate. And then, between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis stripped many people of German citizenship as an act of punishment or out of anti-Semitic ideology.

2. I am a history geek. Tell me more about that Nazi policy.

Ok. After all, I am a history geek, too:

In November 1941, the Third Reich passed a law that deprived all Jewish Germans who were living abroad at the time (or moved abroad later) of their German citizenship.

In addition to that, since July 1933 there had been a law that allowed the individual revocation of German citizenship, which was mostly applied to opposition activists and intellectuals. If your ancestors were among the 39,006 victims of that policy, they were in the good company of people like Albert Einstein, Willy Brandt, Hannah Arendt, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Bertolt Brecht and others.

3. I am a descendant of someone in one of these two groups of people. Does this mean I can now apply for a German passport?

Generally yes.

Art. 116 II of the German Constitution states that all people who were deprived of their German citizenship on “political, racial or religious grounds” between 1933 and 1945 can reclaim Germany citizenship. What is of more interest to you is that Art. 116 II GG extends this to descendants.

Since 2021, there is a new § 15 StAG, widening the number of people who are eligible to reclaim German citizenship. So even if you were previously told (by me or by someone else) that you are not eligible, it may well be worth to look into your case again.

4. That sounds interesting. What are the changes?

First, the new § 15 no. 1 StAG extends the eligible group of people to all those who lost or gave up their German citizenship – for the reasons outlined in Art. 116 II GG – before 1955. Previously, the loss of German citizenship had to have occurred before 1945. The purpose of the new § 15 StAG in this respect is to cover German citizens who fled from the Nazis, but only lost their German citizenship after the end of the Nazi regime, for example through naturalization in another country after 1945.

Second, § 15 no. 2 StAG now explicitly covers people who were excluded from mass-naturalizations of ethnic Germans based on racial grounds. For example, when the Nazis occupied the city of Gdansk/Danzig, the population automatically became German. Jews were however excluded from this.

Third, § 15 no. 3 StAG now covers people who did apply or could have applied for German citizenship between 1933 and 1945, but did not receive German citizenship due to racial or political discrimination. This concerns Jews, but for example also communists.

Fourth, § 15 no. 4 StAG extends the possibility to obtain German citizenship to people who were deported or forced to emigrate from the German Reich by the Nazis. In this case, the applicants (or their parents, grand-parents, etc.) need not have been German citizens! It covers any of your ancestors, of whatever nationality, who lived in Nazi Germany and were forced to leave.

5. And if I qualify, this also extends to my children?

Yes. Even to grandchildren.

6. What about the non-Nazi related cases, for example when I lost German citizenship because I applied for US/Jamaican/Australian citizenship without prior permission from Germany, but now I want to move back to Germany?

First of all, you don’t need German citizenship in order to move to Germany (§ 38 II AufenthG).

§ 13 StAG allows for the discretionary re-naturalization of former German citizens (and their minor children). You need to present a compelling case, though. In my experience, only very few applicants make the cut, because you need to show that it would be in the national interest of Germany to re-naturalize you. Unless you are some great sportsperson or scientist, that’s not easy.

But luckily, in recent years the European Court of Justice has come to the rescue of many ex-Germans who want their citizenship back.

7. What does the European Union have to do with German citizenship law?

It’s a bit complicated and counterintuitive, because citizenship law is one of the bastions of national law within the European Union. But lawyers can be creative:

With each national citizenship of an EU member country, you automatically have/receive the citizenship of the European Union, pursuant to Art. 20 TFEU. If you have a passport from any EU country on hand, just look at it, and you will see that it is also a passport of the European Union. For a long time, this EU citizenship was pretty much disregarded, because you cannot obtain, keep or lose it independently. It is tied to the national citizenship of a member state.

But then came the European Court of Justice (ECJ, the highest court of the European Union, not to be confused with the European Court of Human Rights, which is not an EU court) in 2019 and ruled that the loss of EU citizenship in the context of losing the national citizenship of an EU member state (for example the loss of German citizenship when you got naturalized in another country before 2024) needs to pass a proportionality test under European law.

In several subsequent decisions, the ECJ required that the proportionality test takes into account the specific situation of the EU citizen at the time. And this gives you an opening if (a) at the time of your loss of German citizenship no proportionality test was carried out at all, or (b) if Germany at the time did not consider the effects on your EU citizenship.

Option (a) is less relevant for people who held German citizenship and lost it upon naturalization in another country, because they could have applied for a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung pursuant to § 25 II StAG a.F. If you didn’t and thus didn’t even give Germany a chance to make a decision about your citizenship, then that’s your fault. However, option (b) can be very relevant, because until a few years ago, Germany never considered the implications on your EU freedom of movement rights, should they withdraw your German citizenship. This is a huge opportunity for people who had been using their German citizenship to live in other EU countries, who have relatives in other EU countries, or other connections to other EU countries.

All of this has meanwhile been incorporated in the German Citizenship Act in § 30 I 4 StAG.

As you may have noticed, this is very complicated, so you shouldn’t try this yourself. For some of the other options, you don’t necessarily need a lawyer. Here, you need a real hot-shot citizenship lawyer.

8. I am the child of a German mother, but I was born before 1975 and therefore did not receive German citizenship. Isn’t that unfair?

Very unfair indeed. Finally, this has been recognized and there is a new § 5 StAG, which is supposed to bestow German citizenship on all those who previously missed out on it due to gender discrimination in older versions of the Citizenship Act. This concerns the following groups of people:

  • Children of at least one German parent, who did not receive German citizenship at birth (§ 5 I no. 1 StAG). The main cases here are children of German mothers born before 1975 and children of German fathers born out of wedlock before 1993.
  • Children of a German mother who had lost her German citizenship due to marrying a foreigner (§ 5 I no. 2 StAG). This is only relevant if your mother or grandmother married a non-German before April 1953.
  • Children who lost their German citizenship because their German mother married their non-German father (§ 5 I no. 3 StAG).

Like with the other restitution cases, this also applies to descendants of the aforementioned cases.

If you fall under any of these categories, you have the opportunity to obtain German citizenship by a simple declaration. But you need to make this declaration by August 2031, that’s the cut-off date.

9. Will I have to give up my existing citizenship?

No, you do not need to renounce your existing citizenship.

10. I lost German citizenship when I was a child because my family moved to another country and my parents filed for British/Brazilian/US citizenship for me. I was never asked. This is unfair!

We cannot undo everything that your parents did on your behalf when you were a child. Or do you want to return all these bicycles and Commodore computers?

But it is worth looking into the exact circumstances. I’ve had cases where only one of the parents signed the petition for a new citizenship although the parents had joint custody. In this case, German law treats you as if you never lost German citizenship in the first place and you can simply apply for a new passport without having to go through re-naturalization.

Posted in German Law, Germany, Law | Tagged , , | 223 Comments

Whither NATO?

Posted on 2025-03-01 by Andreas Moser

When I photographed this mural in Kutaisi in Georgia (the real Georgia) in 2017, it seemed to symbolize the Georgian aspirations and hopes to join NATO. After all, somebody has to bring the wine for all the military exercises.

Nowadays, it makes you wonder if time is running out for NATO. And for Georgia.

Posted in Georgia, Military, Photography, Politics | Tagged , | 9 Comments

If Donald Trump had been President in 1941

Posted on 2025-03-01 by Andreas Moser

“Winston, you have to stop with this warmongering, do you hear me? The Nazis just want your little island. And all of Europe. And to enslave millions. And to murder, rape and loot. And you come here, make a fuss about that inconvenience, and smoke your stinking cigars in my garden. How dare you??”

Posted in History, Military, Politics, Ukraine, USA, World War II | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Easily Confused (67) Peace Conference

Posted on 2025-02-20 by Andreas Moser

Munich, 1938: A so-called peace conference at which the aggressor receives all the concessions he demands, the victim of the aggression is not represented, and the participants and observers act on the unbelievably naive assumption that world peace can be established that way. The dictator uses the reprieve for further rearmament, six months later annexes a democratic neighboring country, despite his promises not to do so, and less than a year later starts another world war.

Riyadh, 2025: The same.

Posted in Germany, History, Military, Politics, Russia, Ukraine, World War II | Tagged | 8 Comments

A realistic lawyer movie: “Maîtres”

Posted on 2025-02-12 by Andreas Moser

Zur deutschen Fassung.

Most lawyer movies and legal series convey a completely skewed image of lawyers and courts.

But as most people unfortunately spend more time in front of the television than before an appellate court, these misconceptions inform their expectations. And then, people are disappointed when the whole law firm with five lawyers is not exclusively dedicated to their one single case, when the court still hasn’t made a ruling two days after a lawsuit has been filed, when the courtroom is neither packed with jurors nor with curious spectators, and when the judges aren’t constantly smashing their desks with wooden hammers. I can also regularly sense the disappointment of my clients when I don’t show up with a limousine and a chauffeur, like the “Lincoln Lawyer”, taking the tram instead. Or simply walking to court.

A particularly annoying example is “Suits”.

“Better call Saul”, on the other hand, I found surprisingly realistic.

Now, I don’t mean that the drug mafia kidnaps me, drags me out into the desert of New Mexico and tries to shoot me every week. But that’s probably because the guys from the Sinaloa cartel read that I am totally capable of getting lost in the desert and almost dying of dehydration by myself. There’s really no need for them to get their hands dirty.

Beyond the superficial theatrics, “Better call Saul” presents the hard life of a solo lawyer with all its ups and downs: the exhausting courtship of clients, but then too many show up at the same time. You have to take care of everything yourself because you have no staff. And if you don’t get around to answering e-mails for a few days, clients show up at home.

But now I have discovered a truly realistic lawyer movie: “Maîtres” is a documentary about three French female lawyers who run a law firm in Strasbourg, focusing on immigration law.

Not only because I also work in immigration law did I immediately recognize a lot: Of course, superficial things like the older editions of legal commentaries, which serve as a base for laptops and lamps, or the smoker’s balcony (although in my case with relaxing cigars instead of a quick Gauloise).

But most of all, I recognized the clients and their stories. There are clients who come with a thick folder, everything perfectly organized. And then there are those from whom you have to extract every piece of information, as if they were in Guantanamo. (There is a movie about that, too.) Clients who bring their children to interpret, half proud, half ashamed. Clients who think they have done everything right because they have always worked hard and never been on welfare, because they speak French and all their children go to school, but from the state’s point of view, it weighs more heavily that they provided a false identity 16 years ago. (Please don’t do anything like that. It only leads to endless complications.) Chaotic clients who would need a secretary to make their appointments, to deal with their mail and, above all, to pay their bills. Clients with dramatic life stories. Clients whose case only has a half-baked chance of success, but whom you really want to help because they are nice people. And even the conversation to prepare for the naturalization test rang a bell.

At first I thought: “Convincing acting, chapeau!” Until I realized that the lawyers are real. And so are the staff and clients. They simply set up a camera in the office and let it roll. Of course only with clients who agreed to it.

Maybe screenwriters and directors should take a lesson from this. Dare to be more realistic. As Egon Erwin Kisch wrote: “Nothing is more exciting than the truth.” Or, if you really want to make lawyer movies, at least ask some real lawyers before. There are enough of us who are willing to help.

By the way, I don’t really want to complain the way it sounded above. In all honesty, it’s a pretty cool job. You sit around, listen to people’s stories, think, write a few letters, read a lot, and in between, you smoke.

I realized how privileged I am as soon as I watched the next film, which was about work on a construction site. Now, that’s what you can legitimately call a stressful work environment.

What about your job? Are there any realistic movies/series/books about it?

Links:

Posted in Cinema, France, Immigration Law, Law | Tagged | 22 Comments

FAQ on International Child Abduction – updated 2025

Posted on 2025-01-09 by Andreas Moser

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, can you believe that?!

As this blog post might already answer many of your questions, I invite you to browse these FAQ before you contact me (or any other lawyer) about your case.

Before asking a new question, please read through the many comments which may already answer your questions. And if you find these FAQ useful or if you ask a new question, it would be nice if you support this blog. Thank you!

1. What is an international child abduction?

The removal of a minor child from one country to another country without the (other) parent’s consent constitutes an international child abduction. It usually happens when parents who are from different countries split up and one parent wants to go back to his/her home country and takes the child with him/her.

It also constitutes an international child abduction if the other parent allows you to take the child to another country (usually for a holiday) and you then decide not to return the child once the agreed stay is over.

The latter is called an illegal retention, and it is governed by exactly the same laws as a child abduction.

2. What is the remedy against international child abduction?

If both countries are member states of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (see question no. 11), you can request the return of the abducted child within one year of the abduction or retention.

3. What do I need to prove for a successful return of my child?

You need to prove that

(1) you have at least shared custody of the child,

(2) you have been exercising that custody, e.g. by living in the same house with the child or by having regular visitation with the child,

(3) your child had established residence in your country by living there for at least a few months,

(4) the other parent either abducted the child to another country or overstayed an agreed visit to another country

(5) without your consent.

4. Should I get the police involved?

In a regular case, I would recommend against it. Involving the police, the FBI and other people with guns and helicopters usually only adds to the tensions between the parents, which is the last thing we need. Also, the police are not exactly experts on international family law, so they might do things which aren’t really in your interest (like taking the child to a foster home or issuing a no-contact order).

Law enforcement won’t bring your child back without a court order and if you know where your child is staying, there is nothing that you need law enforcement for. And even if the whereabouts of your child are unknown, I have sometimes been quicker at finding them than the police. Most abducting parents aren’t very creative.

5. How should I react once I find out that my (ex-)partner abducted our child to another country?

Find a lawyer in that specific country who has experience with child abductions. Reunite has a list of lawyers who deal with international child abductions. In Germany, you can of course contact me.

Your lawyer should file for the return of your child as soon as possible to prevent any impression that you are giving consent to the abduction by tolerating it. You should also avoid any other behavior that could be construed or interpreted as consent, e.g. helping the other parent to get settled in the other country, sending money or personal items, working out a visitation schedule for contacts with the child in the other country, discussing which school the child should attend in the other country, etc.

During all of this, please keep focused on the primary goal of getting your child back. Too many people get totally sidetracked by filing criminal complaints, initiating family law cases in their home country, and pestering politicians, the press and the Pope. This is a very stressful phase of your life, and you need to chose your battles carefully.

6. Once I file for the return of my child, how long will it take?

Germany has vowed that child abduction proceedings in its courts should not take longer than 6 weeks, and that timeline is usually met.

7. Will I need to submit evidence about who is the better parent?

No.

The child abduction proceeding under the Hague Convention is not a child custody proceeding. It does not matter who is the better parent or who spends more time with the child or anything like this. It is in essence only a dispute about jurisdiction, i.e. about which country’s courts get to decide about child custody, visitation, etc.

8. Are there any reasons why the court would deny the return of the child?

This refers to Art. 13 I (b) of the Hague Child Abduction Convention, which gives the court the option to deny the return in case of a “grave risk of physical or psychological harm”. As an exception to the Hague Convention, this clause has to be interpreted very narrowly.

Because a return under the Hague Convention does not mean a return of the child to the requesting parent, but only to the last country of habitual residence (see question no. 9), parent-related arguments are usually not relevant.

Currently, this clause mainly becomes relevant with requested returns to Ukraine. So far, the German courts have ruled differently in different cases. Some courts have denied the return of a child to a country engulfed in war. Other courts have made it dependent on the specific circumstances and the place where the child would be returned to. Especially within a large country like Ukraine, there is quite some difference between the situation in different parts of the country.

9. What happens after I secure the return of my child?

As the decision is not a custody decision, the abducting parent is free to return to your country with the child that he/she had abducted. You therefore do not necessarily win physical custody for your child.

Actual custody and/or visitation needs to be sorted out by a court in your country. Most abduction cases are actually followed by cases for child custody and visitation very swiftly after the return of the child. So far, I have only had one case when the abducting mother did not comply with the court order and refused to return the child to the USA. So, I took the court order, picked up the 1-year old baby at Frankfurt airport, and flew him to Boston.

That’s the kind of lawyer I am. (Although, not knowing anything about children myself, I was very thankful that two ladies sitting next to us knew what to do with such a little human being.)

10. How do I prevent a child abduction, if I fear that one is about to occur?

If a passport is needed for the child to travel (which is not the case between many European countries), then you could of course try to hold on to the passport.

If you have very specific reasons to believe that a child abduction is upcoming (e.g. you found one-way tickets that your spouse booked, or your spouse transferred all his/her money to another country and quit his/her job), you could also get a court order in your country that specifically does not allow any travel with the child, that requires the deposit of passports with the court or the police, or that alarms the border and airport authorities that the child should not be allowed to travel.

11. Which countries are member states of the Hague Convention?

A current list can be found here: www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.status&cid=24 At the moment (January 2025), 103 countries are a party to the convention, although not all of them are always in full compliance. (With Russia being one of the worst offenders, as with anything that concerns international law.)

Posted in Family Law, German Law, Law | Tagged , , , , | 110 Comments

The Gnomes of Wrocław 

Posted on 2025-01-08 by Andreas Moser

Wrocław is an interesting city.

The only thing that’s annoying are the gnomes. You’re sitting comfortably in the park or enjoying the view of the Oder river, and suddenly one of these little rascals emerges from the undergrowth and starts making a scene.

These creatures are everywhere. Even in the churches.

But some people like the dwarfs. Many tourists even come to Wrocław specifically, consciously and predominantly because of the hobgoblins and try to track down as many as possible of the more than 800 gnomes.

As you may know, I myself prefer concrete over metal. But for this taste, too, there is some beautiful art to be found in Wrocław.

Posted in Photography, Poland, Travel | Tagged | 15 Comments

FAQ on the Untätigkeitsklage for German Citizenship

Posted on 2025-01-02 by Andreas Moser

I never thought that so many people would ask me to write about the Untätigkeitsklage, an obscure type of lawsuit contained in the German Rules of Administrative Court Proceedings. Honestly, I would much rather write about my quest for the geographical center of Europe, panoramic train journeys, silly adventures or beautiful islands in the middle of the Atlantic. And I will get to that again, I promise.

But as you know, I am a lawyer and somewhat of an expert on German citizenship law. And as such, I am all too aware of an egregious problem that is burdening people who have applied for German citizenship, whether by naturalization, by descent or by restitution: The process can take a looooong time.

From the moment of applying for German citizenship, when – ideally – all requirements are already met, it can take up to anything from four months to four years. The former ain’t bad, the latter is terrible, and not knowing where their case will fall really seems to bother some people.

I have already shared a few tips on how to speed up your application for German citizenship, but because so many people are contacting me with the same questions, I will answer the most common questions here. For free, can you believe that?!

1. What is the Untätigkeitsklage?

Untätigkeitsklage literally means “lawsuit because of inactivity”.

It’s a special type of lawsuit that you can file against the German government, when you have applied for citizenship and the local, state or federal agency neither grants nor denies your request. In the absence of the Untätigkeitsklage, the government could simply refuse (or forget) to make any decision on your application. Without even a negative decision, you would be deprived of the chance to appeal the government’s decision.

Despite its name, the goal of the Untätigkeitsklage in citizenship cases is not to get the government to do just anything and feign activity. By filing the Untätigkeitsklage, you explicitly request the Administrative Court to order the government to grant you German citizenship.

2. Does the Untätigkeitsklage apply to all citizenship cases?

In fact, this type of lawsuit applies to anything that you request from the government, whether it’s citizenship or a building permit, a tax refund or a hunting license.

In the context of citizenship law, you can avail yourself of the Untätigkeitsklage whether you applied for German citizenship by naturalization, by descent or by restitution. It also applies irrespective of whether you applied online, to your local citizenship office, through a German consulate or directly to the Bundesverwaltungsamt.

The applications based on descent and restitution that go to the BVA usually take many years, making the Untätigkeitsklage particularly helpful in those cases.

The Untätigkeitsklage can also become necessary in the context of immigration law. Some people wait more than a year for permanent residence (Niederlassungserlaubnis) or for a family-reunion visa.

There is just one thing to keep in mind: Because of separation of powers (thank you, Mister Montesquieu), the court cannot substitute the discretion to be exercised by the government in certain decisions. For citizenship law, this means that an Untätigkeitsklage makes most sense in cases where you are entitled to citizenship. This covers all cases of descent and restitution (if you meet the requirements, of course) as well as the regular naturalization under § 10 I StAG (Anspruchseinbürgerung).

You may already have read that I am rather skeptical of people who apply after only three years of residence, claiming the “exceptional integration” clause in § 10 III StAG. Well, those people who think they are special will face a special problem when it comes to the Untätigkeitsklage. As § 10 III StAG provides for discretion, the court cannot grant you German citizenship, but can only order the government to start working on your case. In effect, most of these cases will take longer than if you had simply waited until you complete the required 5 years of residence.

3. How long after submitting my application do I have to wait before I can file the Untätigkeitsklage?

The law, specifically § 75 VwGO, requires that you wait for three months.

And that is three months from the time when you have filed a complete application pack. Really complete, with all the attachments, with the language certificate, the citizenship test, and so on. Please don’t file incomplete applications. It makes no sense. It just causes delays and extra work for everybody involved.

The three months are not reset each time the government contacts you.

How and whether communication between you and the government influences the three-month waiting period depends on the type of communication, of course. If the government informs you that documents are missing, you don’t yet qualify for citizenship anyway. In that case, don’t even think about the Untätigkeitsklage. If they inform you that the whole process will take at least one more year, you might as well go ahead and file the Untätigkeitsklage right away. If they inform you that they are waiting for information from other agencies, usually regarding the security check, then you could still sue, but why should you? In that case, you know that you are in the final stretch of the process.

4. So, when do you recommend to file the Untätigkeitsklage?

First of all, and most importantly: You don’t need to.

If you are living a happy life and it doesn’t make any difference whether you will receive the German passport this year or next year, then please don’t waste the money. For example, you may not be in a hurry because you have a very secure immigration status and a secure job. Or you may think that the money is better spent on a holiday rather than on a lawyer. (Although this particular lawyer really likes holidays as well.)

If, on the other hand, you are in a hurry because you want to apply for a job that requires German citizenship, or because you want to join the Bundeswehr, or because you want to run for a seat in parliament, or if you are simply an impatient person, then you should file.

In my experience, people who can sit back and relax are the happiest ones. People who are impatient are less happy. But most miserable are those who cannot make a decision and keep pondering and debating and postponing for years.

5. Can you guarantee that I will receive German citizenship faster if I file the Untätigkeitsklage?

Whether the way through the Untätigkeitsklage is really faster in your specific case is impossible to tell. After all, it could be the case – very theoretically – that your application was just about to be approved tomorrow. In this case, filing the Untätigkeitsklage today won’t speed up anything.

But statistically, it makes a difference, because the Administrative Court will force the citizenship administration to prioritize your case.

You should however keep in mind that the judges at the Administrative Court aren’t sitting around idly, either, and they do have more important cases. So, please don’t expect that your lawyer will file an Untätigkeitsklage and, swoosh, you will be invited to pick up the German passport next week. The case before the court will also take its time. But at least there will be some progress.

6. How do these court cases work?

Once your lawyer files the Untätigkeitsklage – and depending on the case, I sometimes send a warning letter to the government first, to give them a last chance -, the court asks the citizenship office what is taking them so long.

Very often, it only takes a few days until the citizenship office suddenly springs into action. Your file has been moved to the very top of the pile. In those cases, they usually ask for updated documents, like current wage statements and a current confirmation from your company that you are still employed in good standing. In the best of cases, citizenship is then approved within a month from filing the lawsuit.

In other cases, the citizenship office replies with some general bla-bla about being understaffed and overworked, about a sudden increase in applications, about the effects of Covid, about a new software being introduced, and so on.

None of these are legally acceptable reasons for a delay.

The court will only accept a delay if your specific case is complicated, for practical or legal reasons. These can be missing documents, an open criminal investigation, a complicated financial situation, a complicated security check. (That’s why your lawyer should double-check all of these aspects before filing the Untätigkeitsklage.)

In the end, the court will give the government a last deadline (and this can still be several months, depending on how sympathetic they are to the plight of overworked civil servants). In most cases, the government will then grant you citizenship within that deadline. If not, the court itself will make the decision about your application.

7. What does all of this cost?

My fees for filing a personalized Untätigkeitsklage are 2,000 € altogether.

I charge 200 € for the initial consultation. We will discuss your application, your situation, the whole process, the pros and cons, as well as potential individual reasons for why you cannot wait any longer (this is an important, but often overlooked point for these lawsuits).

If we then decide that we want to work together, I will charge the remaining 1,800 €. Depending on the specific case, I will then either send a warning letter to the government, giving them one last chance, or I will put together and file the lawsuit without any prior warning (for example if the government has already told you that you need to wait at least one year before they will even look at your file).

On top of my fees, the Administrative Court will charge court fees of 849 €.

8. Do you charge more if you file for myself and my spouse/children?

I would recommend against filing a joint lawsuit.

Whenever I represent a family, my strategy is to pick the most uncomplicated family member and only file on his/her behalf. With uncomplicated, I mean the person who has sufficient income, who has a clear record of legal residence in Germany, and where I foresee no problems with the security check.

This approach saves you legal fees and makes the case easier for the court.

And when the government will finally look at your case to make a decision, they will make a decision on your spouse and children too, anyway.

Also, and I know that nobody wants to think about that, if you file jointly and then get separated or divorced, we have a huge legal mess.

9. Will I get reimbursed for the legal fees if we win?

Potentially, yes.

The court can order the government to pay your legal fees, if you could reasonably have expected the government to grant you citizenship by the time you filed the lawsuit, as § 161 III VwGO puts it.

This gives the court some leeway. They can order the government to grant you citizenship and to pay your legal fees. But they can also order them to grant you citizenship without ordering a reimbursement of fees, arguing that although the government was slow and late, you were aware of that widespread problem and couldn’t reasonably have expected to receive your citizenship within the three months mandated by the law.

For reimbursement of fees, some courts have ruled that you should at least wait six months from the date of application. (And sadly, many people misinterpret this to mean that you cannot file the Untätigkeitsklage before that.) Basically, the courts can rule about fees any way they want, because the ruling on the reimbursement of fees cannot be appealed (§ 158 VwGO).

So, my advice is: Don’t count on being reimbursed for the fees. If it happens, it will be a nice surprise. (And you can give your lawyer a tip.)

10. Do I need a lawyer for the Untätigkeitsklage or can I file myself?

After you have killed your own steak, built your own car and pulled your own wisdom tooth, you can maybe try to put together your own lawsuit in administrative law.

But if you have moved on from the stone age and believe in the value of professional advice, you are invited to contact me.

Posted in German Law, Germany, Immigration Law, Law | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

FAQ on German Citizenship Law – updated 2024

Posted on 2024-12-22 by Andreas Moser

I am a German lawyer, specializing in German citizenship law. These FAQ are supposed to give you an overview of the basic principles governing this area of law, so you can decide whether a paid consultation is worth it.

Before asking a new question, please read through the many comments which may already answer your question. But always look at the dates of the comments and my answers, as most of them have been superseded by later changes in the law. And if you find these FAQ useful, or if you ask a new question, it would be very nice of you to support this blog. Thank you!

1. Does Germany have a system of ius sanguinis or ius soli?

Germany has traditionally always been a ius sanguinis country, meaning that citizenship is passed on to the next generation by birth, irrespective of the place of birth. Only recently has the law been amended to incorporate ius soli, giving German citizenship to a child born in Germany to two parents of foreign citizenship.

I will explain these different ways of obtaining citizenship in more detail below.

2. Does ius sanguinis mean that I am entitled to German citizenship if I have German great-great-grandparents, even if they left Germany generations ago?

Possibly yes.

You are a German citizen under ius sanguinis if your ancestors had German citizenship at the time of birth of the next generation and passed on German citizenship. And the same for the next generation, and so on.

It is therefore necessary to find out the exact timeline of events to determine if your ancestors might have lost their German citizenship (e.g. by giving it up voluntarily, or by accepting a foreign citizenship) or if they still had it and could thus pass it on.

You see that this requires a lot of research into your family history and into the respective laws of the relevant points in time. But if you are lucky, you might already have German citizenship, even if you or your parents never knew about.

3. How many generations can I go back to claim German citizenship?

There is no legal limit to the number of generations, if each generation complied with the laws in place at the time.

In reality, though, I have never had a successful case that went back more than 4 generations.

There are two reasons for this: One, with each additional generation, it becomes much harder to collect the necessary documents. Keep in mind that your ancestors may have come from territories that were later ravaged by war, and all the archives got destroyed. Or, if we go into the 19th century or earlier, a lot of people didn’t bother much about written records. The fact that Germany did not exist until 1871 is not a problem, if you can show that your ancestor had Bavarian, Prussian, Hessian or a similar citizenship of a territory which then became part of the German Empire.

The second problem is the so-called Konsulatsmatrikel. The German citizenship law in effect between 1871 and 1913 stipulated that German citizens lost German citizenship if they lived abroad for more than 10 years and did not register with a German consulate. Almost nobody knew about this requirement and even if they did, they didn’t bother about it. Therefore, the large majority of German emigrants did not register with the German consulate (which may have been a few days away from the farm).

This means that if your ancestors left Germany before 1904, chances are slim. But it’s still worth to take a look at it, because depending on when and whom they married and when they had their child (which is in your direct line of ancestors), you may still qualify.

4. Is there any chance to obtain German citizenship for someone without German ancestors?

Yes. You can become a German citizen trough the ius soli option (more about this below), through adoption by a German citizen, and through naturalization.

Please note that German citizenship cannot be obtained through marriage with a German citizen, although such a marriage does make it easier to become naturalized.

5. So what is the ius soli component of German citizenship law?

Ius soli means the acquiring of a citizenship based on being born in a country’s territory. Germany’s ius soli law is much less far-reaching than that of the USA or Mexico for example. Since 2000, a child born to foreign parents in Germany receives German citizenship at birth if at least one of its parents has been a legal resident of Germany for at least 5 years and has a permanent residence status (§ 4 III StAG).

Because these children usually also receive the citizenship(s) of their parents, they will have dual or triple citizenship.

6. Does German law allow dual citizenship?

Since June 2024, Germany no longer objects to dual or multiple citizenship.

This means that you are no longer required to give up your existing citizenship(s) when applying for German citizenship. Except, of course, if the law of your home country does not accept dual citizenship. Then, you still need to make the tough decision which passport you prefer.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no limit on the number of citizenships/passports somebody can hold. I have several clients who have four citizenships/passports, and if they hav a child with somebody who has four different citizenships, then the child could have all eight citizenships. Plus a ninth citizenship if it was born in a ius soli country. Obviously, such a child should go on to become the Secretary General of the United Nations.

However, because the German relaxed approach to multiple citizenship has only been enacted in 2024, the previous ban on dual citizenship is still relevant in descent cases. For example, if your parents were born German, but gave up German citizenship in 1965 to become Canadian citizens, and you were born in 1966, then nobody in your family was German at the time of your birth. You’re out of luck.

7. How long do I have to live in Germany before I can get a German passport?

For the spouse of a German citizen, the residence requirement is 3 years (of which you need to have been married for the last 2 years).

For other foreigners, it is 5 years.

As to all the other requirements (language, financial, security check, political allegiance, et cetera), I point you to my article about the 2024 German citizenship law.

Theoretically, you can apply after 3 years of residence if you can show excellent German skills and an exceptional level of integration. But this is restricted to really exceptional cases.

8. My ancestors lost German citizenship. Can I get it back?

Yes, at least in many cases.

§ 15 StAG grants German citizenship to the descendants of anybody who lost or was denied German citizenship under the Nazis.

The standard cases are ancestors who left Germany between 1933 and 1945, and you do not need to prove individual persecution in these cases. In fact, your ancestors need not even have been German citizens. Because the political and the territorial landscape in Central Europe changed a lot before 1945, there are many possible scenarios, and it’s hard to make a general statement. (It’s even more complicated if your ancestors came from the Free City of Danzig.)

§ 5 StAG grants German citizenship if you or your ancestors were previously denied German citizenship due to gender-based discrimination or because of discrimination against illegitimate children. There are several scenarios as well, but the prime example are people born to a German mother and a non-German father before 1975. Until 1975, these children did not receive German citizenship under German law.

Obviously, this was highly discriminatory, and thus it is being rectified now. This and other scenarios are addressed by § 5 StAG. Individuals affected by previous discriminatory laws and – most importantly – their children can now claim German citizenship.

Please see the FAQ on reclaiming German citizenship for more on both of these avenues to German citizenship by restitution.

9. How well do I need to speak German?

If you apply for German citizenship based on descent or based on restitution, you do not need to prove any German skills.

If you apply for naturalization after living in Germany for 5 years, you need to pass the written and oral language exam at the B1 level. That’s an intermediate level, which is pretty easy to attain.

For more of the language requirement in the case of naturalization, see my article about the 2024 German citizenship law.

10. How can you as a lawyer help me get German citizenship?

In naturalization cases, if you have been living in Germany for more than 5 years and you have a straightforward application, you do not need a lawyer. It would be a waste of money – and of my brainpower – to hire a lawyer to fill in the forms. It also won’t save you any time.

I usually only get involved if there are problems. For example if the duration of your legal stay in Germany is in doubt, if you had a minor criminal sentence, if your allegiance to democratic values is in doubt, or – these seem to be most of the tricky cases under the new 2024 law – if the German government doubts your ability to provide financially for yourself and your family. They have become rather strict on the latter point, but as a lawyer, I can often demonstrate and argue that you do indeed meet the legal requirements.

The other problem with naturalization cases is that they sometimes take a long time. Not always, but I have seen anything between 4 months and 4 years from the date of application. My advice in most cases is to sit back, wait and relax. But if you have reasons for urgency, we can actually sue the German government if they have been inactive for more than 3 months. See more about this in my article about the so-called Untätigkeitsklage.

But most of my work is focused on descent and restitution cases.

Because I am not only a German citizenship lawyer, but also a student of history, this area of the law is tailor-made for me. Knowing quite a bit about 19th and 20th century Central Europe, about the persecution under National Socialism, as well as about the history of German migration, I can point my clients in the right direction. I can also often fill in the gaps that people couldn’t yet explain. (In other cases, though, I have to poke holes into the family history that has been handed down, because some things simply don’t add up.)

So, if you think you have a shot a German citizenship, contact me!

Posted in German Law, Germany, Immigration Law, Law | Tagged , , , | 2,101 Comments

Espionage as Exceptional Integration

Posted on 2024-12-08 by Andreas Moser

As a citizenship lawyer, I am not very fond of clauses in the law that allow naturalization under exceptional circumstances. Far too many people think of themselves as very special, and I have to spend a large part of my time explaining to people that they are not.

Like that one guy from Florida, who asked me if it counted as “special ties to Germany” within the meaning of § 14 StAG that he had always owned a German car.

Thus, I was not happy when the new German Citizenship Law enacted in 2024 came with § 10 III StAG, according to which the residency requirement can be reduced to anything between 3 and 5 years in cases of exceptional integration. Because I knew right away that thousands of people would try to claim “exceptional integration” – and that 99% of them would not qualify.

As I explained in my article about the new German Citizenship Law:

To answer one of the questions I receive most often: If your German is not at the C1 level, there is no chance. That is the minimum requirement, on top of which you need to have done outstanding academic or professional work, run for city council (if you are an EU citizen), volunteered in environmental, social or political groups, organized arts exhibitions, volunteered as a firefighter, and published a book about Germany. As a general rule, if you haven’t been on television or radio, then your achievements probably don’t count as exceptional.

In practice, even if those requirements are met, the main problem is not when you are allowed to apply, but the duration of the process. With naturalization taking up to several years even in straightforward cases, the prospect of applying one or two years early may simply provide false hope. (Although there are some tricks to speed up the process.)

In my professional experience, there are only two groups of people whose citizenship applications are subject to preferential treatment:

For one, if you are really good in a sport where Germany wants you on the national team. If the deadline for the qualification for the Olympic Games or a European or World Championship is coming up, these applications are suddenly processed super fast.

Maybe we should extend the same preference to people who are willing to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest. Because without foreign talent, we will forever be the “zero points” laughing stock of the world of music.

But even if you can neither sing, nor run or jump or kick balls, there is another option, by which you can prove exceptional integration under § 10 III StAG: Providing information that is vital to the security of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Currently in high demand is any information about the Iranian nuclear program, the Chinese navy, Bolivian lithium fields, and the whereabouts of the Bernsteinzimmer.

Some people may call it snitching or other derogatory terms, but in reality, espionage is a respected activity under international law.

Once, there was a guy who provided material first-hand information about biological weapons in Iraq. That’s the information which was used as justification for the Iraq War in 2003. It turned out that he was a big joker and had all made it up, but he got to keep the German passport.

True story: 

It was even turned into a book and a movie.

So, if you know anything about something and want to use that information to ingratiate yourself with your new country of residence, contact me inconspicuously. After all, it makes sense to have a lawyer who has been accused of espionage once or twice himself.

By the way, in such cases, German law of course also allows you to change your identity in the process of naturalization (Art. 47 EGBGB).

Links:

Posted in German Law, Germany, Law | Tagged , | 2 Comments