Taking on German Citizenship

You have to APPLY for German citizenship - and the process takes several months.

Regarding double citizenship, here the current rules:

After approval, you are given a certain time to renunciate your other citizenships, only after which your German one can be issued.

Double citizenship is allowed only under certain circumstances, e.g. if the other one is EU, or if your home country places "unreasonable" demands on renunciation - which the USA does not.

The new rules (valid from July 2024, which is very soon) should make it easier to keep your existing citizenship. But it is still not clear (to me, at least) how they will be applied. Better ask an immigration expert (lawyer)!

It is also expected that many people will apply when the new rules come into force, so expect a much longer processing time!

I meet the requirements for German citizenship, so no problem getting my application approved.

As to dual citizenship; that´s exactly what I don´t want!.. I don´t want anything to do with the US any more!

And I think it IS pretty unreasonable to charge over 2000 dollars (and to have to file several tax returns, which probably costs a fortune, too) to give up citizenship.

I think it is strange that one way you can lose your US citizenship is to take on a different one, but I have to give it up first to get the second. Why does the US make it SO hard to "escape"????

I wanted to have a consultation at the Ausländerbehörde, but they said they are so busy handing out Certificates of German citizenship that they don´t have ANY appointments available for consultation.

Thank you for your reply; are you sure that the info you give is correct?

I just found something here :

https://www.usa.gov/renounce-lose-citizenship

It says you may lose your citizenship if you:

"Apply for citizenship in a foreign country with the intention of giving up U.S. citizenship"

ThatŽs exactly what I want! To apply for the German citizenship, and that the US takes mine away, without me paying over 2000 dollars.

Whether and how you can renounce a USA citizenship is a USA-specific question and has nothing to do with Germany.

You may be better off asking experts on USA citizenship law, not here!

(Note: I re-opened this discussion after consulting with my fellow forum volunteer Tom, who is an ex-USA-citizen and might be able to contribute.)

Accoring to a recent newspaper article (https://taz.de/Neues-Einbuergerungsgesetz/!6019921/), the current processing time for German citizenshipapplications ranges from 3 months to 3 years.

The influx of applications is expected to double with the new rules - to be processed by the same number of officers.

So this is not a short-term solution for you!

Thanks for re opening the thread. This might be useful to others in a similar situation. Tom has given me some very useful information per PM.

Since I am now "allowed" to keep my US citizenship, I´ll apply for the German citizenship, and then maybe, if the fee will be reduced from over 2000 down to 450 dollars, (as reported here:  https://www.thelocal.com/20231002/ameri … itizenship

I will try to get rid of my US citizenship, or at least just let my passport expire.

Letting your passport expire means nothing regarding citizenship and the obligations that come with it. You basically lose the benefits (possibility to travel, consular support) without getting rid of the bad parts.

That is unfortunately, true, but I have absolutely no need for a US passport, and the total cost of renewing was around €240 last time. That´s including the passport fee itself, and the fees at the Ausländerbehörde.

    That is unfortunately, true, but I have absolutely no need for a US passport, and the total cost of renewing was around €240 last time. That´s including the passport fee itself, and the fees at the Ausländerbehörde.         -@ejunge

Sorry but this is naive. Until one has the German citizenship, you need a current passport from your home country as a German resident. Your residency title and status is dependent on this actually. Germany also requires citizens to maintain a current Pesonalausweiss (notional ID) . When applying for German citizenship they will ask for a copy of your passport and the number. Makes a bad impression that one tries to go around the rules. Don't imagine this alone can jeopardize getting German citizenship but it certainly doesn't help.

Also, the fee for a standard US passport book is 130 USD plus they want a envelope with postage done according to their regulations to send the passport back by post, (I just renewed earlier in 2024 and the postage was around 25 - 30 Euros) but the application needs to be done over the US consulate responsible for your area of Germany. This is done online and by post, no visit in person needed IF one still has their old passport that was issued within the last 15 years. Seems there are other private services offered online that cost a lot more but no idea what the advantage might be. Direct from the consulate is the standard way but for security all passports are now printed in the States and sent over. 

and the total cost of renewing was around €240 last time.

The last time I needed to renew my German passport while living abroad (non-EU), about 15 years ago, it costed me around 250€.

You won't avoid fees just by changing citizenship!

You seem to have misunderstood me. I have a current US passport, which is still good for a few years.

I hope to have German citizenship before it expires, THEN, I will have no more need for a US passport.

The total I paid for my passport the last time was well over €200. I did it per mail. I can´t remember what I had

to pay at the Auslänerbehörde exactly, but it was also at least €70.

I am NOT doing this to save money; it´s something I want to do. I have been here for so long that I feel

German through and through. I want to become a German legally. I am a law abiding, productive member of

German society, and would be proud to be German, at least on paper. I am not proud to have been born in the US.

@ejunge

Hi . As far as I know, a law has been passed in Dec 2023 and is now in effect (in some states in Germany if not all) allowing double nationality. Previously, only people having certain migration background were allowed double nationality.

@Pat87 This law is valid Germany-wide, but we have no experience yet how it is put in practise - other than that application numbers (and therefore processing times) have shot up.

The law was decided on earlier but did not go into effect until late June 2024. It is country-wide. Previously most non-EU citizens had to renounce their citizenship to get German but there were many exceptions. Now nobody is required to renounce. But like already mentioned, this is likely to lengthen processing time for the foreseeable future.

I have filled out the application for German Citizenship, but I had to wait until I had vacation to get an appointment for the Life in Germany test, and language test. I´ll do that next week.

I really don´t know that much about German politics, but I took a test version of the Life in Germany test online, and got 31 out of 33 on the first try.  So that won´t be a problem

I finally had my Einbürgerungstest yesterday. I was the only  US citizen there. I think I might have answered one question wrong, but maybe I got that one right, too.

It will take 4-6 weeks for the results to come back. Language test is in about 4 weeks.....

I finally had my Einbürgerungstest yesterday. I was the only US citizen there. I think I might have answered one question wrong, but maybe I got that one right, too.
It will take 4-6 weeks for the results to come back. Language test is in about 4 weeks..... - @ejunge

It was the same for me before I naturalized.  I already got almost a perfect score in a practice test. And one can find all of the possible questions - with answer in the internet. They only choose a fraction of the possible questions but if one has studied a bit, then they should recognized the answers. And it is multiple guess; always 4 choices, 2 of which are usually nonsensical so one could rule those out and just guess and still get a 50 %. I did miss one on the actual test though mixing up one of the purposes of the Bundestag with the Bundesrat. Some have dismissed my opinion but I think it is ridiculously easy. to the point that it doesn't really serve its purpose.

At least you have to be able to read and understand German, and have a basic understanding of Germany history and the political system to pass the test. I think one has to get 17 out of 33 questions right to pass, which truly is ridiculously easy.

you can get the citizenship of germany by way of naturalisation:

After continuous living in germany for 5 years and having a decent knowledge of german language ie. B1 level is the minimum requirement for obtaining the citizenship of germany..

you can get the citizenship of germany by way of naturalisation:
After continuous living in germany for 5 years and having a decent knowledge of german language ie. B1 level is the minimum requirement for obtaining the citizenship of germany.. - @forbacklinks7120

Obviously one can naturalize in Germany - that is what the thread is about. But you are just mentioning 2 of many requirements. Long enough residency and the B1 German test are just a start.

I picked up my Urkunde today. I now officially have German Citizenship

I even got a bit choked up when I got my papers

I picked up my Urkunde today. I now officially have German Citizenship I even got a bit choked up when I got my papers - @ejunge

Congratulations. Maybe you have some useful comments for others about the process.

And a warning to US expats in Germany, the Frankfurt consulate, which should be responsible for passports, social security issues etc. is totally non-responsive lately. No offical declarations but they never answer the phone despite posted opening hours, emails come back undelivered, no response to registered letters... I have been trying to apply for social security retirement benefits and am getting zero response after months of attempts. There is a online site for Social Security but despite having a valid  passport and knowing my SS numberI cannot access my account. They require an actual SS card, which I have not had in over 50 years. And the Franakfurt consulate is supposed to be the one to issue it. I suspect it all has to do with Trump cutting services and that most of the military involved in the Middle East is transiting through Germany where the European and Middle East commands are located. US government services are just a shambles now.

Thanks!

The have, in fact, reduced the fee back to 450 USD just a few weeks ago:

https://de.usembassy.gov/renunciation-o … tizenship/

It was a pretty straight forward process, although it took about 1 1/2 years total.

I had the required forms sent to me, and had to wait a couple of months to take the German test, and another couple of months to get an appointment for the citizenship test. Then it took another 6-8 weeks to get the results.

Then I sent everything in and got a letter stating that the processing time was about 10 months at that time.

After about 14 months, I got a letter saying that they needed a notarized German copy of my US birth certificate.  That was actually in the list of requirements from the beginning, but I thought that they would be able to read the simple English of a birth certificate. The translation cost me another 150 USD. After I sent that in, after about another month, I was informed that my application had been approved

Thanks! The have, in fact, reduced the fee back to 450 USD just a few weeks ago:https://de.usembassy.gov/renunciation-o … tizenship/ - @ejunge

Good to know, Seems the government site pages I looked at were not updated but the new rule was just implemented a month ago. No planning to renunciate but good to know the option is now there for a more reasonable price. The political atmosphere lately from the GOP would seem to increase my concerns that having renounced, one might have difficulty to visit, like to see family. Could require a visa and additional hassles. Just having multiple citizenships seems to get one labeled as "not a real American" and to renounce will be seen almost like treason.