General Information

German citizenship law is complex and has undergone numerous changes in recent years.

We have compiled the most important key points of German citizenship law for you. Please read this information carefully before contacting the missions in India with specific questions.

Although the following information has been compiled with the utmost care, we cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

German nationals who have their habitual residence in Germany should contact the citizenship authority responsible for their place of residence with questions regarding citizenship.

German nationals who have their habitual residence in India may contact the German mission responsible for their place of residence. You can find out which mission is responsible for you using our Consulate Finder.

Citizenship Law - Important changes as of 27 June 2024

Since 27 June 2024 German nationals have been able to acquire foreign citizenship upon application without losing their German citizenship. Permits to retain German citizenship (‘Beibehaltungsgenehmigung’) are therefore no longer required.

The option to renounce German citizenship prior to naturalization in a foreign country has been eliminated. The only option now is to renounce German citizenship after foreign citizenship has already been acquired. Please note that India does not permit dual citizenship. Therefore, if you plan to acquire Indian citizenship, please contact the German mission responsible for your place of residence beforehand.

Individuals who have acquired multiple nationalities by birth in Germany (so-called ius soli acquisition) are no longer required to choose between German citizenship and their other nationality upon reaching the age of majority. The obligation to choose (‘Optionspflicht’) has been abolished.

Furthermore, naturalization is now possible after five years of residence in Germany, rather than the previous eight years.

The law does not contain any retroactive provisions for events that occurred before 27 June 2024. For these events the old grounds for acquisition and loss of citizenship continue to apply.

Acquisition of German Citizenship

The majority of German nationals acquired German citizenship at birth by descent from a German parent (ius sanguinis). Whether this applies to you, depends on when you were born and whether your parents were married at the time of your birth. Since 2000, it has also been possible to acquire German citizenship by birth in Germany to foreign parents (ius soli) under certain circumstances.

India generally does not allow dual citizenship. If you acquire foreign citizenship (such as German citizenship), you will automatically lose Indian citizenship.

The following are the grounds for acquiring German citizenship:

Acquisition through birth in wedlock:

Children born in wedlock between 1 January 1914 and 31 December 1963 acquired German citizenship only through their German father.

Children born in wedlock to a German mother who were born after 1 January 1964 and before 31 December 1974 acquired German citizenship only if they would otherwise have become stateless.

Children born in wedlock on or after 1 January 1975 acquired German citizenship if one parent was German.

Children born in wedlock to a German mother between 1 April 1953 and 1 January 1975 who already held another nationality had the option starting from 1 January 1975 to submit a declaration stating that they wished to acquire German citizenship. This deadline for submitting a declaration expired on 31 December 1977.

If no declaration was submitted within the above-mentioned deadline, you now have the opportunity again since 20 August 2021 to submit a declaration in favor of acquiring German citizenship. Further information can be found in this article under ‘Acquisition by declaration (Erklärungserwerb)’.

Acquisition through birth out of wedlock:

Since 1 January 1914 children born out of wedlock to a German mother have acquired German citizenship through their mother.

Children born out of wedlock to a German father acquire German citizenship at birth only since 1 July 1993, provided, among other things, that a valid acknowledgement of paternity or determination of paternity takes place before the child reaches the age of 23.

Children of a German father born before 1 July 1993 now have the opportunity since 20 August 2021 to submit a declaration in favor of acquiring German citizenship. Further information can be found in this article under ‘Acquisition by declaration (Erklärungserwerb)’.

Acquisition of German citizenship for children born abroad to German parents who were born abroad after 1999 (“generational cut-off”/’Generationsschnitt’)

Acquisition of German citizenship for children born abroad whose German parents were born abroad after 31 December 1999 (Section 4 (4) of the German Nationality Act (StAG)):
Children born abroad whose German parent or parents were born abroad after 31 December 1999 and who have their habitual residence abroad at the time of the child’s birth do not automatically acquire German citizenship by birth if they acquire a foreign citizenship by birth (“generational cut-off”/’Generationenschnitt’).

Only if the parents submit an application to the competent registry office in Germany or to the competent German mission abroad within one year of the child’s birth to have the child’s foreign birth registered in the German birth register does the child acquire German citizenship retroactively as of the date of birth.

Further information on the registration of a foreign birth in Germany can be found here.

Sample case:
Mr. A was transferred to India by his company in 1999. His daughter Klara was born there on 1 February 2000. The family returned to Germany a few years later. In 2018, Klara meets a US citizen, with whom she moves to the United States. There, their son Samuel is born on 1 January 2020. Although Samuel’s mother is German, he does not acquire German citizenship by birth, as he acquires US citizenship by birth in the United States. In order for the child to acquire German citizenship, Klara or the child’s father must submit an application for registration of the birth to the competent registry office in Germany or the competent German mission abroad within the one-year deadline.

Acquisition through adoption

Since 1 January 1977 German citizenship is also acquired through adoption by a German parent. If you have further questions, please contact the German mission responsible for you.
For children who were adopted by a German parent between 1 January 1959 and 31 December 1976 it was possible until 31 December 1979 to acquire German citizenship by declaration.

Acquisition through legitimation

Legitimation means the subsequent marriage of the parents of a child born out of wedlock. Legitimation may also have occurred through a court’s declaration that the child is legitimate. The acquisition of German citizenship is generally governed by the provisions applicable to children born in wedlock. Since 1 July 1998 the legal concept of legitimation no longer exists in German law.

From 1 January 1914 until 30 June 1998 German citizenship could also have been acquired through legitimation.

Acquisition upon birth in Germany to foreign parents

A child born on or after 1 January 2000 to foreign parents acquired German citizenship by birth in Germany under the conditions set forth in Section 4 (3) of the Citizenship Act (StAG, old version).

Children born in Germany between 2 January 1990 and 31 December 1999 could acquire German citizenship through naturalization pursuant to § 40b StAG.
In both cases, the child received German citizenship in addition to the foreign citizenship/s acquired by descent from the parents.

Children who, in one of the cases mentioned above, acquired German citizenship after 1 January 2000—either by birth in Germany or through naturalization—were required to declare, upon reaching the age of 21, whether they wished to retain German or foreign citizenship. This was the so-called ‘Optionspflicht’ (obligation to choose). The Act on the Modernization of Nationality Law (StARModG) abolished this obligation.

Acquisition through marriage of a foreign woman with a German husband

Since 1 January 1970 marriage to a German citizen is no longer an automatic basis for acquisition of citizenship. Since then, spouses of German citizens residing in Germany can only be naturalized under the conditions set forth in Sections 8 and 9 of the Nationality Act.

From 1 April 1953 to 31 December 1969 foreign women who married a German national had various options for acquiring German citizenship, including by declaration or naturalization.

From 1 January 1914 to 31 March 1953 foreign women who had married a German husband automatically received German citizenship.

Acquisition of German citizenship by declaration (‘Erklärungserwerb’)

On 20 August 2021 amendments to the German Nationality Act (StAG) entered into force. Among other things, these amendments established a ten-year right of declaration for certain groups of people, allowing them to acquire German citizenship by simple declaration (Section 5 of the Nationality Act – StAG).

Due to previously applicable gender-discriminating provisions of German nationality law not all children could acquire German citizenship at the time of birth or lost their citizenship later on in life. Affected individuals born after the Basic Law came into effect (23 May 1949) and their descendants can acquire German citizenship by declaration.

This applies to individuals who, due to previously applicable gender-discriminatory provisions in nationality law, were either unable to acquire German citizenship by birth or lost the German citizenship they had acquired by birth.

The eligible groups include:
1. Children of a German parent (father or mother) who did not acquire German citizenship from that parent (e.g. children born in wedlock before 1975 to a German mother and a foreign father, or children born out of wedlock before 1 July 1993 to a German father and a foreign mother), or
2. Children of a mother who lost her German citizenship before the child’s birth through marriage to a non-German spouse, or
3. Children who lost their German citizenship acquired by birth through legitimation because their German mother married their non-German father after the child’s birth, or
4. Descendants of a person eligible under Nos. 1 through 3.
The declaration must be received by the Federal Office of Administration no later than 19 August 2031. The mission responsible for you can provide guidance and support throughout the entire process; it can accept the declaration, verify that it is complete, and forward it to the Federal Office of Administration. Documents required in addition to the declaration for acquiring citizenship by declaration (e.g. birth certificates or certificates of descent) can be attested by the mission responsible for you.
Further information on the acquisition by declaration can be found on the website of the Federal Office of Administration.

Naturalization

German citizenship may also have been acquired through naturalization, among other means. Germans in the former German Democratic Republic were, and generally still are, German citizens. Special provisions also apply to members of German minorities in Central and Eastern Europe who may have obtained German citizenship through mass naturalizations during World War II.

Further information is available on the website of the Federal Office of Administration.

Naturalization of victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants

Victims of the Nazi regime who were forcibly stripped of their citizenship and their descendants may be re-naturalized in Germany.

Special provisions regarding re-naturalization apply to victims of the Nazi regime who were stripped of their German citizenship for political, racial, or religious reasons between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945. These individuals and their descendants are entitled to naturalization under Article 116, paragraph 2, sentence 1 of the Basic Law as part of reparations.

The Fourth Act Amending the Nationality Act, which entered into force on 20 August 2021 establishes a new legal right to naturalization for individuals who lost their German citizenship or were never granted it in the first place as a result of Nazi persecution measures, and who do not already have a right under Article 116, paragraph 2, of the Basic Law (Section 15 of the Nationality Act). The right to naturalization also applies to all descendants of the affected individuals.

Persons eligible for naturalization under § 15 StAG are those who, in connection with persecution measures based on political, racial, or religious grounds, renounced or lost German citizenship or were unable to acquire it during the period from 30 January 1933 to 8 May 1945:
1. Persons who renounced or lost German citizenship before 26 February 1955, e.g. by applying for and acquiring foreign citizenship, by renunciation upon application or by marriage to a foreign national.
2. Persons who were excluded from automatically acquiring German citizenship through marriage, legitimation, or collective naturalization of persons of German ethnicity.
3. Persons who were not naturalized after submitting an application or who were generally excluded from naturalization that would otherwise have been possible at the time of application, or
4. Persons who have given up or lost their habitual residence in Germany, provided that this residence had been established before 30 January 1933, or—in the case of children—after that date as well.
The mission responsible for you can provide guidance and support throughout the entire process; it can accept your application, verify that it is complete, and forward it to the Federal Office of Administration. Documents required for the naturalization (e.g. birth certificates or certificates of descent) can be attested by the mission responsible for you.
Further information on this topic can be found on the website of the Federal Office of Administration.

Loss of German Citizenship

German citizenship law recognizes various grounds for loss of citizenship, which are outlined below.

• Loss through acquisition of foreign citizenship
  The most common reason for the loss of German citizenship was the acquisition of foreign citizenship upon one’s own application. In contrast, the automatic acquisition of foreign citizenship by birth generally has no effect on German citizenship.
  Since 28 August 2007 a German national has not lost German citizenship if they acquired the citizenship of an EU member state or Switzerland after that date.
  Due to an amendment to the German Nationality Act, as of 27 June 2024, the acquisition of foreign citizenship—including Indian citizenship (on or after that date)—no longer results in the loss of German citizenship; an application for permission to retain German citizenship is no longer required.
• Loss of German citizenship due to entry into foreign armed forces
  In general, voluntary entry in the armed forces of another country—of which the individual is also a national—has constituted grounds for loss of German citizenship since 1 January 2000 if it took place without the prior consent of the Federal Ministry of Defence.
  The procedure was simplified for certain countries through an Act amending the Military Service Act on 1 July 2011.
  Accordingly, consent is deemed to have been granted for persons who also hold the nationality of
  - Member States of the European Union (EU),
  - Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA),
  - Member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), or
  - countries on the list specified in Section 41 (1) of the Residence Regulation (Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America)
  and who enter in the armed forces of that country.
• Loss due to legitimation by a foreign father
  In its ruling of 29 November 2006, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig decided that the legal provisions governing the loss of German citizenship in cases of legitimation by a foreign national are no longer applicable retroactively as of 1 April 1953. As a result, children born out of wedlock to a German mother who were legitimized by a foreign national after 31 March 1953 did not lose their German citizenship.
• Loss due to marriage with a foreigner
  German women who married a foreign national before 23 May 1949 lost their German citizenship even if this resulted in statelessness.
  German women who married a foreign national between 23 May 1949 and 31 March 1953 lost their German citizenship only if they did not become stateless as a result.
  Since 1 April 1953 marriage to a foreign national is no longer grounds for loss of citizenship.
• Loss due to adoption by a foreigner
  Since 1 January 1977 German citizenship can also be lost due to the adoption of a German child by foreign parents. This means that children who were adopted by foreign nationals before that date generally did not lose their German citizenship.
• Loss due to renunciation of German citizenship
  A German citizen may renounce their German citizenship if they hold multiple nationalities. The Federal Office of Administration, as the citizenship authority for Germans living abroad, decides whether your application can be approved and, if applicable, issues a certificate of renunciation. The renunciation comes into effect once the mission hands out the certificate of renunciation to you. You can find information on the exact procedure here
• Release from German citizenship
  The Act on the Modernization of Citizenship Law (StARModG) has abolished the option of release from German citizenship.
  If the country in which you wish to get naturalized insists that you must give up your German citizenship (as is the case in India), you may renounce your German citizenship. However, this requires that you already hold the other citizenship. Renunciation requires that you already hold multiple nationalities. If you intend to get naturalized in India, we therefore recommend that you contact the mission responsible for you using the contact form

Determination of German Citizenship / Application for a Certificate of Citizenship

In cases where it is unclear whether you hold German citizenship or if a German authority requests that you provide proof of citizenship, you may need to apply for a certificate of citizenship (‘Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis’).

The procedure for issuing a certificate of citizenship will then definitively determine whether you hold German citizenship. For Germans living abroad, the Federal Office of Administration in Cologne is the competent authority responsible for this procedure.

The most common basis for acquiring German citizenship is descent from German ancestors. Many events in the life of the applicant, as well as those of his/her ancestors, can be relevant to the acquisition or loss of German citizenship. These may include personal or family events (e.g. birth or marriage) and/or political or legal developments.

German citizenship must be substantiated with appropriate documentation (e.g. civil status records, proof of residence, and similar documents). If German citizenship can be established, you will be issued a certificate of citizenship as proof.

Further information can be found here