German Citizenship: Everything You Need to Know

The German Nationality Act was fundamentally reformed as recently as 2024. Anyone wishing to apply for German citizenship faces a complex assessment process – with clear requirements, but also important exceptions.

The basic requirement: five years of lawful residence

Anyone wishing to claim entitlement to naturalisation under Section 10 of the Nationality Act (StAG) must have resided in Germany lawfully and habitually without interruption for at least five years. This sounds straightforward – but it is not always.

The key point is that the stay must have been both legal (with a valid residence permit) and physically in Germany throughout this entire period. Extended periods abroad can interrupt the five-year timeframe and must be assessed separately.

The tier model: proving identity and nationality

One of the central hurdles in the naturalisation procedure is proving one’s identity and nationality. The Federal Administrative Court has developed a four-tier assessment framework that the authorities are bound to apply.

Tier 1 – Official identity documents

Passport, ID card or recognised substitute travel document of the home country (original required)

Tier 2 – Other official documents

Driving licence, birth certificate, school record – where Tier 1 is objectively impossible

Tier 3 – Further evidence

Non-official documents, witness statements – only when Tiers 1 and 2 are exhausted

Tier 4 – Personal statement

In cases of evidentiary hardship: naturalisation based solely on credible personal testimony

Important: Recognised refugees and asylum beneficiaries are not required to contact the authorities of their home country.

Securing livelihoods – with exceptions

Anyone who receives social welfare benefits – or would have a notional entitlement to them – cannot in principle be naturalised. This applies even if the benefits are not actually claimed.

• Guest worker generation: Those who entered under a bilateral recruitment agreement before 1974 (West Germany) or 1990 (East Germany) are not required to justify the use of such benefits.
• Full-time employment: Anyone who has been in full-time employment for at least 20 of the past 24 months (and is still employed) is exempt from the full income requirement.
• Caring partners: Spouses living in a family unit with a minor child, whose partner satisfies the full-time employment condition, are also exempt.

20 out of 24 months of full-time employment suffice for the exemption from the income requirement

Language, civics and the pledge to the constitution

Anyone wishing to be naturalised must demonstrate German language skills at least at B1 level. In addition to official language tests, German school reports from Year 9 onwards with at least a passing grade in German are accepted, as are completed vocational training programmes or university degrees conducted in German.

Applicants must also demonstrate civic knowledge – typically by passing the naturalisation test at a Volkshochschule (at least 17 out of 33 points). Since the reform, applicants must additionally provide a written pledge to the free democratic basic order and to Germany’s particular historical responsibility.

Joint naturalisation: spouses and children

The naturalisation of the main applicant may, under certain conditions, carry with it the joint naturalisation of spouses and minor children. For spouses, four years of residence in Germany is sufficient provided the marriage has lasted at least two years.

Children must generally have lived in Germany for at least three years and be in a family unit with the applicant. For children under six, it is sufficient if they have spent half of their life to date in Germany.

A clean criminal record is mandatory

Unspent convictions are a bar to naturalisation. Particularly strict: anyone convicted of an offence with antisemitic, racist or otherwise dehumanising motivation will be refused naturalisation regardless of the severity of the sentence.