Hi,
I'm a US American citizen and have been living in Germany for over 10 years. I have always worked during this time and never received any social welfare payments. Can I apply for dual citizenship? What are the requirements?
Hi,
I'm a US American citizen and have been living in Germany for over 10 years. I have always worked during this time and never received any social welfare payments. Can I apply for dual citizenship? What are the requirements?
Hi yeni , in general Germany does not allow dual citizenship, only under special circumstances will you be able to keep both passports.
Such cases would include (but are not limited to): If you have a nationality of a EU country or your citizenship cannot be given up, this applies for example for Cuban nationals. You can also have dual citizenship if one of your parents has a German passport.
The main requirements for naturalization are:
- Having lived in Germany and not received social welfare payments for 8 years. You definitely fulfill these requirements!
- Doing the so called "Einbürgerungstest" - German naturalization test.
- You speak German (B2 level or higher)
- You have a permanent residency status (usually "Niederlassungserlaubnis")
- You are not a convicted felon
- You have to give up your current passport
You can read further requirements here: https://handbookgermany.de/en/rights-laws/citizenship.html
Best of luck for your application.
Thanks. I heard that there are also some special situations where dual citizenship with Germany + USA can be allowed specifically. Do you know how I can this information? Can you direct me to any lawyers that specialize in this field?
Hi yeni, indeed their are general exceptions. In case giving up citizenship is tied to high hurdles, for example, paying a lot of money to renounce the citizenship, then Germany can make an exceptions and one gets to keep their nationality and effectively, have dual citizenship. I am not aware of any lawyer that specializes in this, will do some research and get back to you. However, I would first recommend to contact your local citizen office (Bürgeramt) they might be able to give you an answer to your question. Then you can apply for dual citizenship. Involving a lawyer is always costly and time consuming.