German citizenship by descent: the rules we apply

Declaration under section 5 of the Nationality Act

For people born after 23 May 1949, and their descendants, who missed German citizenship because of the old rules that treated mothers and fathers differently. The declaration must be received by 19 August 2031.

Rules

• People born after 23 May 1949 who could not become German at birth, or lost it, because of the old rules that treated mothers and fathers differently may become German by declaration: a German mother married to a foreign father (born before 1 January 1975); a German father not married to the mother (born before 1 July 1993, paternity recognised before 23); a mother who lost citizenship by marrying a foreigner before 1 April 1953; loss through legitimation before 1 April 1953; and the descendants of any of these. Source: Information sheet: acquisition of German citizenship by declaration, for persons living abroad, PDF, page 1 dated July 2024 and pages 2 to 7 dated October 2025, read 28 September 2026.
• The declaration right can be used only within ten years after the provision came into force. It is closed to anyone convicted with final effect of one or more intentional offences to a prison or youth sentence of two years or more, or placed in preventive detention at the last conviction, or where an exclusion ground under section 11 applies. Source: Nationality Act (StAG), section 5, current consolidated text, read 28 September 2026.
• Not entitled to declare: a person who held German citizenship after birth (or after losing it through legitimation by a foreigner) and then gave it up, lost it or rejected it, and a descendant born or adopted after that; and a person who could acquire German citizenship through a timely birth registration under section 4(4) sentence 2 but did not, or still can. Source: Nationality Act (StAG), section 5, current consolidated text, read 28 September 2026.
• The declaration must reach the federal office by 19 August 2031. What counts is the day it is received there, not the day it is posted or handed to a mission abroad. Source: Information sheet: acquisition of German citizenship by declaration, for persons living abroad, PDF, page 1 dated July 2024 and pages 2 to 7 dated October 2025, read 28 September 2026.
• With the declaration: a copy of your passport or identity card, your birth certificate, your marriage certificate if married, the birth certificate of the parent or grandparent your right comes from, your parents' (and if needed grandparents') marriage certificates, proof of that ancestor's German citizenship, and any adoption, divorce, paternity or name change papers. Source: Information sheet: acquisition of German citizenship by declaration, for persons living abroad, PDF, page 1 dated July 2024 and pages 2 to 7 dated October 2025, read 28 September 2026.
• A police clearance certificate from your country of residence, covering the whole country, no more than six months old, sent as the original. Source: Information sheet: acquisition of German citizenship by declaration, for persons living abroad, PDF, page 1 dated July 2024 and pages 2 to 7 dated October 2025, read 28 September 2026.
• Documents go in as originals or as copies certified by a notary, the registrar that made the entry, or a German authority. Foreign public documents need legalisation or an apostille unless they come from an EU state or Switzerland. Foreign-language documents need a translation by a sworn translator. Source: Information sheet: acquisition of German citizenship by declaration, for persons living abroad, PDF, page 1 dated July 2024 and pages 2 to 7 dated October 2025, read 28 September 2026.
• The federal office charges no fee for the declaration. Costs for obtaining documents, translations and certifications are not refunded. Source: Information sheet: acquisition of German citizenship by declaration, for persons living abroad, PDF, page 1 dated July 2024 and pages 2 to 7 dated October 2025, read 28 September 2026.
• A child born abroad does not become German at birth through a German parent who was born abroad after 31 December 1999 and has their habitual residence abroad, unless the child would otherwise be stateless. The child does become German if an application to record the birth in the German birth register is made within one year of the birth; an application that reaches the competent German mission abroad within the year also counts. Where both parents are German, the cut-off applies only if both meet those conditions. It does not apply to claims under Article 116(2) of the Basic Law or section 15, or to descendants of people who became German, or could have, under either. Source: Nationality Act (StAG), section 4, current consolidated text, read 28 September 2026.

Documents the register asks for

Dates

• Declaration must be received by: 19 August 2031.

Apostille by default: yes. Translation by default: yes. You can switch either per document.

Restoration under Article 116(2) of the Basic Law and section 15

For descendants of people persecuted between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945 who were deprived of German citizenship, lost it or were shut out of it. There is no fixed document list; the chain and the persecuted ancestor's records carry the case.

Rules

• Former Germans deprived of citizenship on political, racial or religious grounds between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945, and their descendants, are to be naturalised again on application. Source: Basic Law, Article 116, current consolidated text, read 28 September 2026.
• People who, in connection with persecution on the grounds in Article 116(2) of the Basic Law between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945, gave up or lost German citizenship before 26 February 1955; were excluded from acquiring it by law through marriage, legitimation or collective naturalisation; were refused naturalisation after applying, or were excluded from a naturalisation otherwise open to them; or gave up or lost their habitual residence in Germany where it began before 30 January 1933 (or, for a child, after that date too), and their descendants, are entitled to naturalisation on application. Not for anyone convicted of intentional offences to two years or more, or placed in preventive detention. Not entitled: a person who acquired German citizenship after 8 May 1945 and then gave it up or lost it (other than by marrying a foreigner or by legitimation by a foreigner), and a descendant born or adopted after that loss. Source: Nationality Act (StAG), section 15, current consolidated text, read 28 September 2026.
• Article 116(2) covers people formally deprived of citizenship by the regime. Section 15, in force since 20 August 2021, covers those who lost it or never gained it in other ways because of persecution. Source: What distinguishes naturalisation under Article 116(2) of the Basic Law from section 15 of the Nationality Act, undated page, read 28 September 2026.
• There is no fixed document list; each case differs. Applicants use the application for adults and the annex on ancestors. Translations of English documents and apostilles on US documents are generally not needed, but section 15 applicants in the US are asked for a federal background check with an apostille. Source: Naturalization for individuals whose families were persecuted by the Nazi regime, last updated 1 July 2023, read 28 September 2026.
• A child born abroad does not become German at birth through a German parent who was born abroad after 31 December 1999 and has their habitual residence abroad, unless the child would otherwise be stateless. The child does become German if an application to record the birth in the German birth register is made within one year of the birth; an application that reaches the competent German mission abroad within the year also counts. Where both parents are German, the cut-off applies only if both meet those conditions. It does not apply to claims under Article 116(2) of the Basic Law or section 15, or to descendants of people who became German, or could have, under either. Source: Nationality Act (StAG), section 4, current consolidated text, read 28 September 2026.

Documents the register asks for

Apostille by default: no. Translation by default: no. You can switch either per document.

Ordinary descent from a German parent

You may already be German if a parent was German when you were born. The chain must be unbroken: an ancestor who lost citizenship before the next birth ends the line, and a generation cut-off applies to parents born abroad after 1999.

Rules

• A child becomes German at birth when one parent is German. Where only the father is German, his paternity must be recognised or established before the child turns 23. Source: Nationality Act (StAG), section 4, current consolidated text, read 28 September 2026.
• A child born abroad does not become German at birth through a German parent who was born abroad after 31 December 1999 and has their habitual residence abroad, unless the child would otherwise be stateless. The child does become German if an application to record the birth in the German birth register is made within one year of the birth; an application that reaches the competent German mission abroad within the year also counts. Where both parents are German, the cut-off applies only if both meet those conditions. It does not apply to claims under Article 116(2) of the Basic Law or section 15, or to descendants of people who became German, or could have, under either. Source: Nationality Act (StAG), section 4, current consolidated text, read 28 September 2026.
• A German who applied for and acquired another citizenship before the 2024 reform usually lost German citizenship, which ends ordinary descent through that person for children born after the loss. Exceptions existed. The app flags a naturalisation in the chain before this date. Source: Nationality Act, former section 25 (loss on acquiring a foreign citizenship), text before the 2024 reform. Setting to confirm: Loss on naturalisation applies before: 2024-06-27. Not opened at the primary source in this pass. Confirm the former section 25, its exceptions and the reform date on the current statute and the federal office's pages before relying on it.
• Documents go in as originals or as copies certified by a notary, the registrar that made the entry, or a German authority. Foreign public documents need legalisation or an apostille unless they come from an EU state or Switzerland. Foreign-language documents need a translation by a sworn translator. Source: Information sheet: acquisition of German citizenship by declaration, for persons living abroad, PDF, page 1 dated July 2024 and pages 2 to 7 dated October 2025, read 28 September 2026.

Documents the register asks for

Dates

• Birth registration for children of parents born abroad after 1999: within one year of the child's birth.

Apostille by default: yes. Translation by default: yes. You can switch either per document.

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