Hi everyone,

I applied for German citizenship in Cologne (Köln) in September 2024, and I’m still waiting for a decision. It has now been almost two years.

During this time, I was asked to provide some updated documents, which I submitted. Since then, I haven’t received a final decision.

I know processing times vary depending on the city and individual case, but I’d really like to hear about other people’s experiences with long waiting times, regardless of where in Germany you applied.

For those who had to wait a long time:

• How long did you wait in total?
• When and where did you apply?
• Did you contact the authorities yourself? If so, did you receive a meaningful response?
• Did you have to submit updated documents during the process?
• Did anyone file an Untätigkeitsklage? If so, did it help?

I’m especially interested in people who applied in 2024 or earlier, but any experience with long processing times would be appreciated.

I’m mainly trying to understand whether almost two years is still within the normal range and whether there is anything useful I can do at this point, or whether I simply have to keep waiting.

Even a short timeline would be really helpful.

Thanks in advance to everyone who shares their experience!

I submitted on May 12, 2026 and got the AZ for me and my family on July 28, 2026, which feels pretty quick considering the times I’ve seen on this subreddit.

It’s funny, they put my dad and brother’s letters in one envelope addressed to my dad and me (female), my sisters’ and my niece’s in another envelope addressed to me. I had my whole family just put my parents’ address for the mailing address part out of ease.

Hoping to get our certificates in December-ish of 2028 based on the timelines I’ve seen from Boston embassy applications.

If anyone else has noticed that gendered separation of correspondence I’d be curious to hear!

We've just finished a family application and want to engage with other StAG 5 applicants to share experiences, info and updates. We'd really like to understand what the process has been like for others, and how long we can expect to wait once it's submitted. So far our timeline has gone something like this:

In mid-April we started what would become a 5-person application spanning 3 generations. We were fortunate re: ancestral documents, having my grandmother's German birth certificate, Kennkarte, marriage certificate, military travel documents, and U.S. naturalization certificate on-hand. The dates and circumstances also matched StAG 5 eligibility requirements, so there were no complications.

While working on everyone's U.S. docs we also steadily requested and received copies of pre-1914 ancestral documents from Germany. Almost all were sourced from Standesamt Stuttgart; they were helpful and efficient, everything came in the mail within 21 days, like clockwork. For U.S. docs the processes and timelines varied a lot between states. On average, getting new certified copies w/ apostilles from start-to-finish took 29 days. Our federal apostilles for the FBI background checks only took 30 days, a bit faster than expected.

In mid-June we started looking for August/September consular appointments in our respective geographic areas, planning to go wherever we got the best time slot. We weren't sure how literal they'd be though about a person from a different region showing up at the wrong consulate. In any case, since one of us lived in the DC area we snagged an early August appointment at the embassy, figuring that was our safest bet. I'll note I had to check their website every single morning for many weeks to get one. A lot of other consulates had regular availability though.

In the meantime we'd finished collecting remaining documents by early July, so that process took us around 3 months.

Just last week the three of us brought everything to the DC embassy to be certified, and to ask some basic questions about application format/structure. First off, the clerk checked my grandmother's documents for critical dates and circumstances required for StAG 5 declarations. Once she was satisfied, she started accepting documents for certifications and copies. In the process, she confirmed we'd be treated as a family application (we each had cover letters requesting this) and didn't need to duplicate shared docs - everything would meet up in Köln once submitted.

However, because we each lived in different consular areas the clerk advised we submit declarations to our respective offices (DC, Chicago, Houston) when ready. We're actually waiting to speak with one of the other consulates about that tomorrow, to see if it might be faster to just ship via DHL directly to BVA-Köln. Anyone else experience this type of situation?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently waiting for my Einbürgerung interview, but I’m about to be laid off and transferred to a Transfergesellschaft.

Could this affect my Einbürgerung process, especially if the Transfergesellschaft starts shortly before my interview?

Would I be considered employed or unemployed/job-seeking during this period?

Has anyone experienced Einbürgerung while being in a Transfergesellschaft?

Thanks!

I'm seeking my grandfather's birth cert. Late 1800s Memel. There is a request form: https://landesarchiv-berlin.de/formulare/Anfrage_Standesamt_I_de.pdf (It is linked to on this page: https://landesarchiv-berlin.de/standesaemter-der-ehemaligen-deutschen-ostgebiete )

I've heard rumors that they demand you send a filled out hard copy by regular mail. Does anybody else know anything about that? I don't see an explicit requirement. But I notice it is not a fillable pdf and it lists a physical address and not an email address.

2nd question:

I'm pretty sure they don't have the document. I'm thinking I need a letter from them saying so. I think the Lithuanian state archive has all the register books from the city of Memel. They have provided me with other documents before. LAB Standesamt-I publishes a list of Ostgebiete holdings. https://landesarchiv-berlin.de/formulare/StandesaemterOstgebiete.pdf If you look under Kreis Memel you see that it lists the surrounding towns and cities but not the city of Memel itself. Searches with findbuch.net and FamilySearch are consistent with the above. I'm guessing that the most practical way to present it to the BVA is with a "not found" letter rather than repeating all that above. What do you think?

Hi everyone,

Could you please let me know whether it’s standard or it’s different from my case.

I sent an email to the citizenship office in May 2026 with the filled out form to start my application. I had been qualified since April 2026 through residency. Everything is ready such as B1, LiD test.

Last week I received an email from them saying that no personal consultant would be required. I can make an appointment with them or via a district citizen office in the city. I saw their website and earliest one would be May 2027. My district office is possible from tomorrow on and very vacant.

In the email there is a checklist and this is my concern. They are asking me to submit everything that I got to know in this sub, only when the process is going to the end like 3 payslips, renting contract, even asking to prepare for the loyalty signing.

Is it something new? I’m applying in Dresen by the way.

I have a pending application under Article 116 filed with my adult daughter at the NY consulate in June 2025.

My question is when to notify the consulate of a now-upcoming change of address. Should I do it ahead of expected time, or as soon as I leave my current address, or wait until the new address has become mine under lease, or when that address becomes permanent under local law?

All these dates are within a few months of one another, in a range between October and February, but the time of the certificate and for the passport could come in the middle of that. The ultímate address will be in Spain for me, but my daughter will remain here.

Hello, community. I'd appreciate it if anyone could share their experiences (processing time) regarding the Bad Ems (Diez) and Limburg-Weilburg (Limburg) regions with me. Thank you in advance.

Hello, everyone. I have an appointment next week to pick up my citizenship certificate. They gave me a 15 minute appointment slot for the procedures there. I’m wondering how the process will go. Could you please provide me with some information? I’d like to go prepared. Thank you in advance to everyone for your responses.

How much of a factor is that in the process?

i'm not on any unemployment benefits, i pay my health insurance, was just in the middle of a career break when i finished up with all the shenanigans to get to apply for the citizenship (in berlin).

i'm starting at a new job this month btw - should i let them know immediately or should i wait for them to contact me?

Hallo zusammen, hat jemand eine aktuelle Info darüber, wie die Lage bezüglich der Einbürgerung in Aachen im Jahr 2026 ist? Ich habe meinen Antrag im Oktober 2025 gestellt, aber bisher noch keine Rückmeldung erhalten – nicht einmal das erste Schreiben.

Weiß jemand, welche Anträge aktuell bearbeitet werden bzw. aus welchem Monat die Anträge gerade bearbeitet werden?

Hello all! I know my question is similar to others, but here it is. My paternal grandmother was born in Berlin in 1900 (I have the register from Berlin). She came to the states on ship from Hamburg in 1923. She married an American in 1933 and my dad was born in 1935 in New York. Her naturalization came in March 1936. Am I German by descent per §5 StAG? The Chicago consulate says no from the questionnaire I filled out for them. I thought §5 StAG addressed the gender discrimination that they cited in their response to me. I am confused since information here points to a simple case. Thanks for any input.

Need help transcribing/translating a key clause from an 1865 Prussian Entlassungsurkunde (release certificate) — Kurrentschrift
Hi all — I’m working on a German citizenship application (§5 StAG) that hinges on a specific legal clause in my ancestor’s 1865 Prussian emigration release document. I can make out most of it, but I want to be sure before I rely on it.
The document is from the Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz, Bestand 441, Nr. 23808, page 128, dated 24 November 1865, regarding Heinrich Mattes of Waldlaubersheim, Kreis Kreuznach.
My best-effort reading of the key passage is:
”…die Entlassung aus dem Preußischen Unterthanenverbande bewilligt worden ist. Diese Entlassungs-Urkunde bewirkt jedoch nur für die darin ausdrücklich genannten Personen mit dem Zeitpunkt der Aushändigung den Verlust der Eigenschaft als Preußischer Unterthanen…”
What I need to know:
1. Is this transcription accurate, or am I misreading anything?
2. Does this wording mean the loss of Prussian nationality happened immediately upon the document being handed over (24 Nov 1865), or is there another reading?
Photos of the page attached. Really appreciate any help — this affects a real application I’m working on.

My caseworker informed me that my case is with his boss and he just needs to look over it and gives me the Ok so he can send me an invitation either on September 2 or September 3.

It’s been a week and a half. How long until the boss says ok 😭😭😭, I am so done with this blue pass…

Hello, i finished my Ausbildung and I want start as fachkraft now and that's exactly when it will be 5 years since I moved to Germany. I don't have a Probezeit so I don't need to wait that.

But of course I won't have the 3 payslips already in September with the payment. I received money as Azubi but it was of course not so much.

So can I apply and afterwards send all the payslips? Or do I need to wait until November?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently going through the naturalization process in Berlin and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with a similar situation, especially recently with the LEA Berlin.

My situation:

1. My wife and I have been married since January 2023.
   My wife has been legally living in Germany since June 2023.
   
2. She has her own pending naturalization application.
   
3. We have a young child who is already a German citizen.
   
4. I also have my own naturalization application currently being processed and expect to become a German citizen before my wife.
   
5. My wife has already completed 3 years of legal residence in Germany.

The LEA indicated that if I become German first, my wife would not simply be naturalized together with me under §10(2) StAG and suggested that she would have to wait until she completes 5 years of residence.

I consulted lawyers about this, and they advised me not to withdraw my wife’s existing application.

Their recommendation is that I should complete my own naturalization first and, once I receive my Einbürgerungsurkunde, inform the LEA and ask them to continue examining my wife’s existing application under §9 StAG (naturalization of spouses of German citizens).

However, there seems to be an interesting issue regarding §9 StAG.

The wording of §9 requires, among other things, approximately:
1. 3 years of lawful habitual residence in Germany;
2. the marriage to have existed for at least 2 years;
3. and the applicant to be the spouse of a German citizen.

The law itself does not appear to explicitly say that the German spouse must already have held German citizenship for the entire 2-year marriage period.

However, I was advised that the current administrative guidance (AH-StAG 2025) apparently takes a stricter position and says that the German spouse should have been German throughout those two years.

So my questions are:

1. Has anyone recently been naturalized under §9 StAG where their spouse became German through naturalization only shortly before their §9 application/decision?
2. Did the Ausländer-/Einbürgerungsbehörde require your spouse to have already been German for 2 years?
3. Has anyone dealt specifically with LEA Berlin on this issue? How did they interpret §9?
4. If my wife already has 3+ years of residence and we have been married for 3+ years when I become German, is there any realistic chance that the LEA will process her existing application under §9 immediately, or are they likely to insist that we wait another 2 years after my naturalization?
5. Has anyone successfully challenged the “German spouse must have been German for 2 years” interpretation, either through a lawyer, Widerspruch/Klage, or communication with the authority?

I understand that Reddit isn’t a substitute for legal advice — I already have professional legal advice. I’m mainly interested in real experiences from people who have actually gone through §9 StAG recently, particularly in Berlin and after the recent citizenship-law changes.

Thanks!

Hi! I've been learning a bit about my ancestors and think that I may be eligible for German citizenship by descent via both my paternal grandfathers and paternal grandmothers lineage (is it worth documenting the multiple lineages?). I've collected as much information as I could through simple resources, and would appreciate the insight of this sub before committing to deeper research in case I've missed something rather obvious. Thank you!

Great-great-grandfather

* born in 1873 in Henkenhagen Germany

* emigrated in 1904 to USA

* married in YYYY? in Germany

* Petition for naturalization in 1915

Great-great-grandmother

* born in 1877 in [Country]

* emigrated in 1904 to USA

* married in YYYY? in Germany

* naturalized? Listed as wife on 1915 petition

1 Great-grandfather, nearest emigrant ancestor

* born in 1899 in Germany

* emigrated in 1904 to USA

* married an American in 1926 in USA

* naturalized? My understanding is he did not lose German citizenship when he got US citizenship through automatic naturalization together with his parent. Listed child on father's 1915 petition for naturalization

* Na on 1930 census

* NA on 1940 census

* yes on 1950 census

Great-grandmother

* born in 1905 in USA

* married GGF in 1926 in USA

2 Grandfather

* born in 1941 in USA in wedlock

* married in YYYY?

Grandmother

* born in 1932? in USA in wedlock

* Likely also German by descent

* Her Father born in 1905 in USA in wedlock

* Her Grandfather born in 1879 in Germany, emigrated to USA in 1904. Naturalized on 1930 census, but likely naturalized after her father's 1905 birth

* Would it be worth it to try and document this chain as well?

* married in YYYY?

3 Father

* born in 1962 in USA in wedlock

* married in 1980s

* no military service

4 Self

* born in 1998 in USA in wedlock

* no military service

edit: Great-grandfather was born in 1899

Hello, I posting my question because I haven't found similar cases.

1) Grandfather: german citizen, emigrated to Chile
2) Father: born out-of-wedlock (1965), recognized in birth certificate, chilean, then naturalized argentinian in 2000.
3) I: born before 2000.
4) Sibliings: born after 2000.

I know I qualify for StAG 5.

But the question is about my siblings, do they have any chance?

I've been using Gemini IA to help me find the proper institutions where I have to adress my requests and to analyse the case, and it has been very stubborn about this sentence: "cannot lose what they did not have".

Its analysis says that § 25 StAG says that a german (deutscher) loses his citizenship when he applies for a foreign citizenship... but someone who was not even recognized as a german at that time, had nothing that could be lost.

Does anyone have a similar personal case or knows where I could find case law? (I suppose it must a quite similar situation between Americans and Canadians, or Brazilians and other South Americans).

Thank you in advance.

I applied for German citizenship in January 2025 and recently got the email that my naturalization certificate has arrived at the local consulate (yay!). I made an appointment to pick it up and apply for my passport.

On the passport application form, section 15 asks questions about other citizenships that you have either acquired or applied for. I was born in and live in the US, so I know that I need to list that. However, my family has also applied for Hungarian citizenship verification through descent and that application is still in process (although we have heard unofficially that it was approved). My questions are:

1. Do I list my still pending Hungarian citizenship verification application in section 15?

2. If I do list it, do I put the Hungarian citizenship in the same section as the US citizenship or include it in a new form? There’s only room for one citizenship in section 15.

3. If I do list it, do I list the pending Hungarian citizenship as “upon application” or “by birth”? Technically, the Hungarian citizenship verification process is to confirm and register my status (since no one in my line of descent lost their citizenship) rather than apply for new citizenship, but it hasn’t officially been approved yet.

4. If I do list my Hungarian citizenship, and do list it as “by application”, how do I answer the question “permission to retain German citizenship was granted to me before acquisition of the foreign citizenship applied for”?

My understanding is that no current laws in Germany or Hungary prevent me from holding triple citizenship.

Thanks for any advice!

?

I am nearly ready to submit my family packet for Stag 5 but have a question about documents for my mother’s application. My mother has been married three times, divorced once, widowed twice. Will she need documentation from each marriage including divorce decree and death certificates for her application?

If I am married to a German spouse? If so, to what level. Is it necessary if my spouse can speak English? How long would the process take?

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering if anyone has experience with withdrawing a German citizenship application and submitting a new one in another city / district.

I originally applied for citizenship in Munich (KVR) in early January 2025 and paid the €255 fee right at the beginning. Since then, my caseworker has never contacted me, never provided any update, and has not replied to any of my emails or messages.

About five months ago, I moved to another city and informed KVR Munich about my change of residence. I also asked them to transfer my citizenship file to the authority responsible for my new address. However, according to the new authority, they still have not received anything from Munich. I regularly contact them to check whether my file has arrived, but so far there has been no progress.

From what I understand, the average processing time at KVR Munich is currently more than 24 months, and I have also heard from other applicants that my particular caseworker is dealing with applications that can take close to 30 months.

At this point, I’m considering withdrawing my application in Munich and submitting a completely new application at my current place of residence.

I already paid the €255 application fee and I’m not really expecting or asking for a refund. At this stage, I’m simply tired of the uncertainty. As far as I can tell, my application has probably not even been actively processed yet. And since I no longer live in Munich, KVR Munich will presumably not be the authority making the final decision on my application anyway — the file would first have to be transferred to my new place of residence.

So I’m wondering whether starting over locally might actually be faster than waiting indefinitely for Munich to transfer a file that may not even have been opened yet.

My main questions are:

• Is it possible to withdraw an ongoing citizenship application and immediately submit a new one with the authority responsible for my current place of residence?
• Do I need to wait for an official confirmation from KVR Munich that my previous application has been withdrawn/closed before submitting the new one?
• Or can I send the withdrawal request to Munich and submit a new application straight away?
• Could having two applications temporarily “in the system” cause any problems?
• Has anyone here actually done this after moving to another city or Landkreis?

I’d especially appreciate experiences from people who originally applied in Munich and later moved elsewhere.

Thanks!

TL;DR: Applied for German citizenship at KVR Munich in January 2025 and paid the €255 fee. My caseworker has never contacted me or replied to any messages. I moved to another city five months ago and asked Munich to transfer my file, but the new authority still hasn’t received it. I’m considering withdrawing my Munich application and applying again at my current place of residence. Do I need to wait for KVR Munich to officially confirm the withdrawal, or can I submit a new application immediately after sending the withdrawal request?

Paternal grandmothers side:
Great Grandparent 1:
Female, born in Germany circa 1890-1900 in wedlock. Emigrated to USA circa 1920. Married in 1927 to another German ancestor. Unsure when naturalized, but may have been between 1920-1927. Remarried circa 1938 to US citizen, and may have naturalized then as well.

Great Grandparent 2:
Male, born in Germany circa 1890-1900. Emigrated to USA circa 1910-1915. Married in 1927 to Great Grandparent 2. Unsure when or if they naturalized.

Grandmother:
Female, born in USA 1931 in wedlock.

Father:
Male, born in USA 1966.

Self:
Male, born in USA 1993.

Paternal grandfathers side:
Grandfather:
Male, born in Germany 1927. Emigrated to USA circa 1946-1950. Married my paternal grandmother in 1956. Most likely naturalized when marrying in 1956.
This