Pathway

German Citizenship After Residence

Germany Citizenship

Last updated August 24, 2026

Pathway overview

At a glance

German citizenship by naturalization is for people who have lived legally in Germany for more than five years and meet the residence-status, self-support, German-language, civic-knowledge, character, and constitutional-commitment requirements. Germany's 2024 reform generally allows dual citizenship.

Type: Naturalization
Residence: More than five years legal residence
Core requirements: Status, self-support, B1 German, civic test, character
What to know: Germany generally permits dual citizenship after the 2024 reform
Residence period: More than 5 years
Keeping other citizenship: Yes

Summary

Ordinary naturalization is the main route to German citizenship for a non-citizen who has made Germany their long-term home. Since 30 October 2025, the entitlement route generally requires five years of lawful ordinary residence. The special three-year route for exceptional integration was repealed.

Naturalization is not automatic at five years. The applicant must also have an eligible residence status, establish identity and current citizenship, meet language and civic-knowledge rules, normally support the household, and satisfy criminal-record, constitutional-order, and related requirements.

German law now generally permits multiple citizenship. Germany therefore does not ordinarily require a naturalization applicant to give up another nationality, although the other country may have its own loss rules.

Eligibility

The standard entitlement under Section 10 of the Nationality Act generally requires:

Five years of lawful ordinary residence in Germany.
Established identity and citizenship.
A permanent right of residence, an EU Blue Card, or another residence title that Section 10 accepts at the time of naturalization. Several temporary-purpose titles, including study, training, recognition, job-search, ICT, and some humanitarian titles, are excluded at the decision stage.
Ability to support yourself and dependent family members without the benefits named in Section 10, unless a statutory exception applies.
German at B1 level, unless an age, disability, illness, guest-worker-generation, or hardship rule changes the requirement.
Knowledge of Germany's legal system, society, and living conditions, usually shown by the naturalization test or an accepted substitute.
No disqualifying criminal conviction or security ground.
The required commitments and declarations concerning Germany's free democratic constitutional order, historical responsibility for National Socialist injustice, protection of Jewish life, peaceful relations between peoples, and the ban on wars of aggression.

Residence calculations and absences can be fact-specific. A person who has spent long periods outside Germany, changed status, or had gaps should ask the competent naturalization authority how Section 12b applies before relying on a date.

Spouses, registered partners, and minor children can sometimes be naturalized with the main applicant even if they have not completed five years themselves. A spouse or registered partner of a German has a separate facilitated rule under Section 9, generally involving three years of residence and two years of marriage or partnership, plus the other applicable conditions.

What This Route Allows

When the naturalization certificate is handed over, the applicant becomes a German citizen with the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, including the ability to apply for a German passport and to live and work in Germany and elsewhere in the EU under EU free-movement rules.

The applicant may generally retain another citizenship under German law. Naturalization of one family member does not automatically naturalize every relative; each person must be included in or qualify for the relevant process.

What This Route Is Not

This is not the route for someone who is already German by birth or descent and only needs proof. It is also different from the Section 5 declaration and the Article 116(2) or Section 15 restitution routes.

Five years of residence is a minimum eligibility period, not a promised processing time or automatic approval date. A study permit by itself is not an accepted status for the Section 10 decision, even though some earlier lawful residence may be relevant to the residence calculation after the person moves to a qualifying status.

There is no current ordinary entitlement to naturalization after only three years for exceptional integration. That provision ended on 30 October 2025.

Next Steps

Ask the naturalization authority for your German home address to confirm jurisdiction and its current document list.
Confirm the five-year residence calculation, including trips, longer absences, and any gaps or late renewals.
Check that your current residence title is one accepted by Section 10 at the expected decision date.
Gather identity and civil-status records, residence history, income and benefit records, language evidence, and civic-knowledge evidence.
Review any criminal case, pending investigation, unresolved identity issue, or long absence before applying; these can require individual legal analysis.
Check the other country's citizenship law if keeping another nationality matters to you.

German Citizenship After Residence

At a glance

Summary

Eligibility

What This Route Allows

What This Route Is Not

Next Steps

Related pathways

German Citizenship by Adoption

German Citizenship by Birth in Germany

German Citizenship by Descent

Sources