Pathway

Germany Residence Title for Former Germans

Germany Residency

Last updated August 17, 2026

Pathway overview

At a glance

Germany has a residence route for former German citizens. A person who was living in Germany as their usual home when citizenship was lost may qualify for a residence or settlement permit; a former citizen living abroad may also be granted residence with sufficient German-language ability.

Type: Former-citizen residence
Who it covers: People who personally used to be German citizens
Core requirements: Former German status and Section 38 residence or language basis
What to know: Descendants should use German citizenship pathways instead
Initial stay: Residence or settlement
Time to permanent residence: Can be immediate settlement in strongest cases

Summary

Section 38 of Germany's Residence Act provides a special residence route for a person who personally used to be a German citizen. The outcome depends mainly on where the person lived when German citizenship was lost:

A former German who had lived habitually in Germany as a German for at least five years when citizenship was lost must generally be granted a settlement permit.
A former German who had lived habitually in Germany for at least one year when citizenship was lost must generally be granted a temporary residence permit.
A former German whose habitual residence is abroad may be granted a temporary residence permit if the person has sufficient German-language knowledge.

The first two cases have a strict application rule: the application must normally be filed within six months after the person learns that German citizenship was lost.

Eligibility

For the residence-in-Germany route, you need to show:

That you personally held German citizenship.
How and when that citizenship was lost.
When you learned of the loss.
That, at the time of loss, you had lived habitually in Germany for at least one year; for the settlement-permit route, you must have lived habitually in Germany as a German for at least five years.
That you applied within six months after learning of the loss.

For a former German living abroad, the statute allows a discretionary temporary permit if the person has sufficient German. The six-month rule in Section 38(1) does not govern this separate overseas provision, but the ordinary entry and residence requirements can still matter.

In special cases, Section 38 allows authorities to depart from some general residence requirements. It also extends these rules to a person who, through no fault of their own, had previously been treated as German by German authorities even though the person was not legally German.

What This Route Allows

The route can provide:

A settlement permit for the qualifying five-year residence case.
A temporary residence permit for the qualifying one-year residence case.
A discretionary temporary residence permit for a former German living abroad with sufficient German.

For a person using the six-month residence-in-Germany route, economic activity is expressly permitted during that application window and, after a timely application, until the foreigners authority decides the case.

What This Route Is Not

It does not itself restore German citizenship.
It is not a route for someone whose only connection is a German parent, grandparent, or other ancestor.
It is not limited to the Berlin example of people who lost citizenship after voluntarily acquiring another nationality; the statutory route turns on former German status and the Section 38 conditions.
It does not mean every former German living abroad has a right to a permit. The overseas provision is discretionary.

Someone seeking citizenship again should separately examine naturalization for former Germans under Section 13 of the Nationality Act. Descendants should compare citizenship by descent, Article 116(2), Section 15 StAG, and Section 5 StAG.

Next Steps

Obtain proof of the former German citizenship and the date and legal basis of its loss.
Document when you first learned of the loss.
If relying on residence in Germany, obtain registration, housing, school, employment, tax, or other records showing habitual residence at the time of loss and, for the five-year settlement route, showing that the residence was as a German.
Treat the six-month application deadline as urgent and contact the responsible foreigners authority promptly.
If living abroad, collect evidence of German-language ability and ask the responsible German mission about the Section 38(2) process.
If the real goal is citizenship rather than residence, compare the citizenship routes before choosing a process.

Germany Residence Title for Former Germans

At a glance

Summary

Eligibility

What This Route Allows

What This Route Is Not

Next Steps

Related pathways

Germany Settlement Permit

Germany Family Residence Permit

Germany Permanent EU Residence

Sources