German citizenship by naturalisation after five years

If you’re a foreign national living in Germany, you can apply for German citizenship after five years of lawful residence, as long as you speak German at B1 level, pass the naturalisation test and support yourself. Germany doesn’t ask you to give up your current passport. The faster three-year route for exceptional integration no longer exists: it ended on 30 October 2025.

This is the route for people who don’t already have a claim through their family. If you have German ancestry, read the German citizenship by descent guide first. You may already be German without knowing it, and that costs far less effort than five years of residence.

The rules at a glance

• Residence: 5 years of lawful, habitual residence in Germany.
• Permit: a permanent residence right, an EU Blue Card or another qualifying permit (see below).
• Language: German at B1.
• Test: “Leben in Deutschland”, 33 questions, 17 correct to pass, EUR 25.
• Money: you support yourself and your dependants without Bürgergeld or social assistance, with some exceptions.
• Fee: EUR 255 per adult.
• Dual citizenship: allowed since 27 June 2024.

Who qualifies

Section 10 of the Nationality Act (StAG) gives you a right to naturalisation, not just a chance, if you have lived lawfully and habitually in Germany for five years, your identity and nationality are clear, and you:

• commit to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law and declare you don’t support efforts against it;
• commit to Germany’s special historical responsibility for the Nazi regime, including the protection of Jewish life, peaceful coexistence between peoples and the ban on wars of aggression;
• hold a qualifying residence permit;
• can support yourself and your dependants without benefits under Social Code II or XII;
• have no criminal conviction above the thresholds in section 12a;
• speak German at B1; and
• know Germany’s legal and social order, normally shown by passing the test.

The law states plainly that antisemitic, racist or other acts against human dignity are incompatible with the basic order. Under section 11 naturalisation is excluded if there are real signs you support extremist or violent efforts, if your declaration of commitment is untrue, if you are married to more than one person at the same time, or if your conduct shows you disregard the equal rights of men and women.

Your spouse or registered partner and your minor children can be naturalised with you, even if they haven’t lived in Germany for five years themselves (section 10(2)). If your spouse is German, section 9 applies instead; see our German citizenship by marriage guide.

Five years: what counts

The 2024 reform cut the residence period from eight years to five and added a three-year option for exceptional integration. A second amendment removed that option again. The Federal Government says the law took effect on 30 October 2025, and that since then a minimum of five years applies to every applicant. We found no official statement on how applications filed under the three-year rule before that date are being handled, so if you’re in that situation, ask your naturalisation authority directly.

A few rules from section 12b decide what counts as unbroken residence:

• Trips abroad of up to 6 months don’t interrupt it.
• Longer absences keep it running only if you return within a deadline set by the immigration office (Ausländerbehörde).
• If residence did break, up to three years of your earlier time in Germany can still be credited.
• A late permit renewal doesn’t break lawful residence if it was only a matter of applying too late.

Which residence permits qualify

When you apply you must hold one of these:

• a permanent residence right, such as a settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis) or EU long-term residence;
• an EU Blue Card; or
• another temporary residence permit, unless it was issued for one of the purposes the law excludes.

The excluded purposes include vocational training, study, language courses and school, searching for a job or a study place, the Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte), intra-company transfer (ICT) cards, European voluntary service, temporary protection and several humanitarian permits. In practice, most people who work in Germany on a skilled-worker permit, a Blue Card or a settlement permit meet this condition. If you are on a student permit or a job-seeker permit at the end of your five years, switch first. Ask your authority how years spent on an excluded permit count toward the five years before you rely on them.

Supporting yourself

You must be able to support yourself and your dependants without Bürgergeld (Social Code II) or social assistance (Social Code XII). The 2024 reform tightened this, but kept three exceptions. You can still qualify while receiving those benefits if you:

• have worked full time for at least 20 of the last 24 months;
• are the spouse or registered partner of such a person, living together with them and a minor child; or
• came to West Germany as a guest worker before 30 June 1974, or to East Germany as a contract worker before 13 June 1990, and aren’t responsible for needing benefits.

German at B1 and the naturalisation test

Language. Section 10(4) asks for B1, the middle of the European scale, proven by passing a B1 exam. The BAMF says a Zertifikat Integrationskurs at B1 also works. The requirement falls away if illness, disability or age makes it impossible, and in hardship cases it can be reduced to spoken everyday German. Our language requirements guide compares Germany with other countries.

The test. The BAMF runs the naturalisation test. According to the BAMF it works like this:

• 33 multiple-choice questions, 30 general and 3 about your federal state;
• 60 minutes, four answer options per question;
• 17 correct answers to pass, and you can retake it if you fail;
• EUR 25 fee, booked at a BAMF test centre, with photo ID on the day;
• all 310 possible questions (300 general and 10 per state) are published in the BAMF online test centre.

You don’t need the test if you have a German school leaving certificate, or if illness, disability or age prevents you from taking it.

Criminal record

Section 12a ignores minor convictions:

• fines of up to 90 daily rates;
• suspended prison sentences of up to 3 months that were remitted after probation; and
• youth court educational and disciplinary measures.

Several sentences are added together. None of this applies if a court found a racist, antisemitic or other motive against human dignity. Foreign convictions, US ones included, count if the act is also an offence in Germany, the trial met rule-of-law standards and the sentence was proportionate, unless they would already have been erased from the German register by now. You must list foreign convictions and pending investigations on the application. A pending investigation puts your case on hold until it’s over.

Applying, step by step

1. Find your naturalisation authority (Einbürgerungsbehörde). It’s local, run by your city or district. The BAMF suggests asking your Ausländerbehörde or local migration advice service.
2. Book an advice appointment before applying. The BAMF recommends it, and the authority tells you which forms and documents it wants.
3. Pass the B1 exam and the test. Booking both early saves months.
4. Gather the documents. You need proof of each condition: your identity and nationality (normally your passport), your residence permit, your income, and your B1 and test certificates. The authority sets the exact list. Records from abroad, such as US birth and marriage certificates, may need an apostille and a certified translation; ask your authority what it requires.
5. Apply and pay the EUR 255 fee.
6. Wait. There is no official processing time, and waits differ widely between cities.
7. Make the solemn declaration and collect your certificate. You declare that you will respect the Basic Law and German laws. You become German the moment the naturalisation certificate (Einbürgerungsurkunde) is handed to you, usually at a public ceremony.

Don’t move away while the case is pending. The BVA says that if you move abroad before a case in Germany is finished, responsibility passes to the BVA and its stricter rules for applicants abroad.

Cost

• EUR 255 per adult, or per minor applying alone.
• EUR 51 for a minor child naturalised with a parent, if the child has no income of their own.
• EUR 25 for the naturalisation test.
• Your own costs: the B1 exam, document copies, apostilles and translations.

The authority can reduce or waive the fee for reasons of fairness or public interest, or allow instalments.

Can you keep your current citizenship?

Since 27 June 2024 Germany accepts multiple nationality in every naturalisation, so you aren’t asked to give up your current citizenship. Whether you keep it also depends on your other country’s law: some countries end citizenship when you voluntarily take another, so check yours. Our German dual citizenship guide explains what that change did and didn’t fix, including for families whose ancestors lost German citizenship before 2024.

If your German descent claim failed

Many people with German roots abroad find that the chain broke, most often because an ancestor naturalised in another country (the US, for example) before the next child was born. Before you plan on five years in Germany, check the routes that repair exactly those cases:

• the section 5 declaration, for families shut out by the old rules on mothers and children born outside marriage; and
• Article 116(2) and section 15, for families who lost citizenship through Nazi persecution.

If none of them fits, naturalisation by residence is open to you like anyone else, and your German roots don’t change the conditions. From abroad, the Federal Office of Administration (BVA) handles two discretionary routes, and neither gives you a right to citizenship:

• Section 13 covers a former German and their minor children living abroad. Grandchildren and other descendants aren’t named.
• Section 14 is, in the BVA’s words, an exception. It looks for a public interest in your naturalisation, ties to Germany in several respects, the means to support yourself, German at B1 and no criminal record. Its examples involve living abroad with a German spouse posted there.

The BVA says the easier 2024 rules apply only to people living in Germany, not to sections 13 and 14. It also warns that if you move to Germany during a BVA case, the BVA is no longer in charge: a local authority takes over under the section 8 to 10 rules, and any naturalisation assurance usually lapses. Pick one route and stick with it.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Gesetze im Internet: Nationality Act (StAG), current text (sections 9, 10, 11, 12a, 12b, 13, 16 and 38), German
• Gesetze im Internet: Residence Act (AufenthG), table of contents (the permit types section 10 excludes), German
• Federal Government: citizenship after five years at the earliest (end of the three-year route, in force 30 October 2025), German
• BAMF: Einbürgerung (five years, the test, fees, where to apply), German
• BVA: What is naturalisation under section 14 StAG, German
• BVA: do the 2024 easements apply to naturalisation from abroad? (no; multiple nationality accepted), German
• BVA: moving to Germany during a naturalisation case, German

Checked against these sources on 11 November 2026. Each naturalisation authority sets its own forms, document list and appointment process, so check with the one for the place where you live.