Dual citizenship

Hi,

I'm a US American citizen and have been living in Germany for over 10 years. I have always worked during this time and never received any social welfare payments. Can I apply for dual citizenship? What are the requirements?

3 Comments

Reply (3)

Yara_Community Manger

Updated:

(Please note, this answer is over 2 years old and the regulations have changed)

Hi @yeni ,

in general Germany does not allow dual citizenship, only under special circumstances will you be able to keep both passports. Such cases would include (but are not limited to): If you have a nationality of a EU country or your citizenship cannot be given up, this applies for example for Cuban nationals.
You can also have dual citizenship if one of your parents has a German passport. The main requirements for naturalization are: - Having lived in Germany and not received social welfare payments for 8 years. You definitely fulfill these requirements! - Doing the so called "Einbürgerungstest" - German naturalization test. - You speak German (B2 level or higher) - You have a permanent residency status (usually "Niederlassungserlaubnis") - You are not a convicted felon - You have to give up your current passport You can read further requirements here: https://handbookgermany.de/en/rights-laws/citizenship.html Best of luck for your application.

yeni

Thanks. I heard that there are also some special situations where dual citizenship with Germany + USA can be allowed specifically. Do you know how I can this information? Can you direct me to any lawyers that specialize in this field?

Yara_Community Manger

Updated:

Hi @yeni , indeed their are general exceptions. In case giving up citizenship is tied to high hurdles, for example, paying a lot of money to renounce the citizenship, then Germany can make an exceptions and one gets to keep their nationality and effectively, have dual citizenship. I am not aware of any lawyer that specializes in this, will do some research and get back to you. However, I would first recommend to contact your local citizen office (Bürgeramt) they might be able to give you an answer to your question. Then you can apply for dual citizenship. Involving a lawyer is always costly and time consuming.

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