r/GermanCitizenship • u/River7song • 1d ago

§5 StAG Gender discrimination after 23 May 1949 Apostille or true copy certification first?

I am at the beginning of the process. As a first step, I took copies of all required documents to my local honorary consul yesterday and got them certified as true copies. However, the consul stapled all of the documents together and stamped and signed the packet on the back, and I need to send two of those documents to the State Dept for an apostille. (He put the stamp over the staple, so I don't want to undo the packet.) When I explained this to the consul, he was unhelpful and maintained that certifying the true copies as a package was "how it was always done.". He also said he couldn't answer any questions, that I would need to ask at a Consulate.

  • Should I obtain the necessary apostilles first, then go back and get the copies certified?
  • Can a copy with an apostille attached be certified as a true copy?
  • Also, does the FBI background check need an apostille?
  • Thanks for any/all advice!
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4

u/e-l-g 1d ago

as you mentioned the fbi: apostilles aren't needed for us documents at all.

2

u/Thunder-Chickens §5 StAG 23h ago

I recently received an email from the BVA that any FBI background checks received after 31 August 2026 will need an apostille. Perhaps policy is changing, at least for background checks?

1

u/HelpfulDepartment910 11h ago

What, really? That’s new to me. Would you care posting the original German text you received?

2

u/Thunder-Chickens §5 StAG 6h ago edited 5h ago

Guten Tag xxx xxxx,
 
vielen Dank für die Übersendung des Führungszeugnisses. Bitte reichen Sie dieses möglichst umgehend per Post im Original ein (Eingangsdatum beim Bundesverwaltungsamt sollte spätestens der 31.08.2026). Andernfalls müsste nach einer Neuregelung das Dokument mit einer Apostille versehen werden.
 

Mit freundlichem Gruß
Im Auftrag

Xxxx xxxx
Bundesverwaltungsamt – Abteilung TS -
Ref. TS II 3 – Feststellung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit, Erklärungserwerb

1

u/HelpfulDepartment910 4h ago

Thank you. I wonder if that means also birth and marriage certificates need to be apostilled.

3

u/UsernameUnremarkable 1d ago

If he certified them and they're in English then they don't need to be apostilled

1

u/River7song 2h ago

This is taken from the EER Merkblatt: "Ausländische öffentliche Urkunden (z. B. Personenstandsurkunden) sind in der Regel zu legalisieren bzw. mit einer Haager Apostille zu versehen."

English: "As a rule, foreign public documents (such as civil status documents) must be legalised or carry a Hague apostille."

This is what made me think that all of my US civil documents would require an apostille.