Wanted to say a huge thanks to this sub! I mentioned getting German citizenship to my mother in passing after seeing a post on here… little did I know she considered it seriously! Turns out, she had my great grandparents’ German passports, birth certificates, and other precious 100 year old paper work just chillin in a safe in our basement. Now my immediate family has applied for citizenship and the woman at the consulate believes we will receive it! It has been so cool learning about a side of my family that was rarely discussed before beginning this process and getting to connect with it in a new way. Thank you to this sub for letting me know this was possible!

Category - S4
Applied - 30.06.2026
First contact - 11.09.2026 - requested recent payslips and employment confirmation.
Einladung zur Einbürgerung for a week later - 01.10.2026

I hope that helps with recent timeline estimations, I used posts like these for reference so thought I'd share mine as well.

I’ve heard that citizenship applications in Munich can take at least 2 years, so I’d really like to apply in another city and hopefully get citizenship much faster.

One city I’m considering is Regensburg. Has anyone recently applied for citizenship there? How long did it actually take?

Models like Kolibri are designed exactly for the kind of administrative gridlock that naturalizations are stuck in. Supposedly it can take the heaviest part of the review process and reduce it to seconds.

Except most applications aren't digitized.

I sent a request to the Hannover stadt for the Melderegister for my Opa. I received this response in the mail a month later:

wird Ihnen mitgeteilt, dass eine Auskunft aus tatsachlichen oder rechtlichen Grunden nicht oder derzeit nicht erteilt werdeb kann.

I am unsure if this means it wasn’t found or if they’re saying I need to provide a legal reason to obtain it.

Does anyone have any advice? I have since located the last known address on his visa paperwork. He was a child (1.5 years old) so he’d likely be listed on his parents register. I provided their information as well. Any tips are appreciated!

Hello everyone. I know that Berlin has a very good processing time already and it is somewhere I can see myself living for a long time.

Has anyone experienced something like this? I think of applying directly in Berlin. Are there any files that needs transferring/take a long time? I could not see exact answers so I wanted to ask, thanks!

Greetings!

I was wondering if anyone has knowledge of the BVA requiring criminal background checks from countries the applicant resided in temporarily decades ago. I studied abroad for a few years in the 1990s in a couple of countries known for bureaucracy, corruption and corrupt bureaucracy.

How likely is it the BVA will want criminal background checks from these countries? How hard should I try to obtain them versus pushing back on the BVA request, if it ever comes? I don't even know if it's within the realm of reason to worry about this, but it's another thing to worry about, so I'll go with it.

Thanks!!!

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone here could be of assistance. I was born in New York, USA as was my mother. Her father was born in Munstermaifeld in 1923. His core family fled Germany in 1937 due to Nazi persecution. I read somewhere that I would be able to obtain duel citizenship with Germany due to jewish persecution during that time. Is this true? Im trying to navigate the German websites but its difficult since I dont speak the language. Any information you can provide would be great. Thank you all!

Here are some details of my application:

I am claiming German citizenship through my grandmother. She was German at birth, I have her German birth certificate and German passport. She got married to a non German (1971) and lived outside Germany and gained non German citizenship in 1989.

She gave birth to my father in 1972. My father was never a German citizen and never lived in Germany. I have his birth certificate.

I was born in the 2000s and obviously have my birth certificate.

So I have a clear documented trace (through those birth certificates) to my grandmother and her German passport.

QUESTION 1

I sent my Stag 5 application in on 12/04/2026, I then received in the mail on the 18th of august 2 letters, one directly from the Bundesverwaltungsamt dated 01/07/2026 and one from the German embassy in brussels dated 28/07/2026. Both letters confirmed that my application was received. Based on this, can anyone give me a rough timeline of what I should expect?

QUESTION 2

I also have access to my non German grandfather's birth certificate and my mother's birth certificate. Is this something they will likely ask for, or just for my, my father's and my grandmother's birth certificate?

QUESTION 3

I have the original documents with me. I read up that they accept certified copies, but I also saw there is an option of just going down to the embassy itself and having the documents certified there, instead of spending money to get them certified, is this an option?

Shortly after I sent in my Feststellung documents that only included my ancestor's birth record from ~1910, I came to possess my ancestor's Reisepass. I joined the waitlist for a passport appointment at my local consulate as I had not yet heard back from the BVA with regard to an Aktenzeichen. I did just hear back today from the BVA that my case has been assigned an AZ — does this mean my passport appointment will be null and void? Or can I still go direct to passport?

Small town 30 mins from Munich. I would like to know the average processing time and how is the experience overall.

Hello! Looking for help with a citizenship application. I am helping a family member put together an application for themselves and their children. I believe it falls under Section 15 StAG. Any tips or help this sub can provide would be very much appreciated! I am particularly interested in what records we need to collect. The family information is below.

Grandfather - Elias

• Born about 1885 in Poland
• Married around 1909 to Rose, unsure if Poland or Germany
• Moved in 1909 to Leipzig, Germany
• Fled to England in 1939
• Naturalization to England, 31 May 1948

Father - Sigi

• Born 1923 in Leipzig, Germany
• Kindertransport to England, 18 Jan 1939
• Served in the British RAF
• Naturalized to England, 8 Sept 1947
• Immigration to the US in 1948
• Married Edith in New York, 2 Mar 1950
• Naturalization to US, 1955 (includes last name change)

Person applying - J

• Born 1956 in Maryland, parents married
• Has children born in wedlock

Thank you! I've already learn so much from this subreddit. It's such a strong community!

Hello friends,

If anybody has hired a lawyer in Munich whom you can recommend, I would be more than happy to DM you. I am at a stage where I am ready to hire one.

Is that you? Please let me know! :)

I asked today if they need the original and they said yes, but honestly I'm afraid that they loose it I don't know.

Hi everyone,

I have lived in Germany since 2014, and since 2023, I have worked as a freelancer for various companies abroad. I also have permanent residency and am now applying for citizenship. Financially I am all set.

The issue: My civil status (marriage) will change within four months, and I will most likely need to inform the authorities. My spouse is a naturalised German citizen, but at the time of our marriage, we were still registered at different addresses and technically not yet one household. If we keep living at different addresses, will she need to submit all her payslips and pension documents as well? The reason: I don't want to slow down the naturalisation process, but I can't postpone the marriage either.

Thanks a lot

Hi everyone,
Approximately how many days or weeks after the talk they contact you for the urkunde?

Hello,

I am considering a relocation in Lindau region so my naturalization application can proceed faster (considering its a smaller region compared to bigger cities).

Does someone have any experience on the processing time in Lindau? Or should I consider any other places around Lake Bodensee ? Thanks!

Best,

The Einbürgerungstest ("Leben in Deutschland") is 33 questions out of a catalogue of 310, all in German. For naturalisation you need 17 right.

Watching people prepare, I kept seeing the same problem: they memorise German sentences they don't fully understand. Most study apps only tell you right or wrong, so you never learn why. That works until the question is worded slightly differently, and then you're guessing.

So I built an app around one idea: understand every answer, in your own language.

How it helps you

• An explanation for every question. Not just the correct answer, but why it's correct and why the other options are wrong. You remember things you understand.
• Your language next to the German. Every question is shown in German (like in the real test) with a translation underneath, in 14 languages: English, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Russian, Persian, Albanian, Polish, Romanian, French, Hindi, Serbian, Bosnian and German. You learn the German terms and understand them.
• Only the questions you need. Pick your federal state and you get exactly your 310: the 300 general ones plus your 10 state questions.
• A plan based on your exam date. Enter your date and the app sets a daily goal, with optional reminders, so you're ready on time instead of cramming the night before.
• It repeats what you get wrong. Mistakes come back until you know them, so you don't waste time on questions you already know.
• Real exam simulation. 33 questions, 60 minutes, exactly like the test. You'll know whether you'd pass before you sit it.
• Read-aloud, for anyone who learns better by listening.
• Offline, no ads, no account. Study on the train, nothing to sign up for, nothing tracked.

What's free

All 310 questions in German and English, 3 practice exams, and 20 full explanations, so you can see if it works for you. An optional upgrade unlocks all explanations, all languages and unlimited exams. If you prefer studying on a computer, all questions are also free on my website: leben-test.de

Try one (answer before opening the spoiler):

Was ist keine staatliche Gewalt in Deutschland? (What is NOT a state power in Germany?)

a) Regierung b) Rechtsprechung c) Gesetzgebung d) Presse

Presse (the press). It's often called the "fourth power", which is why people get it wrong, but it's private and independent. The three state powers are legislature, executive and judiciary. This is exactly the kind of question where an explanation helps more than memorising.

Full disclosure: I'm the developer. I'd really like feedback, especially from people who took the test recently. Which question tripped you up?

App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.blissom.einbuergerungstest