ROUTE
German Citizenship
Naturalisation under the current rules: 5 years (spouses of Germans: 3), B1, the test, dual citizenship allowed — with a check of your path.
✓ Checked: 15/08/2026
Naturalisation under §10 StAG requires five years of lawful residence — since 2025 without exceptions, as the accelerated route has been abolished. Spouses of German citizens have their own path: §9 StAG allows an application after three years of residence, provided the marriage has lasted at least two years by then. The remaining requirements are not relaxed.
Tailor the route to you
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Are you married to a German citizen?
COSTS AND DEADLINES
What you pay for on this route
- Citizenship test€25
- Naturalisation, adult§ 38 StAG€255
- Child (co-naturalised)§ 38 (2) StAG: reduced only if the child has no income of their own€51
Amounts follow official fees as of each step’s verification date. Your city may charge a different rate — check the step itself.
› More about this route
Substantively there are three: German at B1 level, a passed naturalisation test, and secure income without welfare benefits, subject to the exceptions the law provides. The test has 33 questions drawn from an open catalogue of 310, is passed with 17 correct answers, and costs €25 at an adult education centre. An already passed Leben in Deutschland test counts.
What actually sets the timeline is not the German paperwork but the foreign kind. Certificates from your country of origin need an apostille and a sworn translation, which takes months, whereas German documents are ready in days. The fee is €255 for an adult and €51 per child, and processing takes six months to two years depending on the state and its workload. German law now permits multiple citizenship.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
All possible documents for this route
- Passport + current permit
- B1 certificate (or German school qualification)
- Citizenship test certificate
- Proof of income (contract, payslips)
- Birth certificate (sworn translation)
- Meldebescheinigung
- If married: marriage certificate
WHERE PEOPLE MOST OFTEN LOSE MONEY AND TIME
- Starting with the German documents. Your real filing date is set by apostilles and sworn translations of foreign certificates: those take months, while a registration certificate takes a day.
- Filing before every requirement is met. Residence period, language, test, income and absence of serious convictions are assessed together, and one open point sends the whole application back along with the fee you paid.
- Taking the test at the integration course's minimum threshold rather than the naturalisation one. A single certificate can cover both course and citizenship if you sit it at the required level straight away.
- Waiting for the decision in silence. Get the acknowledgement of receipt with a file number and follow up politely every few months — with processing times of up to two years that is standard practice, not pressure.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ROUTE
How long does the whole path take?▾
Two unequal parts. Preparation hinges on foreign certificates: apostille and sworn translation take months. Processing itself runs from six months to two years depending on the state — closer to the upper end in large cities, considerably faster in smaller ones.
There is still about a year to go — what can be done now?▾
Three things, none of them tied to the filing date. Take B1 if you do not hold the certificate. Sit the test — it does not expire. And order apostilles and sworn translations of certificates from your country of origin: they determine when you can realistically file.
What does naturalisation cost?▾
The fee is €255 for an adult and €51 per child naturalised alongside you. Add €25 for the test plus the cost of apostilles and sworn translations, which depend on your country of origin and the number of documents and can easily match the fee itself.
The naturalisation certificate has arrived — what now?▾
Apply for a German passport and identity card straight away and hand back your previous residence permit. Separately, check your country of origin's rules: German law permits multiple citizenship, but your home country may impose its own conditions — better learned before the ceremony than after.