German Citizenship Legal Updates

The Staatsangehörigkeitsrechts-Modernisierungsgesetz (StARModG) entered into force on June 27, 2024. The central change for descent applicants: §25 StAG no longer automatically strips German citizenship on voluntary acquisition of a foreign citizenship. German citizens may naturalize in foreign countries without losing German citizenship — and US-based descent applicants can now keep both passports.

What it does NOT do: the reform is not retroactive. Ancestors who naturalized abroad before June 27, 2024 without a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung lost German citizenship under the rules then in force. The 2024 reform does not un-break historical chains.

Source: Bundesgesetzblatt I Nr. 104 (2024) · Full explainer

On August 20, 2021, the Fourth Act Amending the Nationality Act (Viertes Gesetz zur Änderung des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetzes) entered into force. The amendment added four new declaration paths to §5 StAG, restoring eligibility for descendants of German mothers who lost citizenship by marriage before 1953, descendants blocked by pre-1975 wedlock rules, and descendants affected by the pre-1993 paternity-recognition rule. The fix addresses gender discrimination in historical citizenship transmission that the Federal Constitutional Court had found unconstitutional.

Deadline: August 19, 2031 — a firm 10-year filing window set by the 2021 amendment. No extension has been proposed.

Source: Bundesgesetzblatt — Viertes Gesetz zur Änderung des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetzes (2021) · §5 StAG guide

Art. 116(2) of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) and §15 StAG provide a pathway for descendants of people who were stripped of German citizenship between January 30, 1933 and May 8, 1945 on political, racial, religious, or ideological grounds. This route has no generational cap — grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and more distant descendants may all apply. The Bundesverwaltungsamt (Federal Office of Administration) in Cologne is the sole authority for §15 StAG applications worldwide.

No deadline. No fee. Art. 116(2)/§15 StAG applications are free under the §38(3) Nr. 4 StAG fee waiver and carry no filing deadline. Processing currently takes approximately 6–18 months at the BVA.

Source: Bundesverwaltungsamt — Art. 116(2) GG / §15 StAG guidance · Art. 116(2) guide

The accelerated 3-year naturalization path introduced by StARModG (§10 Abs. 3 StAG, for applicants with special integration achievements at C1 German level) was repealed effective October 30, 2025 by a separate amendment (BGBl. I Nr. 256). The standard minimum is now 5 years of legal residence for Anspruchseinbürgerung.

Does not affect descent or restitution routes. §4 StAG (Feststellung by descent), §5 StAG (gender-fix declaration), and Art. 116(2)/§15 StAG (Nazi-era persecution restitution) are entirely separate from the naturalization path and are unchanged by this repeal.

Source: BGBl. I Nr. 256 (2025) — Gesetz zur Änderung des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetzes

The 2021 Fourth Act Amending the Nationality Act set a 10-year filing window for §5 StAG declarations — the four gender-fix categories expire on August 19, 2031. As of 2026, more than five years remain, but the deadline is firm. Families who may qualify under §5 but defer filing risk losing eligibility entirely. Pending applications on file at the deadline continue to be processed, but new filings will not be accepted after August 19, 2031.

Source: Bundesgesetzblatt — Viertes Gesetz zur Änderung des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetzes (2021) · §5 StAG guide