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German Citizenship · Legal UpdatesGerman Citizenship Legal Updates
Dated summaries of German citizenship law changes that may affect descent applicants. Every factual claim links to a primary German government source or a reputable secondary source.
Last verified: September 7, 2026 · Maintained by The Next Passport (Warner Creates LLC). Checked against the consolidated StAG at gesetze-im-internet.de (Zuletzt geändert durch Art. 3 G v. 21.7.2026 I Nr. 221), the Bundesgesetzblatt texts of each act cited below, and the BVA's own guidance.
Last updated: September 7, 2026
Four StAG changes since 2024 are summarised below. Two matter to most readers: the June 2024 StARModG reform that legalized dual citizenship, and the October 30, 2025 repeal of the 3-year fast-track naturalization path. Two later ones do not touch descent at all but are newer, so they are recorded here rather than left to look like an omission: §35a StAG, in force December 24, 2025 — §35a StAG, inserted at the end of 2025, bars naturalisation for ten years where an earlier naturalisation was withdrawn under §35, or where the authority finds an applicant used deception, threats, bribery or deliberately false statements about material requirements. Art. 116(2) restitution and §15 are naturalisations in the statute's own words («sind auf Antrag einzubürgern»), and §35a names no exception for them. BVA's own Merkblätter for both routes predate the provision and do not mention it, so how BVA applies it to a restitution claim is not something we can source — we flag that it exists rather than predict its effect. — and a July 29, 2026 amendment to §17 Abs. 2 about withdrawn paternity recognitions. The descent and restitution routes (§4, §5, Art. 116(2)) are unchanged by all four. One deadline still looms: §5 StAG declarations must reach the BVA by August 19, 2031.
Corrections published September 7, 2026: First full top-to-bottom read of this page, and two things were wrong. It said “two recent developments” and stopped at October 2025, while the StAG's own status line already read “Zuletzt geändert durch Art. 3 G v. 21.7.2026 I Nr. 221” — two amending acts had landed since, and a page whose job is to say what is current cannot be silent about them even when they change nothing for our readers. Both are now on the page. Second, the Art. 116(2)/§15 card called the Bundesverwaltungsamt the sole authority worldwide; the BVA's own competence page makes that turn on residence — abroad, it is the only competent office; inside Germany, it is your local citizenship authority and the BVA expressly does not answer domestic cases.
Corrections published September 6, 2026: Three things on this page were re-read at their sources and were wrong. The card below describing the 2021 §5 amendment said the father-line category covered people whose paternity was not legally established in time. It is the opposite: the Bundesverwaltungsamt's own checklist requires that paternity was recognised, or proceedings to establish it begun, before the claimant's 23rd birthday. The same sentence applied the “born before 1975” limit to the marriage-loss category, which has no upper birth limit, and left out the May 23, 1949 floor that §5(1) puts on every category including descendants. Separately, this page carried a hardcoded “more than five years remain” on the §5 deadline, which stopped being true on 19 August 2026 and is now counted from the deadline itself. And §25 StAG was described as no longer stripping citizenship automatically; it was repealed (StARModG Art. 1 Nr. 16) and now reads “§ 25 (weggefallen)”.
Corrections published August 12, 2026: German law itself has not moved since April, but a source re-verification against gesetze-im-internet.de corrected four things on this site. §4(4) StAG turns on the German parent's birth after 31 December 1999, not the child's — we had it a generation off. The §38(3) fee exemptions are separate numbers (Art. 116(2) is Nr. 1, §15 is Nr. 2, §5 is Nr. 4), not all Nr. 4. We removed a “6–18 months” figure for Art. 116(2) and an accompanying claim about a 2021 federal apology, neither of which we could source. And Art. 116(2) covers deprivations on political, racial or religious grounds — we had wrongly added “ideological”.
Pending deadline · §5 StAG
August 19, 2031
§5 StAG declarations under the 2021 gender-discrimination fix must be filed on or before August 19, 2031 — approximately 4 years remain. The four statutory categories close after that date. See our §5 StAG declaration guide.
This page is informational, not legal advice. The Next Passport is an independent document organization tool — not a law firm and not a German government agency. Every factual claim links to a primary German government source or a reputable secondary source. For guidance on your specific situation, consult a licensed German citizenship attorney.
Dated source cards
June 27, 2024
StARModG — Germany legalizes dual citizenship
The Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Staatsangehörigkeitsrechts (StARModG) was signed on March 22, 2024, promulgated on March 26, 2024 and entered into force three months later, on June 27, 2024. The central change for descent applicants: §25 StAG was repealed outright by StARModG Art. 1 Nr. 16, and now reads "§ 25 (weggefallen)". German citizens may naturalize in foreign countries without losing German citizenship, and US-based descent applicants can keep both passports.
What it does NOT do: the reform is not retroactive. The 2024 reform does not un-break historical chains.
August 20, 2021
Fourth Act Amending the Nationality Act — §5 StAG gender-discrimination fix
On August 20, 2021, the Fourth Act Amending the Nationality Act (Viertes Gesetz zur Änderung des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetzes) entered into force. It added four declaration categories to §5 StAG, all of them open only to people born after May 23, 1949 — §5(1) opens with that limit and it governs every category, descendants included. Nr. 1 covers children who took no German citizenship at birth: born before January 1, 1975 to a married German mother and a foreign father, or born before July 1, 1993 to an unmarried German father where paternity was recognised — or proceedings to establish it begun — before the child's 23rd birthday. Nr. 2 covers children of a mother who had already lost German citizenship by marrying a foreigner before April 1, 1953, with no upper limit on the child's own birth date. Nr. 3 covers children born after May 23, 1949 and before April 1, 1953 who held German citizenship at birth and lost it when their parents married afterwards and a foreign father legitimised them. Nr. 4 covers the descendants of anyone in the first three groups. The fix addresses the gender discrimination in historical citizenship transmission that the Federal Constitutional Court held unconstitutional in BVerfGE 37, 217, decided May 21, 1974.
Deadline: August 19, 2031 — a 10-year filing window set by the 2021 amendment. The window is stated in the statute as a period rather than a date: §5(3) StAG reads “Das Erklärungsrecht nach Absatz 1 kann nur innerhalb von zehn Jahren nach Inkrafttreten dieses Gesetzes ausgeübt werden”, and it still read exactly that at the StAG's current status line (“Zuletzt geändert durch Art. 3 G v. 21.7.2026 I Nr. 221”) when we last checked on September 7, 2026. The calendar date comes from the BVA, which administers it.
Source: Bundesgesetzblatt archive — Viertes Gesetz zur Änderung des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetzes, BGBl. 2021 I S. 3538 (Nr. 54) · BVA Merkblatt zum Erklärungserwerb (Stand: Oktober 2025) · §5 StAG guide
No deadline · No generational cap
Art. 116(2) GG / §15 StAG — Nazi-era persecution restitution
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, or religious grounds. Art. 116(2) reads, verbatim: “Frühere deutsche Staatsangehörige, denen zwischen dem 30. Januar 1933 und dem 8. Mai 1945 die Staatsangehörigkeit aus politischen, rassischen oder religiösen Gründen entzogen worden ist, und ihre Abkömmlinge sind auf Antrag wieder einzubürgern.” Because it says “und ihre Abkömmlinge” without qualification, this route has no generational cap — grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and more distant descendants may all apply. Where you file turns on where you live: if you live permanently outside Germany, the Bundesverwaltungsamt (Federal Office of Administration) in Cologne is the only competent office, and the BVA says so in those terms. If you live in Germany, it is not — your local citizenship or naturalisation authority handles the case, and the BVA states that it does not answer applications or questions about domestic proceedings at all.
No deadline. No fee. Art. 116(2)/§15 StAG applications carry no filing deadline and no fee — the exemption for Art. 116(2) sits at §38(3) Nr. 1 StAG, the one for §15 at §38(3) Nr. 2 StAG, and §38(3) Nr. 4 StAG is the §5 declaration exemption — three separate numbers, not one. The BVA publishes no processing-time figure for this route.
Source: Bundesverwaltungsamt — Art. 116(2) GG / §15 StAG guidance · BVA — Zuständigkeiten in Staatsangehörigkeitsverfahren (Stand 13.05.2024) · Art. 116 GG (consolidated text) · Art. 116(2) guide
October 30, 2025
3-year fast-track naturalization path repealed
The accelerated 3-year naturalization path introduced by the StARModG (§10 Abs. 3 StAG, for applicants with special integration achievements at C1 German level) was repealed by the Gesetz zur Änderung des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetzes sowie weiterer Vorschriften (BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 256), which does exactly one thing to the StAG: “§ 10 Absatz 3 wird gestrichen.” Signed 27 October 2025 and promulgated two days later, it took effect the day after promulgation — October 30, 2025. §10 Abs. 3 now reads “(weggefallen)” and the standard minimum is back to 5 years of lawful 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.
Deadline set by law effective August 20, 2021
§5 StAG — filing window closes August 19, 2031
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, which is now about 4 years away. §5(3) StAG still states the window as "innerhalb von zehn Jahren nach Inkrafttreten dieses Gesetzes" at the law's current status line, so nothing has moved the date. What stops the clock is receipt at the Bundesverwaltungsamt — not the postmark, and not lodgement at a consulate, so a declaration posted close to the date can still miss it — the BVA's Merkblatt puts it bluntly: "Nach dem 19.08.2031 beim Bundesverwaltungsamt eingehende Erklärungen führen nicht mehr zum Erwerb der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit." A queue at the deadline is not the risk people assume it is, because you acquire citizenship on the day the declaration reaches the Bundesverwaltungsamt and the certificate only proves a status you already hold; the risk is arriving late, not being decided late.
Source: Bundesgesetzblatt archive — Viertes Gesetz zur Änderung des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetzes, BGBl. 2021 I S. 3538 (Nr. 54) · BVA Merkblatt zum Erklärungserwerb, §3 and §5 (Stand: Oktober 2025) · §5 StAG guide
December 24, 2025 · July 29, 2026
Two later StAG amendments — §35a Sperrfrist and §17 Abs. 2
The StAG has been amended twice since the fast-track repeal, and neither change reaches a descent applicant. We record them because the alternative — a page that simply stops at October 2025 — cannot be told apart from a page nobody has checked.
§35a StAG (Sperrfrist), inserted with effect from December 24, 2025 (BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 364), bars naturalisation for ten years where a naturalisation has been rescinded under §35, or where the citizenship authority finds in a naturalisation case that the applicant deceived, threatened or bribed, or knowingly used false or incomplete statements about a material requirement. It is a penalty provision inside the naturalisation chapter. §4 Feststellung is not a naturalisation at all — it establishes a citizenship you already hold — and a §5 declaration is an Erklärungserwerb, not an Einbürgerung, so neither is touched.
§17 Abs. 2 StAG was amended with effect from July 29, 2026 (BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 221, the Act on better prevention of abusive recognitions of paternity). It concerns children who acquired German citizenship through a paternity recognition that an immigration authority later withdrew — a present-day immigration-abuse provision, with no application to a historical descent chain.
Why they are here at all. The consolidated StAG carries its own status line, and it currently reads “Zuletzt geändert durch Art. 3 G v. 21.7.2026 I Nr. 221”. Anyone checking this page against that line should be able to account for every amendment between the newest card and the newest law. These two are the difference.
Source: BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 364 — Art. 3 Nr. 2 (§35a inserted) · BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 221 — Art. 3 (§17 Abs. 2 amended) · §35a StAG (consolidated text)
See which path applies to your family
Our free eligibility check walks through §4 StAG, §5 StAG, and Art. 116(2) simultaneously — and tells you which path (if any) may apply to your family history.
The Next Passport is a document organization and research tool, not a legal authority. This page aggregates publicly reported information from primary German government sources and reputable secondary sources. Always verify with official sources before taking action, and consult a licensed German citizenship attorney for guidance on your specific situation.