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Germany for ancestry and heritage
If this applies to you it is free, there is no language test — and one route closes in 2031.
This is the route nobody sold you, because there is nothing to sell. German citizenship by descent and restoration costs nothing: the Nationality Act lists both procedures among the fee-free ones. No agent earns a commission on a free procedure, so almost nothing is written about these routes, and people who hold a real claim go their whole lives without hearing of it. Two groups should read this carefully. The first is anyone whose German parent or grandparent was blocked by the old discriminations — until 1975 a German mother married to a foreigner did not pass citizenship to a child born in wedlock, until 1993 an unmarried German father did not pass it at all, and until 1953 a German woman lost her own citizenship simply by marrying a foreigner. Those rules were repaired by a declaration right, it runs down the generations to grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and it expires on 19 August 2031. The second is anyone descended from a person persecuted on political, racial or religious grounds between 1933 and 1945. That entitlement has no deadline, no generational limit, no language requirement and no residence requirement at all. One warning we will not bury. Germany dropped its restriction on dual citizenship in June 2024, but that says nothing about your own country's law. India, in particular, terminates Indian citizenship the moment a foreign one is acquired. Establish what you would be giving up before you file anything.
Where you stand
Make this page about you
0 paths are named in Germany's official demand list, ranked below.
What Germany wants, in its own order
This order is the official shortage analysis, not our opinion. The source is linked under the list.
The routes
Each route below is a separate permit with its own hard requirements. Failing any one requirement means that route is closed to you, however strong the rest of your case is.
Citizenship by declaration (Erklärungserwerb, § 5 StAG)
OpenA free declaration, not an application, repairing the old rules that blocked the maternal and the unmarried paternal line. It runs down the generations, and it closes on 19 August 2031.
Who this is for
- Born in wedlock before 1 January 1975 to a German mother and a foreign father
- Born outside wedlock before 1 July 1993 to a German father and a foreign mother
- Your mother lost her German citizenship by marrying a foreigner before 1 April 1953
- You lost citizenship held at birth through legitimation by a foreigner before 1 April 1953
- You are a descendant of any of the above — a grandchild or great-grandchild may declare in their own name
You must have every one of these
- You were born after 23 May 1949, when the Basic Law entered into force
- You fall into one of the four groups above, or descend from someone who does
- The declaration is received by the authority no later than 19 August 2031. Citizenship is acquired on the date the declaration is received, so a backlog cannot cost you the claim — only missing the deadline can
- No final conviction carrying a sentence of two years or more, and no ground of exclusion under § 11 StAG
- No German language test, no residence in Germany, and no fee
Source: § 5 StAG — acquisition by declaration (Federal Office of Justice) (checked 2026-11-03) · § 38 StAG — fees, including the fee-free procedures (checked 2026-11-03) · City of Munich naturalisation authority — citizenship by declaration (checked 2026-11-03) · Bezirksregierung Köln — information sheet on acquisition by declaration (checked 2026-11-03)
Restored citizenship for the persecuted and their descendants (Wiedergutmachungseinbürgerung, § 15 StAG)
OpenA statutory entitlement, not a favour, for descendants of people persecuted between 1933 and 1945. No language, no residence, no fee and no deadline.
Who this is for
- Descendants of someone persecuted on political, racial or religious grounds between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945
- Families who gave up or lost German citizenship before 26 February 1955
- Families whose application to be naturalised was refused, or who were excluded from a naturalisation otherwise open to them
- Families who gave up a habitual residence in Germany established before 30 January 1933
You must have every one of these
- The persecuted ancestor falls into one of the four situations the provision lists
- You are a descendant. The provision states no generational limit, and descendants are expressly protected from the generational cut-off that applies elsewhere
- No final conviction carrying a sentence of two years or more
- No German language requirement and no requirement ever to have lived in Germany
Source: § 15 StAG — naturalisation of the persecuted and their descendants (checked 2026-11-03) · § 38 StAG — fees, including the fee-free procedures (checked 2026-11-03) · Federal Foreign Office — restoration of citizenship for the persecuted (checked 2026-11-03)
Citizenship by birth to a German parent (§ 4 StAG)
OpenThe ordinary descent rule. One German parent is enough — but if you were born abroad to a parent who was also born abroad, there is a one-year clock you can miss without ever knowing it existed.
Who this is for
- Anyone with one German parent at the time of their birth
- Parents of a child recently born abroad, who need to act inside the first year
You must have every one of these
- One parent was German when you were born. Marriage is irrelevant and mother and father count equally under the current rule
- Where only the father is German and paternity must be established under German law, the recognition or the proceedings must begin before the child turns 23
- The cut-off that catches diaspora families: a child born abroad does NOT acquire citizenship if the German parent was themselves born abroad after 31 December 1999 and lives abroad — unless the birth is registered with the German authorities within one year of birth
- That cut-off does not apply to descendants of someone who holds restored citizenship under § 15 StAG or Article 116(2) of the Basic Law
Source: § 4 StAG — acquisition by birth (Federal Office of Justice) (checked 2026-11-03) · § 38 StAG — fees, including the fee-free procedures (checked 2026-11-03)
What it actually costs
Fee-free by statute. You still pay for civil documents, translations and certifications, which is where the real cost of this route sits.
Source: § 38 StAG — fees, including the fee-free procedures (checked 2026-11-03)
EUR 0You payFee-free by statute.
Source: § 38 StAG — fees, including the fee-free procedures (checked 2026-11-03)
EUR 0You paySource: § 38 StAG — fees, including the fee-free procedures (checked 2026-11-03)
EUR 51You payEUR 255 per adult and EUR 51 per minor child. This is the route you fall back to if no ancestry claim applies, and it requires residence, language and an integration test.
Source: § 38 StAG — fees, including the fee-free procedures (checked 2026-11-03)
EUR 51 to EUR 255You payWhere a blocked account appears above, that is your own money and it comes back to you monthly after arrival. It is not a fee to anyone. No agent needs to hold it for you.
How long it really takes
12 to 36 months
We cannot source an official processing time: the authority that handles applications from abroad does not publish one that we could reach, and we will not print a figure from a forum. What we can tell you is the part that protects you — under the declaration route, citizenship is acquired on the day your declaration is received, not the day it is decided. Lodge it well before 19 August 2031 and a backlog is the authority's problem, not yours.
Is this route real? The numbers
Published flow figures, so you can see the route is used and not just written down.
Nothing — fee-free by statute
Cost of a § 5 declaration or a § 15 naturalisation
Source: § 38 StAG — fees, including the fee-free procedures (checked 2026-11-03)
19 August 2031
Deadline to lodge a § 5 declaration
Source: City of Munich naturalisation authority — citizenship by declaration (checked 2026-11-03) · Bezirksregierung Köln — information sheet on acquisition by declaration (checked 2026-11-03)
None
German required for § 15 restoration
Source: § 15 StAG — naturalisation of the persecuted and their descendants (checked 2026-11-03)
None
Time you must have lived in Germany for § 15
Source: § 15 StAG — naturalisation of the persecuted and their descendants (checked 2026-11-03)