Amendment to German Citizenship Law

The German Bundestag and Bundesrat adopted the Fourth Act Amending the Nationality Act that entered into force on 20 August 2021.

These include major changes regarding the acquisition of German citizenship and give many persons the opportunity who previously did not qualify to become German and obtain a German passport.  The two major changes include:

1. Victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants who – for technical reasons – could not claim German citizenship according to Art. 116 GG (2), are now allowed to become German citizens (naturalization pursuant to Section 15 Nationality Act, StAG).
2. Persons who were previously excluded by gender-discriminatory regulations from acquiring German citizenship at birth may now acquire it by way of declaration (pursuant to Section 5 StAG).

For detailed information, please see our webpage www.amIGerman.com designated to German citizenship matters, where you will everything about these new laws, including FAQs addressing many scenarios to see if you qualify.