Dual Citizenship

The German citizenship law only allows dual-citizenship in some instances. One of these includes children born to one German parent and one foreign parent. The child can obtain both citizenships at birth, but in some cases, must choose the citizenship he or she wishes to retain at the age of 23. This also applies to children born of parents who are both foreign residents of Germany. Adopted children under the age of 18 (by German parents) from another country are not forced to renounce their original citizenship.

Germany does allow foreign residents to obtain citizenship via naturalization, though most foreigners are forced to renounce their original citizenship in doing so. Exceptions are made for residents whose countries do not allow them to renounce citizenship, political refugees, EU and Swiss citizens. Residents applying for citizenship are required to have lived in Germany for at least eight years, be able to speak the language, be financially independent without a criminal record and to know basic German historical, political and cultural information.