Can I claim German citizenship? How?

December 12, 2018 2:31 PM

Let's say I'm am American citizen. I was born, in the United States, prior to 1999, to one American parent and one German parent. They are married. At what point would I no longer be able to claim German citizenship? When the German parent moved to the US? When the German parent became a permanent resident (i.e. a green card holder)? When the German parent became a US citizen? Can I still claim German citizenship?

If I can claim German citizenship, how would I go about doing that?

posted by Shohobohaum Za to Law & Government (10 answers total)

In that case, it looks like you already are a German citizen - you just have to claim it. I'm assuming you will need documents that prove your father was a German citizen at the time of your birth (old passport, maybe?), your parents' marriage certificate, and your birth certificate.

For more info about this, and about obtaining a German passport, read this (this is the British page, but I'm sure there's one for Americans you could read too).

Click "passports" for more info about the application process.
posted by Penguin48 at 3:05 PM on December 12, 2018 [3 favorites]

This case, at least, seems pretty straightforward--born of at least one German citizen parent between 1975 and 1999, you are a German citizen. Prior to 1975, the citizen has to be the father. Place of birth is irrelevant prior to 1999 if citizenship is based on parentage.

Fit those rules, you're a citizen already.

(This took all of five minutes on Wikipedia--is there some wrinkle I'm not thinking of?)
posted by praemunire at 3:06 PM on December 12, 2018 [2 favorites]

This page from the German Missions in the US includes a questionnaire that you can send to your local consulate; they will then advise you on whether you are likely to hold citizenship, and (if so) whether you should fill out the official forms for claiming German citizenship.
posted by Johnny Assay at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2018 [1 favorite]

Well funded embassies/consulates typically have some folks that answer questions like this, because oftentimes claiming citizenship can be done through those embassies/consulates. I would give your closest one a call, they’re usually quite helpful.
posted by furnace.heart at 3:28 PM on December 12, 2018 [1 favorite]

You are German. You are also American - in this article on Wikipedia, point five under “dual citizenship” states that people born in countries with birthright citizenship like the US, or to one German and one foreign parent, are allowed to have dual citizenship.

You may simply be able to apply for a passport. It looks like you need to apply at a German consulate in person for biometric data like fingerprints to be recorded, but there are quite a few locations in the US to do this. Check here.
posted by mdonley at 3:54 PM on December 12, 2018

Response by poster: (This took all of five minutes on Wikipedia--is there some wrinkle I'm not thinking of?)

The Loss Of German Citizenship section implies that if my German citizen parent had become a United States citizen before my birth, than I would no longer be able to claim German citizenship. Is that the case?
posted by Shohobohaum Za at 4:22 PM on December 12, 2018

You need to talk to the German Embassy. They will give you forms to fill out and tell you what papers you need to provide. I have been through this, with a different pair of countries. In my case it was helpful to show up with my actual father too, once I had all the paperwork ready.
posted by w0mbat at 4:55 PM on December 12, 2018 [1 favorite]

When I went through this process (and eventually was granted a passport) the rule was that my parent had to have held a German passport at the time of my birth. Naturalization of said parent after my birth did not affect my right to a passport, though several sources, who should have known better, told me that my citizenship had been lost along with my parent's, once they naturalized. This caused a lot of confusion. It turned out that my parent had given up their citizenship by naturalizing, but not mine.

The other invalidating factor, AFAIK, is if you voluntarily joined the military of a country that is not Germany.
posted by Crystal Fox at 4:56 PM on December 12, 2018 [2 favorites]

It looks like you could claim German citizenship if you were born before your German parent acquired US citizenship, or your parent applied to keep their German citizenship when they became naturalized in the US (see the source for the Wikipedia article and the German consulate in Canada). That said, talking to a consulate/embassy sounds like a good idea.
posted by ersatzhuman at 5:05 PM on December 12, 2018

Just a datapoint, my wife was born in the USA prior to 1975 to a German mother (w/ green card) and an American father.

She was denied a German passport but only on the basis of her father's citizenship, not her mother's resident status. This was confirmed by the German consulate, and they admitted the father-only rule sucks but that's the current law.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:39 AM on December 13, 2018