r/GermanCitizenship

Hi all! Im hoping you can guide me in the right direction.

Il post my family lineage below, and the questions I have. Thank you in advance for your help.

Great grandfather (Jewish)

Born in 1896 in Berlin

Married in 1932 in Berlin to my great grandmother (gentile)

Fled to South Africa 1936

Grandfather

Born in South Africa in 1942

Married in 1966

Mother

Born in South Africa in 1967

Married in 1990

Me

Born in South Africa 1990

Children born 2011,2013,2016

Documents I have

-COPY of GGF birth certificate (also found on ancestry)

-COPY of GGP marriage certificate (also found on ancestry)

Originals of:

-Grandfathers birth cert

-Grandparents marriage certificate

-Mothers birth certificate

-Parents marriage certificate

-My birth certificate

-My marriage certificate

-My children’s birth certificates

-Great grandfather’s passport ( this does not show entry in South Africa only exit in Germany) I only have a certified copy of the ships arrivals manifests with their names on.

-My uncles German citizenship certificate, passport and reference number (he applied successfully in 1997, my mother never did, my grandfather also chose not to apply for his citizenship before he passed away)

-trade ID showing he had his doctorate in political science - lost his title just before fleeing

Questions:

1. I have tried numerous times to get certified copies of my great grandfather’s birth and marriage certificate from Landesarchiv Berlin. Is there someone living in Berlin that does this for a fee?
2. I am unsure if my great grandfather ever naturalized in South Africa? Is this important documentation to have?
3. Is there anything else?

Thanks again!

hey all, wanted to give a progress update on my Article 116 application. it might be helpful for other applicants like me who are adopted:

Note that my grandma already successfully went through the 116 process a decade ago. I applied in November 2024 and received a file number in a December 2024. In December of 2025, I received a request for additional documentation related to my adoption.

The request was for several specifics, including the original birth certificate with my birth parents names, as well as any other records I have such as home studies, contracts, etc. Note that I included the original court adoption decree in my initial application, but seemingly the BVA would like some more information.

Unfortunately, after several months and applications, I found out I essentially cannot obtain my original birth parent birth certificate because I was born in Texas & the state has strict laws about maintaining the privacy of birth parents. Although I actually know both my birth parents names/identities, I seemingly do not know my father’s middle name & therefore have not been able to access the birth certificate. The alternative other option would be to petition the Texas courts to unseal my full adoption records, which is very hard to do because the state keeps them sealed except for proven, serious health causes or urgent (serious) legal matters.

After explaining this to my German Embassy rep here in DC, they asked that I bring in all the records I DO have and they will explain in writing to the BVA the legal limitations in Texas.

I Brought in all the records my adoptive parents kept, including original home studies, intake forms, contracts etc. The BVA had actually asked that I also translate it all but the embassy has agreed with me that it would be a somewhat ridiculously costly endeavor. (if I have to get it done, I of course will!)

I did this last week and I have to say the embassy staff was extremely nice & understanding of the situation. The embassy staff is going to internally evaluate the need to translate the record and will email me within the week to say if I should still translate some stuff.

thats all for now!

Hello, everyone, my case is almost finished, and I will give one final update once the Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis is issued. I was poking around the BVA’s German website when I found an option that allowed you to apply for Article 116, StAG 15, StAG 5, Feststellung, and renaturalization online! The only issue is that they seem to be requesting an eID (currently only available to EU citizens or those with a resident permit in an EU country, I believe). While this wouldn’t help the vast majority of us at this point in time, it still seems to be a step in the right direction. Hopefully, this will speed up the process and make documentation submission easier, but of course, all of that is to be determined. If anyone has any foresight on the matter, I would be very curious, as to my knowledge, the only application that could be submitted online was a request for a negative finding of German nationality.

hey reddit! recently seen all the posts about people looking through their family tree and getting passports so wondered if I stood a chance

I've been living in Germany a while and will go down the naturalisation route if this doesn't work out, currently finishing my B1 exams.

anyway my mum is coming to Germany next week and has the following documents

- German grandma had my mum in 1952 out of wedlock to an english man, I have my mum's birth certificate to prove this and my grandma's later marriage certificate

- my mum had a child German passport and lived in bavaria until the age of 6, she got the UK passport aged 18

- mum was adopted by English parent later on

- grandma's old German passport

would this be enough to claim the ancestry route?

I live in Northern Nevada, and I assumed San Francisco was my state's assigned consulate. I was wrong. it is Los Angeles. When filling out my application it ask which consulate is assigned to me. Los Angeles is a 9 hour drive from were I live, where as San Francisco is 41/2 hours. I am sending my application to the BVA myslef and have all my documents certified from their respective archives, etc. I do not need to go to consulate to send in my application. But, If I get approved and need to go to the consulate for passport or to receive my certificate, I do not want to go to Los Angeles!! Can I put San Francisco as my consulate, and/or will they send me certificate by mail and will I be able to apply for passport by mail. I have family circumstances that make it very hard to travel at this time.

Hello all,

I have spent the last 18 months or so very slowly gathering the documents I'll need for my family's StAG 5 citizenship applications. I am almost at the end, but I have been unable to locate a record of my German great-grandmother's first divorce, and I wondered how significant this would be, as proof of marriage and divorce seems like helpful evidence.

For brief context, my German great-grandmother married a naturalised British citizen (himself originally a half-Austrian, half-Polish Jewish man who lost Austrian / German citizenship owing to the Nazi race laws, and who fought in the British army, becoming a naturalised British citizen at some point prior to 1948). They married in 1948, and my great-grandmother became a British citizen upon their marriage. I have found her on the British electoral register from 1948, which she could only be as a British citizen.

My grandmother was then born in 1951, but to a different father. My great-grandmother married my great-grandfather the following year, in 1952. Ergo, my great-grandmother divorced her first husband at some point between 1948 and 1952.

In Britain, the Central Family Courts at Bury St. Edmunds hold all of these records, and you can pay them (65 pounds!!!) to search for you. I did so, and they could not locate a record of my great-grandmother's divorce at any time between 1948 and 1958. I have also written to the local authority where the divorce was processed, but they only hold records back as far as 1968.

In short, beyond paying another 65 pounds and asking again (and I'm not sure what I would ask differently - in my original request I gave both possible surnames, as the Austrian-Polish man Anglicised his name just before the marriage, so my great-grandmother sometimes appears in records with a Polish surname), I don't think I can find it. I did think that I could include as part of my documentation the letter I received in the post, telling me that the divorce record could not be located? And mention it in my covering letter to the BVA. That way they'll know I've not left it out carelessly, but having looked for it.

Would anyone think this would be a problem, or if my proposed course of action sounds sensible? Thank you! :)

Hello everyone,

I’ve seen people with AZ dates from Nov 2023, Feb 2024, and March 2024 already getting results, but mine is from October 2023 and I’ve had no updates.

I emailed in December and again last month asking for updates or if documents were needed, but both times I got the same copy-paste “don’t contact us” reply.

My case is straightforward (through my grandmother), and my great-grandfather’s records were already verified from a previous family process 20-30years ago.

For context, my family left Germany in 1913 and again in 1935 before both World Wars, and I have the ship manifests.

Has anyone experienced similar delays or know what timeline to expect? Also anybody from South America that received a positive reply?

Edit: made the post shorter

hello, does anyone have experience with the German Consulate jn Amsterdam? i’m an American living in the Netherlands and just found out i am German by descent. am wondering if i could attempt straight to passport. thank you for any advice!!

I am expecting to hear back soon (fingers crossed) with an acceptance off a 116 (2) application. I don't live in the same city as the consulate but we have an honorary consulate in my city. Has anyone, in Australia ideally, had the experience of if you can receive via mail or via the honorary consulate, or giving someone a power of attorneyto get it for you? trying to avoid having to travel to another state to pick it if I can. would love to hear some experiences for reassurance. I ask because one of the applicants has a medical issue that makes travel hard so hoping there is an option to support this.

Hi, new here. go easy on me.

Trying to confirm my mother's eligibility under §5 StAG before engaging an attorney.

•Hulda Louise Weinhold (great-grandmother) Born April 2, 1899, Bernsdorf bei Chemnitz, Germany Married June 9, 1922 in Asch, Czechoslovakia to Johann Fischer (Czechoslovak national) — lost German citizenship under RuStAG §17 No. 6 (FWIW my grandfather said he was adamant about being Austrian not Czech) Emigrated via Havana; entered US at Key West April 5, 1926 Filed Declaration of Intention (SDNY No. 311964) February 10, 1931 Never naturalized (NARA Philadelphia confirmed no federal petition in EDNY or SDNY; USCIS G-1041 searches pending)

•Henry Ernest Fischer (grandfather) Born May 29, 1929, New York City

•Heidi Fischer (mother — primary declarant) Born July 11, 1954, NY

•Myself Born in NY, USA 1982

Deadline: August 19, 2031. Questions welcome.

Thank you

Hello, I believe that I am eligible for StAG 5,

Grandmother born to a German father in Nürnberg in 1949,

Married my grandfather (American) in 1965

Mother born in 1974 with American citizenship (although, she was born in Germany and has a German birth certificate; I know that the German birth certificate does not prove citizenship or anything).

So my question is, as I will need to prove my grandmother’s German citizenship at the time of my mother’s birth, what documents do I need?

I have my grandmother’s birth certificate (German), marriage certificate (German), divorce bill (American, in English), and her American naturalization papers (she was naturalized as an American in 1979). What other documents should I look for to prove that my grandmother was a German citizen?

In addition, as I will need to translate the divorce bill, what resources are recommended to get an official translation? I am three hours away from the closest consulate.

Thanks for any help!

GGF was born in the Kingdom of Württemberg (Forchtenberg) on 13 November 1862.[2][3] He attended the public schools of Württemberg until age 11, which was followed by three years at a Württemberg Latin school.[3] He was then accepted at Württemberg's Royal Seminary for Public Teachers, from which he graduated with honors in 1879.[3] In 1880, he emigrated to the United States enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1884 and retiring in 1919. Died in 1928.

Hello everyone, I applied to stag 5 and helped my father to do the same. My sister was too lazy to apply at the time. She has recently become interested in applying. I was hoping to ask for advice on simplifying her own application.

She's not in a rush though, and it's been about 30 months since my father and I applied. So I was thinking it might be better to ask her to wait for a response on my dad's case. I reason that if she has his certificate she would likely have to gather and submit much less docs than my father and I did. Otherwise, given the time that has passed since we applied, she would have to request fresh copies of the documents I collected, and the translations are quite expensive.

My reasoning is that if she has my dad's certificate available she might just need her own birth certificate, FBI background check. His birth certificate. His marriage certificate, translations and apostilles of each.

Would that work? Or would she need to apply with the entire set of documents that I collected? Both my grandfather and great-grandfather were German. I went back all the way to about 1904 in terms of documents (which might have been slight overkill). Thank you in advance for any advice.

Hi all,

I moved in with my partner during my citizenship application and am now being asked for more documents. My partner has the Hauptmietvertrag and I got Anmeldung with a Wohnungsgeberbestatigung.

What documents should I send to the LEA to prove this? I have the Anmeldung, Wohnungsgeberbestatigung from my partner, proof that I am paying rent, and we also have their rental contract.

Do I need to sign an Untermietvertrag with them as well? Are any other documents necessary? We live in Berlin with a big evil rental company and they have been informed I moved in but did not oppose it or issue me any kind of recognition document.

Thanks in advance.

Hi all,

Hope everyone is ok. Just wanted to ask here for some clarification, as I'm getting some conflicting answers from various sources. I'm doing a bit of research for my mother-in-law, whose grandfather was German.

She would like to see if she is eligible under §5 StAG, and at first, I thought she would be, but I don't think so anymore because of the dates involved.

Timeline below:

1. Heinrich DoB 7/7/1883 Eberswalde, Brandenburg, Germany

Moved to the UK, Manchester area - ?? Apparently, he came over on a fishing boat/vessel, so I haven't found him on any ship manifests yet. Also, no idea what year.

I haven't found him in any Konsulatsmatrikel in Liverpool, Manchester or London online, so maybe he didn't renew his German citizenship in the UK if he came over before 1904 (correct?)

I have found him under different names online, mostly as Henry or Harold, but there is consistency in addresses, profession and place of birth and DoB.

He is listed as a German resident on a 1921 census and on his 1939 Enemy Alien Internment record.

2. Millicent DoB 24/11/24 Manchester, UK

Daughter of Henry/Heinrich/Harold and Minnie (British)

This is where things get a little messy. On the UK GRO Index for births, she has her mother's maiden name, but on her official Entry of Birth certificate, it is Harold's. Minnie is also using Harold's on the 1925 document.

But this Entry of Birth is dated January 1925, and I haven't as yet found a marriage certificate for Heinrich and Minnie. So I'm assuming she just took his name unofficially, and they probably were not married at the time of Millicent's birth, but he is listed as the actual father still.

3. Jennifer DoB 9/5/1966 Manchester, UK

My mother-in-law who seeking German citizenship.

I'm primarily seeing if it's worth pursuing, as it's come to the stage where we would need to pay a German Genealogist to try and source Heinrich's birth certificate and/or other proof he was German.

I'm working through the Taufen archives on archion.de, but it's a slow, painful process with hard-to-read handwriting.

Is it possible he just made up where he was from and anglicised/picked his surname when he came over?

I do have an RC number for police registration, so surely he would have needed to provide identification with some accurate information when he did that? I am also scouring the National Archives here in the UK for that police reg number, but apparently most of the Manchester records were lost a while back.

Appreciate any guidance on this, but I think the deciding factor in all of this is the 1949 date, as it seems to all be out of wedlock for Millicent?

Thanks

When the embassy instructs a family to undergo Feststellung, they instruct to send the application for all existing members of the family (if they are interested in determining their nationality).

But -

My question is from the logical perspective - if the oldest applicant is eventually determined to be a German national, when the Determination process is completed - assuming the other family members have not done something that may cause their nationality to be lost (voluntarily joining armed forces or having requested to naturalize in another country before June 2024), are his descendants not automatically German nationals?

I’m asking because the Feststellung requires all applicants to submit plenty of certificates and translations that for those going directly to passport \ registration of birth, are not required.

When a person goes directly to passport and shows his father or mother’s Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis, they are not required to undergo the determination process themselves. So what is the incentive of a whole family applying for a Feststellung?

Also, I have recently learned that even though the Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis states the married name - once it is produced it is not sufficient to determine a persons name in Germany, and for those that changed their name in marriage or by choice - they had to undergo the name declaration….

So, I’m confused - why would anyone have to undergo the full determination and not just wait for the parent to receive his Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis and just go direct to passport…?

Thank you 🙏🏻