Germany
How to Prove You're Already German: The BVA Citizenship Certificate (Feststellung)
If you think you inherited German citizenship through a parent or earlier ancestor, the Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt, BVA) can make a binding finding (Feststellung) of whether you hold it. If you do, it issues a German citizenship certificate (Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis). Source: BVA, Feststellung The legal basis is section 30 of the Nationality Act (StAG). Source: BVA
Do you actually need one?
The BVA says you usually only need a certificate if there's doubt about your German citizenship and an authority specifically asks for one, for example when you apply for a German passport for the first time. Source: BVA For many matters, valid German ID documents or an expired citizenship certificate are enough, so the BVA suggests asking your German mission or the authority first. Source: BVA
Certificates issued now don't expire. Under the rules in force until August 28, 2007, they were generally limited to up to 10 years. Source: BVA
What the BVA checks
It works out when and how you acquired German citizenship and whether you still hold it. Events in your life and your ancestors' lives can matter, such as births, marriages and adoptions, and also historical events such as collective naturalizations during World War II or acquiring a foreign citizenship. Source: BVA
Forms
- Antrag F for people 16 and older
- Antrag FK for people under 16
- Anlage V (details about German ancestors), one for each generation, if you claim citizenship by descent
Fill the forms out legibly, completely and in German. Source: BVA, How to apply The BVA only processes applications filled out in German. Source: BVA, Forms You can also apply online through Germany's federal portal. Source: BVA
Documents
Unless stated otherwise, send officially or notarially certified copies, both for yourself and for each ancestor listed in Anlage V. Source: BVA Original documents are only returned if specially requested. Source: BVA Documents the BVA lists include:
- Descent and identity: birth certificates, marriage certificates, family registers (Familienbücher), foreign ID documents such as passports
- Proof an ancestor was German: German passports or ID cards, naturalization certificates, earlier citizenship certificates or Heimatscheine, certificates of appointment as a civil servant, an extract from the German residents' register
- Also helpful: proof that an ancestor did not acquire another citizenship (a certificate of non-naturalization), proof of when other citizenships were acquired, name-change documents, and custody papers for children under 16
Where to send it
Submit the signed application through your local German mission abroad, or directly to the BVA. From outside Germany, the mailing address is Bundesverwaltungsamt, Barbarastr. 1, 50735 Köln/Cologne, Germany. The BVA advises against email or fax because originals or certified copies are needed. Source: BVA
You'll get an acknowledgment with a BVA file number (Aktenzeichen); quote it in all later letters. If you move, tell the BVA your new address. Source: BVA
Fee
A citizenship certificate costs €51. A refusal costs €25 to €51. Pay only when the BVA asks you to; it doesn't accept checks, cash, online payment services or credit cards, and recommends a transfer from a German account. Source: BVA, Fees The certificate is normally sent with the fee request to your German mission, which tells you how to pay and collect it. Source: BVA
How long it takes
The BVA receives about 1,000 new applications a month and handles them in order of receipt, so it says a processing time of two years is not unusual. It often has to ask for more documents or make inquiries with German authorities. Source: BVA, Processing time