German Citizenship in 2026: Who Qualifies and How Long It Takes

1. Who Qualifies in 2026

The core rule sits in § 10 StAG: five years of lawful, habitual residence in Germany. That is the standard path and it applies to everyone.

Two things are worth stating plainly because both changed recently.

The three year route is gone. The 2024 reform introduced a shortened path for applicants with exceptional integration achievements. The Bundestag voted it down on 8 October 2025, and it stopped applying at the end of that month. If you read an article promising citizenship after three years, check its date.

Spouses of German citizens keep a shorter path. Three years of lawful residence, with the marriage or registered partnership in place for at least two of them.

Beyond the clock, the office checks that you can support yourself and your dependants without unemployment benefit or social assistance, that your identity and nationality are established, and that you have no relevant criminal record.

2. Language and the Citizenship Test

B1 German is the requirement, at the Common European Framework level of the same name. § 10 Abs. 4 StAG names it directly. Exceptions exist for hardship cases and for older applicants, but plan for B1 rather than hoping for one.

Accepted proof is broader than people expect: a Zertifikat Deutsch B1, the language part of an integration course, a German school leaving certificate, or a German university degree taught in German. An English taught Master's from a German university does not count.

The Einbürgerungstest is 33 multiple choice questions drawn from a public catalogue of around 300, and you need 17 correct. The full catalogue is published, and most people who fail did not look at it. A German school leaving certificate replaces the test.

3. You Keep Your Old Passport

This is the change that mattered most and it is still in force. Since 27 June 2024, Germany no longer asks you to give up your previous nationality. The old rule, which forced most applicants to choose, is history, and the 2025 amendment did not bring it back.

The German side is settled. Your other country is a separate question. Some states withdraw their nationality automatically when you naturalise elsewhere, so check with your own consulate before you file rather than after.

4. Documents

Requirements vary by authority, which is one more reason to ask yours directly. The recurring core:

• Valid passport and your residence title
• Birth certificate, and marriage certificate if applicable, translated and legalised
• Proof of B1 German and the citizenship test certificate
• Proof of income: payslips, employment contract, or tax assessments if self-employed
• Proof of pension contributions
• Meldebescheinigung showing your registered address history
• The declaration of loyalty to the constitutional order

Certified translations have to come from a sworn translator recognised in Germany. Our guide to certified translations covers what counts and what gets rejected.

5. Cost and the Realistic Timeline

The fee is 255 euros for an adult and 51 euros for a child naturalised with a parent. That is the federal fee and it is the small part of the bill. Translations, apostilles, the language certificate and the test add a few hundred euros more.

The waiting time is the real cost, and it is worth being blunt about it.

According to Mediendienst Integration, whose June 2026 survey of German cities uses data from May 2026, processing takes more than a year in almost every city surveyed, and more than two years in half of them. On top of that comes the wait for an appointment, which in some cities runs to two years by itself. The backlog grew in 28 of 36 cities year on year even though the number of applications fell by around ten percent.

Individual authorities confirm the picture. Munich states 18 months and longer on its own city website. Berlin's Landesamt für Einwanderung took over roughly 40,000 open naturalisation cases when it centralised the process and says openly that longer processing times are to be expected. As of May 2026 Munich had 40,200 open applications, Hamburg 32,000, the Darmstadt region around 66,000.

These are approximations from the most recent public survey, not a promise about your file. Ask your own authority what it is currently quoting.

6. The Order That Works

1. Check your five years. Count lawful, habitual residence. Student years count, and so do periods on a Blue Card.
2. Sort the language proof and the test before you apply. Both are bookable independently of the authority and both are on you.
3. Order foreign documents with translation and apostille. This is the longest lead time you control.
4. Book the appointment or file online where your city offers it. Several now do, and the online route often jumps the appointment queue.
5. Keep your residence title valid throughout. A permit that lapses while you wait creates a problem you do not want in the middle of a naturalisation file.

If you are not yet at five years, permanent residence is usually the step before this one, and it comes considerably faster on several routes.