Germany · BAMF

German citizenship requirements

The standard route asks for 5 years of lawful ordinary residence, and residence is the first of 6 requirements. Below is each one as the law states it, dated, with the shorter route and the absence rules that can push the count back.

Standard route

5 yrs

of lawful ordinary residence

Spouse of a German

3 yrs

Spouse of a German citizen

Requirements

in total

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Requirements

Everything German citizenship asks for

Lawful ordinary residence: Five years of lawful ordinary residence. Since 30 October 2025 this is uniform, the earlier 3 year fast track was abolished.
Settled residence status: You need a permanent settlement permit or a residence title that qualifies for naturalisation.
German, level B1: Sufficient German at level B1 of the Common European Framework, in addition to the naturalisation test.
Einbürgerungstest: The Leben in Deutschland naturalisation test, 33 questions on law, society and daily life, passed at 17 correct.
Self support: You can secure a living for yourself and your dependants without recourse to Bürgergeld or social assistance, with limited exceptions.
Clean criminal record: No serious criminal convictions. Minor penalties, up to 90 day-fines or a short suspended sentence, are generally disregarded under StAG section 12a.

Routes

There are two routes, and one of them was closed

The 2024 reform cut the ordinary period from eight years to five and opened a three year route for people with C1 German and strong integration. That three year route was abolished on 30 October 2025. A single five year period now applies to everyone, and the only shorter path is marriage.

Standard naturalisation5 yrs
Spouse of a German citizen3 yrs

Standard naturalisation: The path most applicants take, under StAG section 10. It asks for five years of lawful ordinary residence, a settled residence status, German at B1, a pass in the Einbürgerungstest, the ability to support yourself and your dependants without state help and a clean record. You also commit to the free democratic basic order. Since 27 June 2024 you can keep your existing citizenship, dual nationality is allowed. The decision is administrative, made by your local Einbürgerungsbehörde, so this route reaches a real finish line.
Spouse of a German citizen: Under StAG section 9, the spouse or registered partner of a German citizen can naturalise after three years of lawful residence, provided the marriage or partnership has existed for at least two years. The other conditions still apply in full, the B1 language, the naturalisation test, self support and a clean record. The decision runs through the same administrative process as the standard route.

If you read somewhere that three years is enough

The English-language guidance has not caught up

BAMF publishes its naturalisation page in six languages. On 2026-09-03 the German version carried the date 31 August 2026 and said five years. The English version carried the date 30 June 2025 and still described naturalisation after three years for applicants with a special aptitude towards integration.

The German page is the current one. The three year route was abolished on 30 October 2025, and the version of § 10 StAG in force today contains no trace of it. If you have been planning on three years because an English page said so, that is where the figure came from.

Read both pages yourself, they are linked at the foot of this page. This paragraph comes out the day BAMF updates the English one.

Time abroad

How days outside Germany count

A single stay abroad up to six months does not interrupt your residence. A longer stay can, unless you re-entered within the deadline set by your Ausländerbehörde. Verify with your Einbürgerungsbehörde.

A single stay abroad of up to 180 days, six months, does not interrupt your ordinary residence.
A longer stay does not interrupt it either, if you came back within the deadline your Ausländerbehörde set.
Absences totalling more than half of the residence period you need generally end ordinary residence altogether.
After a break, up to three years of your earlier residence in Germany can be credited towards the period you need.

The first line is the rule Belong Germany measures: it takes your longest single stay abroad and holds it against the six month line. The other three are § 12b StAG in full, and the last two are judgements your Einbürgerungsbehörde makes rather than sums a tracker can do for you.

What is changing

What to watch

Five years, uniform since October 2025: The 2024 reform cut the ordinary period from eight to five years and introduced a three year fast track for people with C1 German and strong integration. That fast track was abolished on 30 October 2025. Since then a uniform five year residence period applies and cannot be shortened by special achievements. The spouse route under section 9 still allows three years.
Dual citizenship allowed: The StARModG reform of 27 June 2024 ended the general requirement to give up your previous citizenship. You can now hold German citizenship alongside your existing one, so giving up your passport is no longer a barrier for most applicants.
Processing times vary widely: Naturalisation is decided by your local authority, and backlogs differ a lot between cities. Some decide within months, others take well over a year, and several have moved to online application portals. Meeting every requirement does not set the decision date, the authority's own queue does.

Work out your own date, not the general one.

Belong Germany takes your residence date and every trip you have taken and gives you the distance that is actually yours: what you control, what you do not and what each absence costs.

No invented finish dates. Naturalisation is decided by your local Einbürgerungsbehörde, and where the decision belongs to the authority rather than to you, the app says so instead of producing a date.

Coming to Google Play.

7 days free, then 34,99 € a year.

Preparing for the Einbürgerungstest

The naturalisation test is 33 questions in 60 minutes, four options each, and you pass at 17 correct. Its entire question catalogue is published, for free, in a binding regulation.

Practice test and sample questions

Diese Seite auf Deutsch

Rules as of 1 September 2026, snapshot 2026.1, from BAMF. Read the official source. Belong Germany is not a government service, is not affiliated with the BAMF or with any Einbürgerungsbehörde, and gives no legal advice.