On August 20, 2021, a new law became effective in Germany that opens the door for many persons with a German parent or grand parent, to become German citizens. A number of discriminatory rules previously prevented certain persons with a German mother, father, or grand parent from becoming a German citizen at birth. For example, a child born in wedlock – during certain periods when these laws were in place – would acquire only the father\u2019s citizenship at birth. In case of a child born in wedlock to a German mother and a foreign father, this meant that the child would only acquire the father\u2019s foreign nationality at birth. Similarly, a child born out of wedlock would usually acquire only the mother\u2019s nationality at birth. Consequently, a child born out of wedlock to a German father and a foreign mother would acquire only the foreign mother\u2019s nationality. Under current nationality laws, a child will always acquire German citizenship at birth, if one parent is a German citizen, regardless whether the child is born in or out of wedlock. Therefore, it will be sufficient if the mother or the father is a German citizen for the child to also become a German citizen at birth (it may also acquire another nationality through the other parent who is not a German citizen).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a large group of persons who, at the time of their birth, did not acquire German citizenship because the old rules described above, or other, similarly discriminatory rules, that were applicable at that time. Article 3 of the German Constitution (the \u201cGrundgesetz\u201d), which became effective as of May 23, 1949 states that<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c(1) All persons shall be equal before the law.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (2) Men and women shall have equal rights. The state shall promote the actual implementation of equal rights for women and men and take steps to eliminate disadvantages that now exist.\u201d(…)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite these clear promulgations of the German Constitution, for many years the acquisition of German citizenship hinged on whether a child was born in or out of wedlock, and it was considered arbitrary by many that in some cases a child would become a German citizen only if the father was German (if the parents were married) and in some cases it would become a German citizen only if the mother was German (if the parents were not married). To eliminate this unequal treatment under the law, a new section 5 of the Nationality Act (Staatsangeh\u00f6rigkeitsgesetz) was introduced in August of 2021, which allows persons who did not become German citizens at birth due to the discriminatory laws described here, to become German citizens by declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Persons entitled to acquire German citizenship by declaration are those who did not acquire German citizenship at birth because either of the following applies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional requirements: The father legally acknowledged parenthood or the legal procedures to his parenthood were initiated before applicant\u2019s 23rd birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have any questions regarding the acquisition of German citizenship by declaration, or if you would like to be assisted or presented by counsel, please do not hesitate to contact us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On August 20, 2021, a new law became effective in Germany that opens the door for many persons with a German parent or grand parent, to become German citizens. A number of discriminatory rules previously prevented certain persons with a German mother, father, or grand parent from becoming a German citizen at birth. For example, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n1. No acquisition of German citizenship from a German mother<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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2. No acquisition of German citizenship from a German father<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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3. No acquisition of German citizenship due to loss of citizenship through marriage<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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4. Loss of German citizenship through legitimation<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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