In order to officially obtain German nationality, a German descendant must apply for recognition of German nationality. If the application is approved, you will receive a German citizenship certificate, i.e. a certificate confirming that you are a German citizen. This process is different from a naturalization process, since in this case it will only be officially confirmed that you have had German citizenship since birth, due to your direct descent from Germans. The German citizenship certificate is not equivalent to a German birth certificate, but with it you can apply for a German passport.

The documents required to begin the process of recognition of German nationality are generally the following: The birth, marriage and death certificates of the ascendants until reaching the German descendant who is applying for it; The non-naturalization certificate of the first one who immigrated to America; The entry registration in America. However, more documents may be needed, depending on the specific case. If any documents are missing, they should be provided. For the sake of cost savings for the client, we recommend that the documents issued in America be provided by the client himself. We provide guidance on how and where they can be obtained. Of course we can also provide them ourselves, if the customer prefers.

In America, the process takes an average of 2 to 4 years. But it can vary a lot depending on the consulate. In Germany the process can be concluded in 6 months to 1 year, when all the requested documents are already available.

The main advantage of doing the process for recognition of German citizenship directly in Germany is the time saved. In Germany it is less than half of the time that the process takes in America. Besides that, having an office contracted in Germany allows your process to be closely followed and to check if any other demands were made by the German government, and to take the necessary steps more quickly. Another great advantage of the process done in Germany is that we can search and directly obtain any German document (birth, marriage and death certificates, etc.), necessary for the process, from German public agencies. Obtaining such documents from America would be much more difficult and expensive.

Every person of German descent that proves his/her ancestry through documents, birth certificate, etc. is entitled to German citizenship or to the recognition of German nationality. There is no limit concerning the number of generations. If there is proof, a great-grandfather can transmit it to his great-grandson, for example.

To acquire German citizenship or nationality through family transmission, one must have German ascendance proven by documents (birth certificate, etc.). With these documents one must file the application for the process of recognition of German citizenship with the German consulates in America or directly in Germany with the Federal Administration Office.