The short version
- Yes. You can be German and American at the same time. Since 27 June 2024, Germans who apply for another citizenship stay German, and people who naturalise in Germany no longer have to give up their old one.
- The change does not work backwards. If you applied for US citizenship and got it before 27 June 2024, without a permit to keep German citizenship, you lost it. One way back is naturalisation for former Germans.
- If a parent was German when you were born, you are usually German from birth. Old rules broke many family lines, so each link needs checking.
- To naturalise in Germany, you usually need 5 years of living there, German at level B1 and a pass in the naturalisation test.
Can you be a German and US citizen at the same time?
Yes. Both countries allow it. Since 27 June 2024, a German who applies for another citizenship keeps German citizenship, and someone who naturalises in Germany no longer has to give up their old one.
On the US side, USA.gov says you do not have to choose one nationality over the other. It also says a US citizen may naturalise in another country without risking US citizenship.
Many people hold both from birth. The German missions in the US say that anyone born in the US to a German parent automatically has both citizenships. German law does not, in general, make them pick one at 18.
Two passports come with two sets of rules. USA.gov says dual citizens must use a US passport to enter and leave the US. Each passport also has its own list of places you can visit without a visa: compare where a German passport gets you in with where a US passport gets you in. The full US side, including the rare ways to lose US citizenship, is in dual citizenship for Americans, explained.
What changed on 27 June 2024?
Germany dropped its old rule of avoiding dual citizenship. A new law, the Act to Modernise Nationality Law, came into force that day. Here is what it changed for Americans and Germans:
| Situation | Before 27 June 2024 | Since 27 June 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| A German applies for US citizenship | Lost German citizenship, unless they had a retention permit | Stays German, no permit needed |
| An American naturalises in Germany | As a rule, had to give up the old citizenship | No need to give it up |
| Years in Germany before you can naturalise | 8 | 5 |
| A child born in Germany with two citizenships | Could have to choose one | No choice needed |
The German missions in the US add that there is now no need to tell German authorities before you naturalise in the US. Your naturalisation certificate is enough to show you took the new citizenship after the change, and kept German citizenship.
The new law does not work backwards. The German missions' summary of the changes says the old rules still apply to anything that happened before 27 June 2024. We read it, and Germany's Interior Ministry FAQ on the reform, on 26 October 2026.
What if you lost German citizenship before 2024?
It stays lost, but you can apply to be naturalised again from abroad. The 2024 law did not give citizenship back to anyone who lost it under the old rule.
That old rule caught Germans who applied for a foreign citizenship and got it before 27 June 2024. The German missions' page on losing citizenship sets out who it hit:
- If you got US citizenship without applying for it, for example by being born in the US, you stayed German.
- If you had a retention permit (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung) before you naturalised, you stayed German.
- If you applied without one, you lost German citizenship. A child born after that does not get German citizenship from you at birth.
The way back is section 13 of the Nationality Act: naturalisation for former Germans who live abroad. The Federal Foreign Office points to it for exactly this case, and your children under 18 can be included. The German missions in the US list what it asks:
- A public interest in making you German again.
- Good German. The BVA asks for level B1, usually shown with the Zertifikat Deutsch.
- Close ties to Germany, such as family there or regular stays.
- Enough money to support yourself and your family.
- No criminal record. From the US, that means an FBI background check with an apostille.
When you lost it matters. For losses from 1 January 2000, the missions say a key test is whether you would have got a retention permit had you asked in time, and whether those ties still exist. For losses before 2000, there must be a special public interest, and the missions say the chances are low.
You apply in person at a German embassy or consulate. It holds an interview and sends your file to the Federal Office of Administration (BVA) in Cologne, which decides. The fee is 255 euros for an adult, under section 38 of the Nationality Act.
Can you get German citizenship by descent?
Yes, if a parent was German when you were born. Under section 4 of the Nationality Act, German citizenship passes from parent to child at birth, wherever the child is born. You may already be German without knowing it.
The hard part is the chain. Every link has to hold, back to the German ancestor, and old rules broke many lines:
- Emigrants before 1904. Germany's law from 1871 to 1914 took citizenship away from Germans who lived abroad for more than 10 years. The German missions in the US say a claim through an ancestor who moved to the US before 1904 is usually not possible.
- US citizenship before 27 June 2024. A German who applied for it usually lost German citizenship, so children born later did not get it.
- Old rules on mothers and fathers. Children born before 1975 to a married German mother and a foreign father, or before July 1993 to an unmarried German father and a foreign mother, often missed out. People born after 23 May 1949 in this group, and their descendants, can become German by a free declaration. It must reach the BVA by 19 August 2031.
- Nazi persecution. People who lost or were denied German citizenship through persecution from 1933 to 1945, and all their descendants, can apply to be naturalised. It is free, and there is no citizenship test.
- German parents born abroad since 2000. If your German parent was born abroad after 1999 and lived abroad when you were born, a request to register your birth with Germany had to be made within one year.
Being born in Germany is a different question. Many Americans were born there, for example on a US base. The missions' rule of thumb: if you were born in Germany before 1 January 2000, neither parent was German at your birth, and they did not apply for German citizenship for you, you are not German.
To prove you are German, the BVA can issue a citizenship certificate (Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis). The fee is 51 euros, and it can take years. You can test your own family line with our German citizenship by descent checker.
How long until you can naturalise in Germany?
Five years of living in Germany, in most cases. Section 10 of the Nationality Act sets that time, down from 8 years before 27 June 2024. Spouses and registered partners of Germans can apply after 3 years in Germany, once the marriage or partnership has lasted 2 years.
Section 10 also asks you to:
- Speak German at level B1.
- Pass the naturalisation test on Germany's laws, society and way of life. Courses to prepare for it exist, but they are optional.
- Support yourself and your family without certain state benefits.
- Have no criminal conviction. The Interior Ministry says very small penalties do not count against you.
- Commit to Germany's democratic order, and to its special responsibility for the Nazi era, including the protection of Jewish life.
- Hold the right permit when you apply, such as a permanent right to stay or an EU Blue Card. Some permit types do not qualify.
You can keep US citizenship. Germany's Interior Ministry says German law now lets everyone who naturalises keep their old citizenship, and that whether they lose it depends only on the other country's law. For Americans, USA.gov says naturalising elsewhere does not risk US citizenship. The fee is 255 euros, or 51 euros for a child with no income of their own who is naturalised with you.
You may have read about a 3-year route. The Interior Ministry's 2024 FAQ mentions one, for special integration. Section 10, as it reads today, has no such route.
The 5 years have to be spent in Germany. If you live abroad and were never German, the Federal Foreign Office says you can become German only in a few exceptional cases. One way Americans move first is a residence permit such as Germany's freelance visa, for writers, language teachers, artists and other liberal professions. Americans can enter without a visa and apply for it at the local foreigners office within 90 days.