Losing or keeping your old citizenship after June 2024

Since 27 June 2024, German law generally accepts multiple citizenship. When you naturalise, the Einbürgerungsbehörde no longer asks you to give up your current nationality first, so the old two-step procedure (a conditional assurance of naturalisation, then proof that you had been released from your old citizenship) is generally no longer needed. This applies to every nationality.

Germans who acquire another citizenship also keep German citizenship now. The old automatic loss rule (§ 25 StAG) was repealed, and no retention permit (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung) is needed.

Whether you keep your current nationality depends only on that country's law. Broadly, countries fall into three groups:

• Countries that allow dual citizenship without conditions; nothing changes for you
• Countries where you automatically lose citizenship when you voluntarily acquire another one, for example India, China and Japan
• Countries where loss happens unless you get permission in advance, or with exceptions; Austria and the Netherlands are examples with such rules

Rules change, and details (age, place of birth, marriage, exceptions) matter. Check with your country's embassy or consulate or its official nationality authority before you apply, not after you receive the German certificate.

• Does acquiring German citizenship end my current nationality automatically, and from what date?
• Do I need permission in advance to keep it?
• Must I report the new citizenship or hand back my passport?
• Will I lose rights tied to nationality, such as property or land ownership, inheritance, residence or voting rights?
• Are there military-service obligations?
• Is there a status for former citizens (for example India's Overseas Citizenship of India) that I should apply for?

The repeal of § 25 StAG does not work backwards. If you lost German citizenship before 27 June 2024 because you acquired a foreign one without a retention permit, you are not automatically German again.

• If you live in Germany, you can apply for naturalisation in the normal way
• If you live abroad, re-naturalisation is possible under § 13 StAG. It is decided by the Bundesverwaltungsamt (BVA) in Cologne, is discretionary, and requires among other things a public interest, ties to Germany, German language skills and the ability to support yourself

Separately, people persecuted by the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945 and their descendants have a right to (re)naturalisation under Article 116(2) of the Grundgesetz and § 15 StAG, free of charge.

Losing German citizenship is now rare. The law (§ 17 StAG) lists:

• Renunciation (Verzicht), which is only possible if you hold another citizenship
• Voluntarily joining the armed forces of another country whose nationality you also hold, without approval from the German Ministry of Defence (with exceptions, for example where a treaty allows it), or taking part in combat for a terrorist group abroad; this does not apply to minors or where you would become stateless
• Withdrawal of an unlawful naturalisation, for example one obtained through false information

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, speak to your Einbürgerungsbehörde and to the authorities of your other country.