Marriage in Germany

Your route depends on whether your spouse is already German, so settle that first. Your spouse should take the Germany Citizenship by Descent quiz, and can ask the Bundesverwaltungsamt for a certificate of nationality.

A child of a German parent is usually German from birth without claiming it, so a person can be German without ever holding a German passport. This is common in families that emigrated.

If your spouse is German, you get a residence permit that lets you work in Germany, and you can naturalise after three years' residence once the marriage has lasted two. If not, family reunion runs on stricter terms and your own naturalisation takes five years.

If the family left Germany between 1933 and 1945 because of persecution, the Historical Displacement quiz covers a route with no generational limit and no deadline.

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