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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

Does hiring a lawyer speed up your German citizenship application?

Contracting a lawyer to help you with your German citizenship application isn't likely to help you get an appointment faster. But it may help you in other ways, particularly if your citizenship authority starts ghosting you.

Published: 24 April 2024 11:02 CEST
Updated: 27 April 2024 15:05 CEST
Does hiring a lawyer speed up your German citizenship application?
A lawyer can't guarantee you a speedy response to your German citizenship application, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't consider one in some cases. Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

With the German naturalisation law reform set to come into force on June 26th, many foreign residents in Germany are considering applying. One question that readers have asked The Local is: Will contracting a lawyer with good contacts within citizenship and immigration authorities speed up your German citizenship application?

READ ALSO: Elation and worry as German citizenship law passes final hurdle

Strictly speaking, no. That in and of itself won’t do it – according to legal experts The Local has spoken to.

Immigration lawyers Andreas Moser and Sven Hasse both say the best way to increase your application’s chances of speedy approval is to make sure the application is complete and well-organised. Moser recommends that paper applications are filed with an index of documents and that files submitted with electronic applications are neatly scanned and clearly labelled.

“I’ve had clients who’ve done it like that and they sometimes get their citizenship – even in busy offices like Munich – in three months,” says Moser. “The most important thing is to only apply when you’ve met all the conditions, have all the paperwork, and you can present it in one folder.”

You may wish to have a lawyer go over your documents to help ensure that neat application – or even perhaps to draft a cover letter anticipating and answering any questions the authorities might have.

Such explanations might be to detail a short break in your income, or address why your children might have a different last name to you if they’re included in your application.

However, having a lawyer to help you do this isn’t necessary in many cases. Moser also advises that it’s unlikely to save you any time versus simply doing the application yourself, as your lawyer will have to go through all the application details with you anyway – and it can be costly.

READ ALSO: How to get a speedy response on your German citizenship application

When should I definitely consider a lawyer?

Moser’s recommendation, in most cases at least, is to consider a lawyer only once it’s clear that the authorities aren’t considering your neat and complete application in a timely manner and you want to challenge them.

Normally, this shouldn’t be until at least three months have passed without word on the status of your application. At that point you can threaten a complaint through the administrative court. Such a complaint is known as an Untätigkeitsklage and you can draft a letter to the citizenship authority yourself stating that if it does not act on your application, you will file the complaint. You can also ask a lawyer to help you with this threat letter.

Moser says that much of the time, this threat letter works – and the applicant will rarely have to actually file the Untätigkeitsklage. If you do choose to file it though, it’s at this point that Moser advises you seek out a lawyer to draft and file the complaint on your behalf. This process costs €500 in court fees and more in legal fees, although if the court finds in your favour – the authority then has to send this money back to you.

Finally, both Hasse and Moser say you should consider legal advice if your case is complicated. This might include a previous criminal conviction carrying a sentence of slightly more than 90 days, or for uncertain or interrupted periods of residence. This could include people who’ve travelled to their home countries for an extended period of time to look after ailing relatives or employees of German companies who’ve been posted outside of Germany for an extended period of time due to their jobs.

READ ALSO: When to consider legal action for your German citizenship application

Member comments

  1. Thanks for this article. I’ve applied for German citizenship last year for myself and my children based on my grandfather being a German citizen at the time of my Father’s birth. My attorney told us we should hear by the end of this year. He told us this type is through a different court process than the naturalization process. Has anyone else reading this, done this application for citizenship from ancestry.

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POLITICS

Citizenship reform: How a German minister you’ve never heard of is changing the lives of foreigners

Germany's coalition government is struggling. It's flagging in polls, sports few concrete policy wins, and its foreign policy is hotly debated. A notable exception is Interior Minister Nancy Faeser - a Social Democrat who remains a little discussed figure - despite overseeing legislation that hits at the core of Germany's identity.

Published: 8 May 2024 12:53 CEST
Citizenship reform: How a German minister you've never heard of is changing the lives of foreigners

After all, few things are as existential to a country’s identity as deciding who gets to be a national or who gets to settle there and be a part of its community.

As Germany’s Interior Minister since late 2021, Faeser has been responsible for overseeing historic legislation on both. At a time when other European countries are tightening up citizenship and immigration rules – even for skilled, well-integrated immigrants – Faeser’s German Interior Ministry is betting on more openness.

March saw sweeping immigration reforms – designed to make it easier for skilled workers to come to Germany, bring their parents if they wish, and even come before having their foreign qualifications recognised by Germany’s notorious bureaucracy.

Skilled workers also have a faster route to permanent residence in Germany – after just 21 months in some cases.

Late 2024 will also see the introduction of the points-based Chancenkarte – or “opportunity card”. A German first, people with enough points could theoretically come to Germany without a firm job offer and look for work while already here. They might even be able to come if they don’t speak German yet – if they have enough points in other areas. In a country not normally known for its flexibility, Faeser’s Interior Ministry is showing much more of it in a bid to combat the country’s skilled labour shortage.

READ ALSO: The changes to Germany’s immigration rules in March 2024

Landmark citizenship reform

Many Local readers will also be familiar with another landmark piece of legislation from Faeser’s desk – Germany’s long-awaited dual nationality reform. After having seen repeated delays due to disputes between the three governing coalition parties, the Federal President finally signed and certified the new citizenship law in late March – starting a three-month countdown for the country’s bureaucracy to adapt to the new rules.

On June 26th, German citizenship law will allow people to hold multiple nationalities when naturalising and shorten the time someone will have needed to be in Germany before applying for citizenship from eight years to five.

Many people are becoming German

American Rick Hoffmann, Aussie-Italian Joe Del Borrello and Brazilian-Canadian Dini Silviera are looking forward to applying to becoming German following passage of the government’s dual citizenship reform. Photos: Rick Hoffmann, Joe Del Borrello, Dini Silviera

It’s not been without its controversy, with the country’s Christian Democrats (CDU) remaining vocal opponents until the end. CDU MP Alexander Throm described it as a “citizenship devaluation law” that has “the most wide-reaching negative consequences for our country” during the Bundestag session that saw the law’s final passage.

During that same debate, SPD MP Dirk Wiese pointed out a historical symmetry – namely that Faeser, a Social Democrat from Hesse, was responsible for passing dual nationality legislation that a CDU Premier of Hesse has originally torpedoed 25 years ago.

READ ALSO:

Throm was right about one thing. The results of Faeser’s legislation are likely to have long-lasting, far-reaching effects. Both the new law’s supporters and detractors can at least agree on its importance.

It may well end up being one of the longest-lasting legacies of the traffic light government. Even if the CDU take the Chancellery again in 2025 – as current polls would suggest – no other possible coalition partner is likely to agree to repeal the law. Dual nationality in Germany – and with it the acceptance of multifaceted identity – is likely here to stay, even if a future CDU-led government manages to tighten up immigration or asylum law in the future.

Nancy Faeser Boris Rhein

SPD candidate and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and CDU candidate Boris Rhein in Wiesbaden, Hesse during the election campaign. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

Faeser’s non-flashy style

Despite the weighty nature of the legislation she’s shepherded through her ministry and the Bundestag, Faeser isn’t known for grand pronouncements. She’s largely left it to others to make the public case for the dual nationality law’s importance, like parliamentary rapporteurs Hakan Demir (SPD), Filiz Polat (Green), and Stephan Thomae (FDP). She’s comfortable giving breakfast show interviews but rarely hits the evening talk show circuit.

A legislative workhorse, Faeser just seems to move on to her next task without a lot of fanfare for the one she just completed. The reason is likely equally unglamorous – she just has a lot to get done. Today immigration and citizenship reform, tomorrow proposals to tighten gun controls in Germany or issue visa bans for Russian athletes. She also found time to be her party’s top candidate in last autumn’s state election in her home state of Hesse.

Having never had a federal office before becoming Interior Minister, Faeser came from Hessian state politics, where she served as a member of the state parliament from 2003 to 2021, eventually becoming the Hessian SPD state party leader in 2019. At the time she became a minister in 2021, few Germans outside of Hesse had heard of her – never mind internationals.

Nancy Faeser smiles in November 2015 at the SPD state party conference in Kassel (Hesse).

Nancy Faeser smiles in November 2015 at the SPD state party conference in Kassel (Hesse). Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Uwe Zucchi

Media outlets both inside and outside of Germany keep their main focuses on politicians like Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck or Finance Minister Christian Lindner. With the controversy over Berlin’s strategy in Russia’s war against Ukraine, this is perhaps understandable.

But such a focus might sometimes miss another fundamental shift currently underway in Germany – as the country changes its approach to who gets to be a member of its national community. Nancy Faeser may well be one of the few members of the current German government to have a legacy that lasts well beyond her time in office.

Agree with her policies or not, that deserves more German and international reflection.

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