How to get the German citizenship in 3 years (New Law)
As of June 27th this year, you can get German citizenship within three years. Remember, there’s no “like this” in Germany — because this is the German way. That’s how we roll in Germany.
So, what has changed in the citizenship law so far? Before the approval of this law, it was either 8 years of staying in Germany or 6 years if you could prove that you’re very well integrated into the culture. You could do that with an integration course or a list of other criteria.
They shortened the required time period of staying in Germany by 3 years. So, instead of 8 or 6 years, it is now either 3 or 5 years. You can get citizenship in 3 years if you meet special integration efforts — I’m going to explain that. Otherwise, you can get it within 5 years.
In the second part of this video, I will answer one of your most asked questions, so stay tuned if you’re curious.
What does “special integration efforts” mean? There are three criteria:
- Especially good academic or professional performance or civic engagement — like volunteering in your community, doing something good for the people around you.
- Proof of language skills at about the C1 level. You can get certificates for this if you want to bring your period down a little bit. In my case, I had the German high school diploma (Abitur). You can also show that if you graduated from a German high school abroad.
- You can prove that you’re financially secure in Germany without getting any governmental support.
Once these three criteria are met, you can apply for German citizenship in 3 years. These are, of course, in addition to the regular criteria to get citizenship in 5 years.
Here are the overall criteria to get German citizenship regularly in 5 years, if you’re interested. (Here’s the list.)
And, wait a long time — because I bet a lot of people will apply now.
For the website of Munich — where I live and checked — the process takes about 12 to 18 months. So, expect to wait a bit.
You can also see a list of which residence permits allow you to apply for citizenship.
A question I get asked a lot is: Can you apply after your student period? A Bachelor's degree takes three years in Germany, so technically, you qualify. But only technically — you cannot apply with a student visa. You need to have a full-time job and a regular residence permit that allows you to work full-time. You cannot apply with a job-seeking visa.
And yeah, that’s it.
What I want to add, personally: Ask yourself, how’s your German? Do you really want to live in this country? Do you hike regularly? Do you like sports? Are you going to wear your sandals with socks but make it cute? Are you going to be direct to people? Are you going to respect the silence time after 10 p.m., which I very much love?
Thanks so much for reading. Hope this helps! I wish you all the best with your process and hope you get it very soon and very smoothly.
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