Germany passes citizenship down the family line, so you may already be a citizen and simply have no paper that says so. We trace the chain, find where it broke, and a licensed German immigration lawyer signs the file.
Naturalisation is something you earn with years, language and a test. Descent is not: if the chain from your German ancestor to you never broke, you have been a German citizen your entire life without knowing it, and what stands between you and the passport is evidence. The catch is that the chain usually did break — when a great-grandfather took American citizenship, when a grandmother married a foreigner before 1975, when a birth abroad went unregistered. Each break has a date, and some of them now have a repair.
Teacher in Chicago, German great-grandmother, told for years by relatives that the family had lost any claim. The naturalisation record put the ancestor's American citizenship two years after her son was born — so the line had never broken at all. What she needed was records, not eligibility.
If a parent was German when you were born, you were German from that moment — no application, no ceremony, nothing to earn. A descent case asks the state to confirm what is already true, which is why it is decided on documents rather than on requirements you can go and satisfy.
The old law ran citizenship through fathers, so a child of a German mother and a foreign father usually did not become German. Those excluded, and their descendants, can now become German by declaration rather than by naturalising — no language test, no residence.
The declaration route created to repair those historic exclusions does not stay open forever. Declarations must be made by 19 August 2031. Families that spend three years finding records and then start the paperwork are the ones who run out of runway.
Under the old rule, a German who took another nationality on application lost German citizenship at that moment, and children born after that date were never German. Children born before it were. Most American, Brazilian and Argentine family lines break exactly here, on a date that can be looked up.
A child born to a German father and a foreign mother outside marriage acquired citizenship only under conditions that changed over the decades, involving acknowledgment of paternity within set periods. Whether your line survived depends on when you were born and what was recorded at the time.
People deprived of citizenship on political, racial or religious grounds between 1933 and 1945 have a right of restoration, and so do their descendants. The 2021 changes widened it to families previously turned away on technicalities. No German required, no residence, and you keep your current nationality.
The modern trap. A child born abroad to a German parent who was themselves born abroad stays German only if the birth is registered with a German mission within a year. Miss it and the line ends there — which matters most to the generation that has no idea the rule exists.
Determination cases from abroad are slow, measured in years rather than months, and the queue is longest for exactly the routes most people qualify under. Nothing about the file changes that; starting sooner does.
These cases turn on dates, and the dates are specific to your family. The rows above are the rules that broke or preserved most lines; which of them applies to yours, and what it means for your claim, are confirmed by the licensed German lawyer who reviews and signs your application. We tell you whether you have a claim before you pay anything, including when the honest answer is that the line ended three generations ago.
Your case is a line from a German ancestor to you, with every link evidenced: who was German, when, and what happened to them at each birth and marriage along the way. We build that line first, because it tells us immediately whether you have a determination case, a declaration case, or none.
Birth, marriage and death records for every generation, naturalisation or non-naturalisation certificates for the ancestor who emigrated, and where they exist, passports, military papers and registration records. Certified copies, apostilles and sworn translations, in the form the German authority accepts rather than the form the archive hands you.
Determination of existing citizenship, declaration under the route that repairs the historic exclusions, or restoration on persecution grounds: they are different applications with different evidence and, in one case, a closing date. Filing the wrong one costs years, and years are the one thing these cases are already short of.
Archives burned, borders moved, names were changed at ports. Missing documents are normal in these cases and are not automatically fatal — there are substitutes and there are declarations. We tell you early what can be worked around and what genuinely ends the claim, rather than letting you spend two years finding out.
A licensed German lawyer reviews and signs every step. You only open the case.
Tell us what you know: who was German, roughly when they left, and what happened to the generations after. Our AI maps the chain against the rules that applied on each date and finds where it breaks, and a lawyer confirms whether you have a claim and which route it runs on.
AI drafts the application and the family line, lists exactly which record to request from which archive, and assembles the translations and certifications as they arrive. A licensed German lawyer reviews each page and signs the file.
You get a complete dossier and a tracked case, filed with the authority that handles your route. These decisions take years, so we hold the timeline, answer the queries when they come, and tell you what your citizenship means for your children once it lands.
You know what you need before you pay.
Lawyers work on prepared cases, not messy ones.
For a descent claim that means the birth, marriage and naturalisation records are traced and ordered before a lawyer reads the chain — so the hour goes on the break in it, not on finding it.
Case is a case-preparation service, not a law firm. Our AI drafts and checks your documents, which is why we are fast. A licensed German immigration lawyer reviews and signs everything, which is why it holds. Nothing is filed without a lawyer's approval.
Germany passes citizenship by blood rather than by birthplace: if a parent was German when you were born, you were generally German from that moment, whether or not anyone in your family ever registered it. That makes a descent case different from naturalisation in kind, not just in difficulty. You are not applying to become German — you are asking the state to confirm something that has been true your whole life, and the proof is documentary.
There is no fixed generation limit, which surprises people. What matters is whether the chain of citizenship stayed unbroken from your German ancestor down to you. In practice the chain is what fails, not the distance: an ancestor naturalising abroad, a birth outside marriage before the rules changed, or a German mother before 1975 will each break it. One modern rule does cut a line off — a child born abroad after 1999 to a German parent who was themselves born abroad only stays German if the birth is registered with a German mission within a year.
This is the most common break in the chain, and the date decides it. Under the old rule, a German who voluntarily acquired another nationality on application lost German citizenship at that moment — and anyone born to them afterwards was never German. Children born before the naturalisation are a different story. So the question is never just whether your ancestor naturalised, but exactly when, relative to each birth in the line. That is a records question, and it is answerable.
Under the law at the time, a child born to a German mother and a foreign father usually did not become German — the rule ran through fathers. That discrimination was later recognised and there is now a declaration route that lets those excluded, and their descendants, become German without naturalising. It has a closing date: declarations must be made by 19 August 2031. If this is your family's story, the deadline is the reason to start now rather than eventually.
The Basic Law gives a right of restoration to people who were deprived of German citizenship on political, racial or religious grounds between 1933 and 1945, and to their descendants. The rules were widened in 2021 to cover families who had been turned away on technicalities — those who lost citizenship by marriage or by naturalising abroad while in flight, and children excluded by the old gender rules. There is no German language requirement, no residence requirement, and you keep your existing nationality.
No. Descent and restoration cases ask what happened in your family's history, not what you can do today — no language certificate, no residence, no naturalisation test, and you keep your current passport. Those requirements belong to naturalisation, which is the route for people who moved to Germany and built a life there. If it turns out you have no claim by descent, that is the door we point you to instead.
No. Case prepares the case file. A licensed German immigration lawyer reviews it and provides the legal advice. Nothing is filed without a lawyer's approval.
Tell us who in your family was German and roughly when they left. Within one working day you get an honest read on your claim, the route it runs on and a fixed price. No obligation.
Last reviewed 22 August 2026. German immigration rules, salary thresholds and fees change, sometimes in the middle of a year, and local offices apply them differently from city to city. Anything below that date may have moved since.
This page is general information about German immigration law. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for advice on your own situation, and reading it does not create a lawyer–client relationship. The figures and deadlines on it have not been checked by a lawyer against your case.
Case is a case-preparation service, not a law firm, and does not give legal advice. Legal advice is given by independent licensed German immigration lawyers, who review and sign every file before it is submitted.
Found something out of date or wrong? Tell us and we will correct it: permanaharianja@gmail.com.