Dual Citizenship in Germany: What Really Applies in 2026

Two passports, two allegiances — and for decades, the question of which side you had to choose. For many people in Germany, that was not a legal technicality but a real imposition: if you wanted the German passport, you were supposed to give up the passport of the country your family lives in, where you have inherited property, where you travel back to. That compulsion is gone.

Short and to the point: since June 27, 2024, Germany generally accepts multiple nationality (Mehrstaatigkeit). If you naturalize, you no longer have to give up your existing nationality.1FAQ on the New Nationality Law since June 27, 2024Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) Conversely, Germans no longer lose their citizenship when they acquire another one abroad — the former retention procedure (Beibehaltungsverfahren) at the Federal Office of Administration has been abolished without replacement.2Retention Procedure (Beibehaltungsverfahren) Abolished as of June 27, 2024Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt, BVA) Two things still matter, though: a loss that occurred before this cutoff date remains in effect. And whether you actually keep your old passport is not decided by Germany, but by your country of origin.

What "dual citizenship" legally means

The legal term for the status is multiple nationality (Mehrstaatigkeit): a person holds more than one nationality, usually two, rarely more. In everyday speech almost everyone says "dual nationality" or "dual citizenship" — it means the same thing.5Multiple Nationality / Dual CitizenshipAsylum & Migration Information Network (asyl.net)

Multiple nationality arises in three different ways — and which one applies to you determines which rules you actually need to read:

• by birth, when one parent holds German and the other a foreign nationality — or when a child born in Germany to foreign parents additionally acquires German nationality,
• by naturalization, when a foreign national becomes German and keeps their existing nationality,
• by acquiring a further nationality, when a German national voluntarily acquires a second passport abroad.5Multiple Nationality / Dual CitizenshipAsylum & Migration Information Network (asyl.net)

All three constellations are governed by the same statute, the Nationality Act. The key is perspective: German law only says what happens from Germany's point of view. What happens to your other passport is set out in a law that Germany does not write — more on that below.

What changed on June 27, 2024

Before the reform, the principle was that multiple nationality should be avoided. In practice it was already full of holes: for nationals of EU member states, and in numerous other exceptions, dual nationality had long been accepted — the majority of naturalizations already happened under the old law with two passports.5Multiple Nationality / Dual CitizenshipAsylum & Migration Information Network (asyl.net) Since June 2024, the exception is the rule: the former Section 12 StAG, with its catalog of exceptions, was deleted without replacement, as was the former Section 25 StAG, which had ordered the loss of German nationality upon acquisition of a foreign one.5Multiple Nationality / Dual CitizenshipAsylum & Migration Information Network (asyl.net)

Case 1: You are naturalizing in Germany

This is the most common case — and the simplest. For naturalization, you no longer have to give up your existing nationality.1FAQ on the New Nationality Law since June 27, 2024Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) The naturalization authority no longer requires proof of release from your former nationality, and you also don't need to show why giving it up would be unreasonable for you. That entire review step has been dropped.

The numbers show how much this changes in practice: in 2023 — still under the old law — around 80.9 percent of newly naturalized people were allowed to keep their old passport. After the reform, a survey of the 50 most populous cities put the share at between 85 and 98 percent for 2025. The remaining exceptions mostly involve stateless persons and people from countries that do not themselves permit dual nationality.7How Many People Hold Dual Citizenship?Mediendienst Integration

What the reform has not changed are the other requirements. The entitlement to naturalization under Section 10 StAG still requires five years of lawful habitual residence, plus a clarified identity, language skills, secure means of subsistence, and a commitment to the free democratic basic order.9Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG)Federal Ministry of Justice (gesetze-im-internet.de) We've written up the full process, the documents, and the costs step by step in our guide to naturalization in Germany — this article stays focused on the nationality question.

One point has caused confusion since 2025, so let's separate it cleanly here: on October 8, 2025, the Bundestag repealed the 2024-introduced option to naturalize after three years for exceptional integration achievements; in the recorded vote, 450 members voted in favor, 134 against, with two abstentions.8Naturalization Only after a Minimum Five-Year Prior Residence PeriodGerman Bundestag The rationale: sustainable integration takes time, and five years reflects that adequately.4Naturalization after Three Years Set to Be AbolishedGerman Bundestag Since late October 2025, the uniform 5-year route applies again; Section 10 (3) StAG now reads only "(repealed)" in the statute.9Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG)Federal Ministry of Justice (gesetze-im-internet.de) This change did not touch the rules on multiple nationality — only the prior-residence period was affected.

Case 2: You are German and acquire a further nationality

This is where the old law's biggest trap lay. If you naturalized abroad as a German national, you generally lost German nationality automatically — unless you held a retention permit beforehand. And that was hard to get: you had to specifically demonstrate what advantages the foreign passport brought in your individual situation, or what significant disadvantages it avoided — plus proof of continuing close ties to Germany. Disadvantages that generally affected any foreign national did not count.2Retention Procedure (Beibehaltungsverfahren) Abolished as of June 27, 2024Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt, BVA)

This procedure no longer exists. Acquiring a foreign nationality by application no longer leads to the loss of German nationality since June 27, 2024; a retention permit is therefore neither required nor possible.1FAQ on the New Nationality Law since June 27, 2024Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) So if you apply for a second passport in Canada, Brazil, or the United States, you no longer need permission from a German standpoint to do so.

For anyone still in the middle of the old procedure, a clear transitional rule applies — along with a record-keeping tip you should take seriously:

Past cases: if you lost it before the cutoff, you stay outside

The most common piece of bad news on this topic: a loss that has already occurred remains legally valid. The changes of June 27, 2024, do not apply retroactively.2Retention Procedure (Beibehaltungsverfahren) Abolished as of June 27, 2024Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt, BVA) So if you naturalized in another country in 2019 without holding a retention permit beforehand, you are not automatically German again today — even if the same process would have had no consequences two years later.

The way back is called renaturalization. Former Germans and their minor children with habitual residence abroad can be naturalized on application under Section 13 StAG if identity and nationality are established and the requirements of Section 8 (1) nos. 1 and 2 StAG are met.9Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG)Federal Ministry of Justice (gesetze-im-internet.de) Note the wording: "can be naturalized." That is a discretionary provision, not an entitlement — the authority decides case by case.9Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG)Federal Ministry of Justice (gesetze-im-internet.de)

And one more clarification, because it affects a lot of people abroad: an entitlement to naturalization under the new law only exists for foreign nationals who, on or after June 27, 2024, have lived in Germany for at least five years. If you once met that requirement in the past but no longer live in Germany, you don't have this entitlement — the general rules apply to you instead.1FAQ on the New Nationality Law since June 27, 2024Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt)

Children: birth in Germany and the end of the option requirement

Two changes affect families specifically — and both are good news.

First, the birthright principle. A child born in Germany to foreign parents automatically acquires German nationality at birth if one parent has held lawful habitual residence in Germany for five years and holds an unlimited settlement right (Section 4 (3) StAG).9Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG)Federal Ministry of Justice (gesetze-im-internet.de) Before the reform, this period was eight years.3Reform of Nationality LawFederal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, bpb) The second building block is often underestimated: without an unlimited title, the rule does not apply — no matter how long you have already lived here. If this point is still open for your family, the path runs through the settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis) — it is often the precursor to everything else.

Second, the option requirement. Previously, children born in Germany with two nationalities had to choose one upon reaching adulthood. This requirement has been fully abolished since June 27, 2024; the former Section 29 StAG was deleted.5Multiple Nationality / Dual CitizenshipAsylum & Migration Information Network (asyl.net) Even if you received an official letter opening an option procedure before the cutoff, you don't need to respond to it: you neither have to give up the foreign nationality nor apply for a retention permit.1FAQ on the New Nationality Law since June 27, 2024Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt)

The catch almost everyone misses: your home country's law

Up to this point, we've only covered one legal system. But Germany can only regulate what happens to German nationality. Whether your existing nationality survives once you become German is decided solely by your home country's law — and the answer there is often different.

Austria is one example among many, but an instructive one: it shows that the critical moment often lies before the German procedure, not after. That's why the same sequence applies for every country of origin — first clarify what your home country's law says, then file the naturalization application. Reliable information comes only from the authorities of that country itself, in practice its embassy or consulate in Germany. Don't rely on forums, on accounts from acquaintances, or on information from three years ago: nationality law changes regularly in many countries, and the German naturalization authority does not check this foreign law for you.

What can still cause loss of German nationality today

Even though acquiring a further nationality has dropped out as a ground for loss: the law still recognizes a handful of grounds for loss. Section 17 StAG names three practically relevant paths — renunciation, joining the armed forces of a foreign state or specific participation in combat operations by a terrorist organization abroad, and the revocation of an unlawful naturalization.9Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG)Federal Ministry of Justice (gesetze-im-internet.de)

Renunciation is the only path you control yourself — and it remains explicitly available if someone does not want to keep German nationality.5Multiple Nationality / Dual CitizenshipAsylum & Migration Information Network (asyl.net) The requirements are set out in Section 26 StAG: only someone who holds multiple nationalities can renounce — the law does not intend to create statelessness. The declaration must be made in writing and requires approval from the nationality authority; the loss only takes effect once the certificate of renunciation is handed over.9Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG)Federal Ministry of Justice (gesetze-im-internet.de) In practice, this matters most when another country makes naturalization conditional on giving up your existing nationality.

Do you keep both passports? Four questions to find out

The self-assessment below only sorts out which situation you're in and what follows from it from a German standpoint. It does not replace legal advice — and above all, it doesn't answer how your home country decides.

How many people does this actually affect?

There are no exact figures — the statistics are notoriously imprecise here. The 2025 microcensus counted around 3.6 million German dual nationals; the 2022 census came to 5.8 million. The gap comes down to methodology: the microcensus relies on self-reporting, and many people either don't know they hold a second nationality or don't report it. In 2025, the most common second nationalities were Polish (458,000 people), Turkish (389,000), Russian (353,000), Syrian (243,000), and Italian (194,000); 69 percent of all dual nationals hold the passport of another European country alongside the German one.7How Many People Hold Dual Citizenship?Mediendienst Integration

The scale is the real point: multiple nationality in Germany is not an edge case for a few individuals, but the everyday reality of several million people — and it already was, before the law openly recognized it in 2024.

Frequently asked questions about dual citizenship