Naturalisation

The time of payment depends on the type of application.

Online application
If you submit the naturalisation application as an online application, payment is made before the application is submitted. The invoice will only be sent to you separately at the end of the naturalisation process for children who are to be naturalised together with you.

Paper application
If you send the naturalisation application by post, you will receive a separate invoice at the end of the naturalisation process.

You can prove sufficient German language skills as follows:

• "Zertifikat Deutsch" or an equivalent language diploma at language level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
  
• four years of successful attendance at a German-language school (promotion to the next higher class)
• Acquisition of a secondary school leaving certificate or an equivalent German school leaving certificate
• Promotion to the tenth grade of a German-speaking secondary school (Realschule, Gymnasium or Gesamtschule)
• successful completion of a course of study at a German-speaking university or university of applied sciences or a German vocational training programme

You are exempt from providing the required language certificate if you are unable to fulfil this requirement due to a physical, mental or psychological illness or disability or due to your age.

In this case, you will need to submit a medical certificate from a specialist and confirmation from the certified examination centre that it is not possible to take an adapted language test. You can find the requirements for the medical certificate here.

Knowledge of the legal and social order and living conditions in Germany can be demonstrated by

• a successful secondary school leaving certificate or a comparable or higher school leaving certificate from a German general education school
• completed training in an apprenticeship
• successfully completed studies at a German university in the fields of law and social sciences, social sciences and political science.

If these certificates are not available, the knowledge can also be proven by a naturalisation test or the Life in Germany test. The naturalisation test can be taken at adult education centres.

You are not required to take the naturalisation test if you are unable to take it due to a physical, mental or psychological illness or disability or due to age. A specialist medical certificate is required for this.

You can find the requirements for the medical certificate here.

This is possible if you are naturalised as a spouse, registered partner or minor child together with a person who fulfils the required period of residence.

A shortening of the period of residence to up to three years is also possible if you:

• can prove special integration achievements (in particular good school, vocational qualification or professional achievements or civic commitment) and
• can make a living without claiming public benefits and
• have language skills at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
  

Convictions for fines of up to 90 daily rates and convictions for prison sentences of up to three months that have been suspended are not detrimental to naturalisation. Several convictions for fines or prison sentences must be counted together.

Naturalisation is excluded for convictions, regardless of the sentence, for an unlawful anti-Semitic, racist or other inhuman act. Naturalisation is also not possible if you have been ordered to undergo a detention order due to your incapacity for guilt.

A stay abroad of up to six months is not an obstacle to naturalisation.
If you have been abroad for longer than six months, this does not affect your naturalisation even if the Foreigners Office has approved your stay abroad and you have returned to Germany within the period specified by the Foreigners Office.

Easier naturalisation requirements apply to persons who entered the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany until 30 June 1974 on the basis of an agreement on the recruitment and placement of workers as of 2 October 1990 or who entered the territory referred to in Article 3 of the Unification Treaty as contract workers until 13 June 1990, as well as their spouses who joined them at the same time.

If you belong to this group of people, it is sufficient if you can make yourself understood in German without any significant problems in everyday life. Proof of German language skills at level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is not required.

Proof of knowledge of the legal and social order and living conditions in Germany is not required.