Like other foreign nationals, refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection can apply for German citizenship subject to a number of conditions.[1] Most of these conditions apply to all foreign nationals who wish to become German citizens:
- Residency condition: Since 27 June 2024 (entry into force of the Act to Modernise Nationality Law), applicants generally need five years of lawful habitual residence (instead of eight), and under strict requirements naturalisation was also possible after three years for particularly well integrated persons.[2] In 2025, the German parliament voted to abolish this 3‑year “fast-track / turbo” route again (the 5‑year rule remains).[3]The duration of a former asylum procedure continues to count toward this waiting period if applicants have been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection.[4]
- Applicants must be able to cover the cost of living for themselves and their families;
- Applicants must have sufficient German language skills (generally level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, subject to statutory exceptions);
- Applicants must pass a ‘naturalisation test’ to prove that they have sufficient knowledge of Germany’s legal and social system, as well as living conditions in Germany; and
- Applicants must not have committed criminal offences. All actions and omissions which are sanctioned by the German Criminal Code are considered grounds for denial if the person has been convicted. Some minor criminal charges might under certain circumstances not be held against the applicant for naturalisation.[5] Criminal offences that have been committed abroad are also considered if the action or omission is equally sanctioned in the German Criminal Code and if the verdict was reached by due process and if the charges of the foreign country are proportionate.[6]
- Applicants must credibly commit to the constitutional order and Germany’s special historical responsibility: Applicants must declare a commitment to the free democratic basic order (freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung, FDGO) and, additionally, to Germany’s special historical responsibility for the Nazi regime and its consequences, in particular the protection of Jewish life; antisemitic, racist or other inhumanly motivated acts are clarified as incompatible with human dignity. An untrue/incorrect commitment excludes naturalisation.
- Concrete exclusion grounds (beyond criminality): Naturalisation is excluded in cases of an existing plural marriage (Mehrehe) or where the applicant’s conduct shows that they disregard the constitutional principle of equal rights for men and women.
Already prior to the modernisation of the citizenship law, refugees (specifically, any person that has a travel document in accordance with Article 28 of the Agreement of July 28, 1951 on the Legal Status of Refugees) were, in contrast to other foreign nationals, not required to give up their former nationality.[7] Since 27 June 2024, dual citizenship is now generally permitted, meaning applicants are no longer required to renounce their previous nationality when becoming German citizens.
Fees for naturalisation are € 255 for an adult person and € 51 for children (if together with a parent).[8]
In 2023 200,095 persons received German citizenship compared to 168,775 in 2022,[9] but available statistics do not differentiate between residence and/or protection statuses.[10] 2023 has marked a 19% increase compared to the previous year and the highest number recorded since 2000. In 2024, naturalisations rose further to 292,020, reaching a new high since the start of the statistics in 2000; the largest groups were Syrian (83,185), Turkish (22,525), Iraqi (13,545), Russian (12,980) and Afghan nationals (10,095). Available national statistics do not provide a systematic breakdown by residence status and/or protection status (e.g. refugee status vs. subsidiary protection). As of January 2025, nationwide official totals published by Destatis are available up to and including the year 2024.
[1] Federal Ministry of Interior, Neues Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht tritt in Kraft: Einbürgerungen schneller möglich, Voraussetzungen aber strenger, 25 June 2024, available in German here.
[2] Ibid.
[3] InfoMigrants, ’German parliament votes to get rid of fast-track citizenship’, 9 October 2025, available here.
[4] Federal Government, Schnellere Einbürgerungen unter strengeren Voraussetzungen, 27 June 2024, available in German here.
[5] Section 12a (1) Nationality Act.
[6] Hailbronner et al., Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht, Beckscher Kurz-Kommentar, 7th Edition, 2022, Section 10 Nationality Act, para. 108f.
[7] Section 12 (1)(Nr. 6) Nationality Act.
[8] Section 38 Nationality Act.
[9] Information provided by the BAMF, 10 May 2024.
[10] Federal Statistical Office, ‘200 100 Einbürgerungen im Jahr 2023’, 28 May 2024, available in German here.