How to Apply for German Citizenship as a Family [2026 English Guide]

Key Takeaways

• Age and your specific route decide whether family members can file together. It is not a personal choice.
• A minor added to a parent’s case still needs their own signed form, birth certificate, and custody documents. They generally do not need to resubmit the parent’s full evidence chain.
• German law has a real co-naturalization option called Miteinbürgerung. A spouse or minor child can naturalize alongside a qualifying family member without meeting the standard residency period on their own.
• Where you live decides your consulate. Family members in different US cities usually apply through their own local consulate, not one shared consulate.

Table of Contents

How Will Your Application Be Processed?

You can get German citizenship one of six ways.

1. Naturalization
2. Descent
3. Adoption
4. Birth
5. Marriage
6. Declaration, including the Section 5, 13, 15, and Article 116(2) historical-injustice routes

This guide covers the mechanics of applying as a family. It covers different family situations:

Family situation	Can you file together?	Key details for family application
Minor child (under 16) with a parent	Yes, added to the parent’s filing	Needs their own form, birth certificate, and custody documents, but usually not the parent’s full evidence chain
Spouse or registered partner	No, files their own application	May qualify for a shorter residency period under Miteinbürgerung (naturalization route only)
Child aged 16 or older	No, files their own application	Needs their own document set, but may still count as a minor for Miteinbürgerung if under 18
Family in different US cities	No, each member applies through their own local consulate	Descent or declaration cases can skip this by mailing to one shared BVA address in Germany instead

Each family member still needs their own signed application, even when everyone applies at once.

What Happens When You Add a Child Under 16 to Your Case?

You can mail a parent’s and a child’s forms together, in the same envelope. Each application still needs its own signed form and its own documents.

A parent’s form does not automatically cover a child. The exact form depends on the route.

The descent route uses

• Antrag F for applicants 16 or older
• Antrag FK for applicants under 16

The Section 5 declaration route uses its own declaration form instead. This should be completed by a parent or guardian if the child is under 16.

Your child’s own filing typically needs:

• A birth certificate linking them to the qualifying parent
• A form signed by their parent or legal guardian, if under 16
• Custody documents, for a filing from a child up to 16
• Their own supporting documents, even if you mail everything together

It typically does not need:

• The parent’s full ancestor chain. That’s already on file under the parent’s own case number.
• A passport for the descent route specifically. BVA lists a foreign passport as optional there, “if available,” not required
• A background check. That applies to people who sign for themselves, starting at age 16

For declaration cases, BVA confirms that once a case has a case number (Aktenzeichen), you do not need to resubmit documents it already holds. You just cite the number instead.

BVA does not say whether this same rule covers a child added to a parent’s case. Confirm your child’s specific document list with BVA or your mission first.

What Happens When a Spouse, Registered Partner, or Child Aged 16 or Older Applies?

A spouse, a registered partner, or a child aged 16 or older cannot simply join someone else’s filing. Each of them needs a separate, signed application of their own.

This follows from Section 34 of the Nationality Act. Anyone 16 or older has the legal capacity to act on their own in a citizenship proceeding.

Each Land runs its own naturalization process with its own submission steps. Spouses and minor children do get a real advantage, though.

German law has a co-naturalization option called Miteinbürgerung. It sits in Section 10(2) of the Nationality Act.

Miteinbürgerung lets a spouse, registered partner, or minor child naturalize alongside a family member who qualifies under Section 10(1).

This works even if they have not personally lived in Germany for the standard five years.

The statute’s own wording covers a “minderjähriges Kind” (any child under 18), not just a child under 16. That is a direct reading of the law’s plain text.

Berlin’s own page does not spell this out for a 16- or 17-year-old who now signs their own form. Confirm your specific case with LEA if your child falls in that age range.

Once a child turns 18, they lose minor status entirely. From then on, they need to qualify on their own, the same as any adult applicant.

Miteinbürgerung still requires:

• A separate, signed application from the spouse, partner, or child
• The same criminal-record check everyone else meets
• The same language test, with one exception: a child who is still under 16 at naturalization meets this requirement through age-appropriate language development instead, under Section 10(4) of the Nationality Act

How Long Does the Residency Requirement Take for a Spouse or Child?

Under Miteinbürgerung, a spouse, registered partner, or minor child does not build up five years of residence on their own. They naturalize on the same timeline as the primary applicant, which is usually five years.

Section 9 naturalization works differently and sets its own fixed numbers. It generally needs three years of residence and a marriage that has lasted two years.

That residence period can shorten for public-interest reasons once the marriage has lasted three years. The law does not fix an exact reduced number for that shortened period.

Check which one actually applies to your case. The Naturalization guide and the Marriage guide cover the eligibility rules for these two routes in full.

If you think you qualify for this shortened period, consider consulting an immigration lawyer to confirm the reduced number in your case.

What Happens When Family Lives in Different US Cities?

Each family member applies through the consulate that covers where they personally live. You cannot pick one consulate for the whole family’s convenience.

The Federal Foreign Office’s Consulate Finder assigns jurisdiction by residence. Do not assume you can pick a different mission just because it is more convenient.

Take the San Francisco consulate as an example. It only covers Northern California, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, not the whole US West Coast.

Descent and declaration cases work differently.

BVA’s own instructions accept a signed application either through your local mission or directly at BVA’s Cologne office.

Mailing straight to BVA bypasses consulate jurisdiction entirely. Every application lands at the same Cologne address, no matter which US state each person lives in.

FAQ

References:

• https://www.bva.bund.de/DE/Services/Buerger/Ausweis-Dokumente-Recht/Staatsangehoerigkeit/Feststellung_Start/Feststellung/01_Informationen_Feststellung/01_02_F_wie_geht_es/01_02_F_wie_geht_es_node.html
• https://www.bva.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Buerger/Ausweis-Dokumente-Recht/Staatsangehoerigkeit/Feststellung/AnlageV.html
• https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/318998/
• https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stag/__10.html
• https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stag/__9.html
• https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stag/__34.html
• https://www.germany.info/us-en/consulate-finder/895706
• https://www.germany.info/us-en/embassy-consulates/san-francisco