What you need for the path to citizenship.
Clear guides on naturalisation and residence permits, without officialese, extended continuously. Plus the tools to move from reading to doing.
Three minutes, seven questions, free and without registration.
No scrolling needed, just type a keyword.
From the first permit to the German passport.
Five stages, often eight years and more. civitas. accompanies every one of them, with guides to understand and tools to get things done.
The first permit is the basis for everything that follows.
Which permit applies to you depends on purpose and origin. It determines which periods count towards naturalisation later. Take the wrong path here and you lose years that do not count.
An incomplete first application means another appointment at the immigration office. In many cities the appointment is the bottleneck, not the processing.
§ 12b StAG governs which periods of residence count towards the five years.
The stage that repeats, and where most time is lost.
Every extension is a separate application with its own evidence and its own appointment. civitas. fills in the official form from your answers, you file it yourself.
If the permit expires before the application is filed, no provisional effect arises under § 81 AufenthG. You are then in the country without a valid permit, with consequences for work, travel and finding a flat.
Extension application at a fixed price of 99 €. Official fees go directly to the authority.
The permanent permit that many skip without noticing.
The settlement permit ends the extension cycle. For some groups it applies after only three years, for example spouses of German citizens or holders of the EU Blue Card.
You may keep extending even though the requirements of § 9 AufenthG have long been met. Every unnecessary extension costs a fee, an appointment and evidence.
EU Blue Card: permanent after only 21 months.
The entitlement arises in the fifth year, not with the application.
Since the 2024 reform five years of lawful residence are enough and dual citizenship is retained. The entitlement under § 10 StAG exists from that point, whether or not you know about it.
Every year in which the entitlement exists and goes unused is a year without a German passport, without the right to vote and without freedom of movement in the EU.
The eligibility check shows in three minutes since when it applies to you.
The certificate is not the end of the path.
After the naturalisation certificate come the passport, the identity card and the registration data. Anyone who fails to deregister the previous permit or misses deadlines loses time at the last stage.
The certificate alone is not an identity document. Without a passport and an identity card you can neither travel nor identify yourself.
A change of name is also decided here, Art. 47 EGBGB.
Your path, your articles.
Four starting positions, four paths through the guides, each with the matching articles and the next step.
I want to know whether naturalisation is an option for me
The basics first: what the application costs, which documents are usual and what applies since the reform.
Check eligibilityI have applied and am waiting for the authority
What processing times mean, how cities differ and which options exist when the wait is long.
Track the applicationMy residence permit expires, the extension is due
Until naturalisation the residence permit remains the basis of the path. You answer the questions, we fill in the official form, you file it yourself.
Start the extensionMy application was rejected or my case is complicated
Which options exist after a rejection and when a lawyer clarifying the individual case makes sense.
Request a law firm referralThe most important guides.
Curated from the most read articles, the fastest way into the most frequent questions.
All guides.
The full index, extended continuously. Search for a keyword above or narrow it down to a topic here.
Where do you really stand?
Reading answers the general question. The eligibility check answers yours. Here are the first two questions, the rest follow in the check.
How long have you lawfully lived in Germany?
0 of 7 points speak in favour according to your answers. The remaining 5 questions cover language, test, means of subsistence, criminal record and identity. You see the result immediately.
Continue the check, free of chargeSeven questions. Your result immediately on screen.
Free, without registration. You decide only after the result whether to book a package. The check does not replace an examination by the authority, it tells you which path is an option for you at all.
More than a guide.
Four legal paths, one goal. What is available besides reading.
Free orientation
Eligibility check and processing time comparison for 80 cities, without registration, without cost.
Structured instead of officialese
You answer plain questions, we transfer your answers field by field into the official form. You file it yourself.
Six languages
The guided application runs in German, English, Turkish, Arabic, Russian and Ukrainian.
Application packages at a one-off fixed price from 99 €. Authority fees are third-party costs and go directly to the authority.
The list you will need anyway.
Sign up and we will send you the document checklist for naturalisation under § 10 StAG directly by email. You can start the eligibility check right away.
Ready for the first step?
The eligibility check shows you in three minutes where you stand. Seven questions, your personal result, free and without registration.