Germany · StAG §5 declaration (window closes Aug 19, 2031)
Can I declare German citizenship under §5?
If old gender-discriminatory rules cost your family German citizenship, StAG §5 lets you reclaim it by a free declaration — descendants included. Answer a few questions to see whether it applies, and what to do before the August 19, 2031 deadline.
Why did your family lose — or never receive — German citizenship?
§5 fixes specific old rules that discriminated by gender or birth status. Nazi-persecution cases have a separate, deadline-free path — pick that if it fits.
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Frequently asked questions
Does the §5 declaration cost anything or require language/integration tests?
The procedure itself is free of charge — the BVA states 'Das Verfahren ist gebührenfrei.' You bear only your own costs for documents, translations and certifications. It is a declaration of an existing right, not a discretionary naturalization.
Do I have to give up my current citizenship?
No. §5 and §15 both work without renouncing your existing nationality, and since June 27, 2024 German law broadly accepts multiple nationality. Check whether YOUR home country's law attaches consequences to acquiring German citizenship.
My grandmother was the German one — do I qualify, or only my parent?
Descendants of the affected children hold the declaration right too (§5 covers 'Abkömmlinge'). The lineage and the historical loss event must be documented generation by generation.
My family fled the Nazis — is my path §5 or something else?
Persecution cases have their own bases: Art. 116(2) Basic Law if citizenship was formally stripped between January 30, 1933 and May 8, 1945, and §15 StAG if it was lost another way (e.g. acquiring another nationality after fleeing, before February 26, 1955) or never acquired due to exclusion. Both include descendants, are free, and have no deadline.
Germany tightened its citizenship law in October 2025 — does that affect these claims?
The October 2025 amendment (in BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 256) targeted other naturalization provisions. The in-force consolidated texts of §5 and §15, checked June 10, 2026, are unchanged — the declaration right and the restoration entitlement stand as enacted.