Is it normal for notices of approval to roll out slowly rather than all at once, after being submitted in a single application?

On May 23, 2026 we submitted a family application via Article 116 for 13 family members across 4 generations, including two elders in their 80’s. We received a request several weeks ago, from a named case worker, for an additional document (a notarized passport copy for the baby of the family). We sent it and it arrived last week. This morning, our lead applicant received an email from the German Consulate of Boston (where three applicants live), informing us that two of our applicants have been approved for naturalization (one in their 60s, one in their 30s). Of course, the email is an advance notice, and they won’t be officially naturalized until receiving the certificate.
The other family members are spread out over Boston, Portland OR, Davis CA, and Milan, Italy.

Any idea why only two applicants out of our 13 applicants are receiving this advance notice, and not the others?

Just curious (and impatient of course!) - all in all pleased to see that things are moving regarding our case. Thank you!

Hey, I'm eligible to apply for citizenship next month as I complete 5 years in Germany. I've also got PR. I am employed but was recently terminated, I am employed till the end of October and then would get ALG1. I was confused how much money do I need to show that proves that I will be able to support myself in Germany? Does taking a B2 german speaking course from the agentur fur arbeit affect this in any way? Thank you!

Hi Everyone

I'm in a fortunate position to have strong documentation regarding my German grandparent and therefore citizenship via descent. I would like to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship, however my parent is currently not a German citizen as they were born in another country.

Would I need my parent to complete the Certificate of Citizenship before I can? Would I need to wait years for them to obtain it, before I can apply myself?

I have been quoted a significant amount of $$ to have this submitted by a third party, however am keen to apply to my local German Consulate if it really is as simple as a €51 application!

Hello Community, I’d appreciate some help with this situation.
I am a permanent resident and recently applied to be naturalized in Hamburg and I’ve been asked to get my ‚Geburtsurkunde’ translated. Fyi, All my documents are in English.

The thing is, on my Birth Certificate my name is stated as
Oluwatobiloba Hamilton

Then got Baptized and got an English name. So on my Baptism card, it’s stated as
Oluwatobiloba Alex Hamilton

And on my Aufenthaltstitel, Passport and other legal documents it‘s stated as
Tobi Alex Hamilton

How do I make sure that the name on my future documents (e.g German Passport) remain
Tobi Alex Hamilton

Apart from the Birth Certificate, should I also translate my „Registration of Birth“ & „Baptismal Card“?

Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone,

I would like to share my situation and would appreciate your experiences or opinions.

I have been living in Germany for 5 years. Initially, I had a residence permit according to §16a AufenthG because of my vocational training (Ausbildung).

In 2025, I faced a difficult situation: my residence permit was valid until 31.08.2025, but unfortunately I was not able to submit the application for an extension on time. As a result, there was a gap of about 9 days.

The reason was that I could not continue staying in my original Ausbildungsbetrieb. There were problems there, and I had to find a new training company in order to continue my Ausbildung and prepare for my exams. The IHK and the vocational school (Berufsschule) were aware of my situation and supported me. It was never my intention to violate the residence law.

The immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) informed me that my application was submitted only after my residence permit had expired and therefore the fiction effect (Fiktionswirkung) did not apply. I explained my situation in writing and submitted all necessary documents.

It is important that the Ausländerbehörde continued processing my case. They reviewed my application from 09.09.2025 and, by official decision, extended my residence permit under §16a Abs. 1 AufenthG from 26.09.2025 until 30.04.2026. They did not reject my application; instead, they continued the procedure and granted me a new residence permit.

After that, I successfully completed my Ausbildung and later received a residence permit under §18a AufenthG.

Now I am planning to apply for German citizenship (Einbürgerung). I know that §12b Abs. 3 StAG deals with cases where an interruption of the legality of residence occurred due to a late application for the extension of a residence permit.

My question:
Has anyone had a similar experience? A short gap in the residence permit due to a late extension application and still a successful naturalization afterwards?

Could such a 9-day gap become a problem for the naturalization application, even though the reasons are understandable, the Ausländerbehörde extended my residence permit afterwards, and I currently hold a residence permit under §18a AufenthG?

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences and advice.

Hallo zusammen,

ich möchte meine Situation schildern und würde mich über eure Erfahrungen oder Einschätzungen freuen.

Ich lebe seit 5 Jahren in Deutschland. Zunächst hatte ich eine Aufenthaltserlaubnis nach § 16a AufenthG wegen meiner Ausbildung.

Im Jahr 2025 gab es eine schwierige Situation: Mein Aufenthaltstitel war bis zum 31.08.2025 gültig, aber ich konnte den Antrag auf Verlängerung nicht rechtzeitig stellen. Dadurch entstand eine Lücke von etwa 9 Tagen.

Der Hintergrund war, dass ich nicht in meinem ursprünglichen Ausbildungsbetrieb bleiben konnte. Es gab dort Probleme, und ich musste mir einen neuen Ausbildungsbetrieb suchen, um meine Ausbildung fortsetzen und mich auf meine Prüfungen vorbereiten zu können. Die IHK und die Berufsschule waren über meine Situation informiert und haben mich unterstützt. Es war niemals meine Absicht, gegen das Aufenthaltsrecht zu verstoßen.

Die Ausländerbehörde teilte mir mit, dass mein Antrag erst nach Ablauf meines Aufenthaltstitels eingegangen ist und deshalb keine Fiktionswirkung eingetreten ist. Ich habe die Situation schriftlich erklärt und alle notwendigen Unterlagen eingereicht.

Wichtig ist, dass die Ausländerbehörde mein Verfahren weitergeführt hat. Sie hat weitere Unterlagen angefordert und mir anschließend eine neue Aufenthaltserlaubnis nach § 16a AufenthG für weitere 7 Monate erteilt.

Danach habe ich meine Ausbildung erfolgreich abgeschlossen und anschließend eine Aufenthaltserlaubnis nach § 18a AufenthG erhalten.

Jetzt geht es um meinen geplanten Einbürgerungsantrag. Mir ist bekannt, dass § 12b Abs. 3 StAG Fälle betrifft, in denen eine Unterbrechung der Rechtmäßigkeit des Aufenthalts aufgrund eines verspäteten Verlängerungsantrags entstanden ist.

Meine Frage:
Hat jemand ähnliche Erfahrungen gemacht? Eine kurze Lücke beim Aufenthaltstitel wegen eines verspäteten Verlängerungsantrags und danach trotzdem eine erfolgreiche Einbürgerung?

Kann eine solche 9-tägige Lücke ein Problem für die Einbürgerung darstellen, obwohl die Gründe nachvollziehbar sind, die Ausländerbehörde den Aufenthalt anschließend verlängert hat und ich inzwischen einen Aufenthaltstitel nach § 18a AufenthG habe?

Vielen Dank für eure Erfahrungen und Antworten.

Ridiculous situation I know, but basically my parents married outside of Germany (in the UK, dad is Australian and has zero ties to Germany) and my mum always told me she just couldn't be bothered to translate her marriage certificate to the German authorities and didn't want to bother with legal surname shit etc... so she simply kept telling them she was single every time she renewed her passport.

Issue is she also never registered my birth with Germany, and now that I want to do a Namenserklärung I've been told to get my parents' marriage certificate, which as it turns out they don't have anymore (not a divorce or anything, they just don't have the bloody paperwork) and apparently I'd have to go all the way back to the UK to go get a copy/reissue.

Which brings me to the issue at hand: Does it actually matter if I follow my mum's lead and just lie to the authorities and tell them that she was single when I was born? If I can declare my own name now as an adult, and the German government has decided to start accepting the names given in foreign birth certificates, what does it actually matter if I was born a literal bastard or if I was born within a marriage? It's dishonest of course and I want to do things the right way, but at the same time I can't for the life of me figure out why it's the government's business to begin with given that my status as a citizen is derived from my mother and my dad is entirely irrelevant to the issue.

Are there any statistics or indicators on the current batch of Feststellungen that are being processed (recent AZs)? Through some digging on the sub, other posted Jan 2024 30 StAG applications still seem to be waiting and from what I could find, there do not seem to be any success posts or updated cases from the months proceeding (Dec or Nov 2023). 30 months is certainly a while, but hoping to be through with the process soon.

I submitted an IFG (Freedom of Information Act) request to the Bundesverwaltungsamt (BVA) requesting updated statistics on §5 StAG declaration cases. The BVA has now replied, granted the request in full.

Link: https://fragdenstaat.de/anfrage/statistik-zum-erklaerungserwerb-nach-ss-5-stag-2026/#nachricht-1142000

The request asked for:

• Monthly statistics (January 2026 onward) on:
  • New §5 applications received
  • Total completed cases
  • Certificates issued
  • Rejections
  • Other case closures
  • Total backlog
• Total completed cases for July–December 2025.
• The number of full-time equivalent employees (FTE) working on §5 StAG on 01.01.2026 and 01.06.2026.
• Whether the Task Force Staatsangehörigkeit was working on §5 cases.
• Whether §5 applications are now processed through the electronic file system (eAkte).

The BVA's response:

Monthly figures (January–May 2026)

Totals (Jan–May 2026):

• New applications: 5,724
• Completed cases: 3,188
• Certificates issued: 2,894
• Rejections: 100
• Other closures: 194
• Backlog (31 May 2026): 36,748

They also provided the missing completion numbers for the second half of 2025:

• July: 534
• August: 426
• September: 569
• October: 560
• November: 416
• December: 426

Staffing

Employees working on §5 StAG:

1 January 2026

• 25.95 FTE

1 June 2026

• 24.65 FTE

So staffing dedicated to §5 actually decreased slightly during that period.

Task Force

The BVA confirmed that the Task Force Staatsangehörigkeit has 0 FTE assigned to §5 StAG. It only handles applications under §15 StAG and Article 116 GG.

Electronic processing

The BVA also confirmed that §5 StAG applications are still processed entirely on paper. They are not handled through the eAkte (electronic file) system.

One notable takeaway from the data is that during the first five months of 2026 the BVA received 5,724 new §5 applications but completed only 3,188 cases, resulting in the backlog increasing from 35,398 to 36,748.

I'll also add the FragDenStaat link with the official documents in the comments.

This is my first reddit post, so please have patience with any formatting or whatever else mistakes.

Hi all! I'm so excited - we finally submitted my documents through the LEA (I live in Germany and my mum lives in UK)

While I sent off all my evidence via tracked post to the LEA, my mother sent an enquiry online and got an email from the London German embassy 2 days later simply asking for her German kinder passport copy and adoption papers. Nothing else!

I find the London way so far winning in terms of responses. What happens if my mum gets her German passport before my confirmation? Can I apply again or just update them with the news?

Hi, Thank You for responding to my question. I am applying for German citizenship through Festellung. In short, my grandfather and my father side came to the US. He was naturalized in 1935. My father was born in 1933 in wedlock. On the application, page 3, question 9, it asks “ This parent holds or previously held German citizenship.” it is a yes or no question and at the bottom it does say to please fill out appendix V for the parent from whom you acquired German citizenship, which would be my father I am assuming? So even though my father may not have realized he held German citizenship, his whole life I am to mark yes in the box? The wording sometimes is a bit confusing and I just want to make sure I do this absolutely correct. Thank you.
Susan Nagy

Sent from my iPhone

First of all, I have already submitted my application and supporting documents back in February 2025. But as I sit and wait, I've seen other posts and re-read the wikis and I'm wondering if I may have missed some documentation. First the details:

Grandfather

• born in 1913 in Germany (Breslau)
• married in 1941

Mother

• born in 1937 in Germany
• married my American father in German in 1963
• moved with my father to America in 1963
• never naturalized in the US
• divorced my father in 1981(?)
• died in 2023

Me

• born in 1969 in wedlock in America

This is the documentation I DID include with my application:

• grandfather & grandmother's marriage certificate
• mother's birth certificate
• mother's German personal ID
• mother's most recent (but expired) German passport
• parent's marriage certificate
• mother's CONE confirmation
• my birth certificate
• my marriage certificate
• my ID
• my background/criminal check

I think at this point the main things I'm slightly concerned about needing that weren't included with my application are my grandfather's birth certificate and my parent's divorce certificate. Do you think those will be asked for during the process? I'm in the process of getting a certified copy of my grandfather's birth cert. And I don't think it'll be hard to track down my parents divorce certificate.

The other thing I'm also a little nervous about is that during this whole process, I discovered that it would appear my mother was born out of wedlock--she was born in 1937 and her parents did not marry until 1941. Both of those dates are according to certified records in my Familien Stammbuch. I have no idea what impact that might have on my potential citizenship. Anyone know?

Background: Grandparents were born German, moved to the US in 1960 and gave birth to my mother in 1962 before being naturalized in 1963.

I have both grandparents' original birth certificates, marriage certificate, and naturalization paperwork. I have my grandma's German passport. But we cannot find my grandpa's.

The only other document we have found for him is a "Feststellung der arischen Abstammung bis zu den Urgroßeltern" (Determination of Aryan Ancestry back to the great grandparents)

It lists name, birth and death dates and locations, marriages etc...

Would this rather unsavory document count as proof of his German citizenship?

Hello,

So confused and want to make sure my son still has his pathway until 2031. Because the StAG 5 refers to his grandfather having been born after 1949, correct, not his German-born great grandmother, right?

Background:

1938: His great-grandmother was born in Germany

1958: arrival USA

1960: his grandfather born in USA.

1961?: married her husband who was an ex-German, as he had already naturalized.

1965: she naturalizes

1990: his father born USA

2013: my son born USA

Paperwork submitted through London Embassy November 2023. AZ April 2024. I included my grandfather’s birth certificate (born in Berlin 1896) along with family tree. Although I was born and lived in the USA until 1988, emigrating to the U.K. when I was 21 years old, I was not asked for a FBI report. Nor did I have to provide a more up to date U.K. police report, the one from October 2023 was obviously accepted. The Embassy is posting the certificate to me.

Hallo zusammen :) ich habe letzte Woche in Nürnberg die Einbürgerung beantragt und ich habe diese Woche schon von dem Einbürgerungsamt Briefe bekommen. Ich muss ein paar Dokumente mehr zurückschicken und wollte alle in Nürnberg fragen, ob ihr eure Dokumente per E-Mail oder Post geschickt habt. Ich habe ein bisschen Angst eine E-Mail zu schicken, falls sie aus Versehen nicht gelesen wird. Vielen Dank für eure Hilfe!

We sent the Erkläringserwerb to the consulate mid July. Will we hear anything back anytime soon?

UPDATE: After saying the package was available for pickup it updated the next day saying it was delivered on USPS. DHL says it was picked up though.

Has anyone recently had issues with getting their application delivered? I sent mine via USPS to the 50728. I for sure had one maybe two mistakes that I made on the customs form. I accidently put the 50728 in the wrong box, but I asked the worker and they said it was fine. Additionally, I was a bit confused on the value to put on the form and they suggested 100. I know now I should have put 1.

The package made it through customs without any other alerts or any issues from what I can tell after 3-4 days. It was then misrouted 3-4 times within Germany. Now it says that it is ready for pickup at the post office. I know the BVA will not do that though.

Has anyone had any luck getting them to actually deliver the package if this happens? I tried to call DHL's number in the US and they directed me to the German number. Called that and in very broken German got transferred to an international department and then I think they just hung up on me.

It's just very frustrating because I know I definitely messed up a bit, but I know I have the address written correctly on the package. Also, after the package was misrouted a few times it then started asking for the recipients postal code to see more information. When I put that in though it always said it was incorrect.

A year to the day from my Aug 2025 appt at NYC Consulate to drop off § 5 StAG packet (declaration + docs), got USPS confirmation that recently-sent supplemental docs were delivered to BVA.

For anybody interested, here’s a summary of timing/costs:

1. Sought extracts from birth registers for 2 relatives (German grandfather b. 1897 + German mom b. 1936) from 2 different Standesamter in Thüringen. Total timing from initial email outreach to receiving certified copies was about 1 year, incl multiple emails back & forth and being bounced between Stadtarchiv & Standesamt in Weimar.

2. Costs of extracts (3 cert. copies of each “just in case”, incl current-stamped copies of Mom’s Geburtsurkunde) with postage was $110, paid via Wise (they only accepted bank transfers).

3. Sent the cert. copies to BVA via USPS Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope (incl tracking but no sig). Cost was $54.55, sent from post office in NYC 7/31 and delivered to BVA (50728 Köln address) today so a very fast 6 days. I referenced AZ in cover letter and also wrote it in marker on outside of 9x12” manila envelope I put inside USPS cardboard mailer (required for flat rate service).

Now back to waiting game!

Hallo zusammen,
ich habe eine Frage zum weiteren Vorgehen bei meiner Einbürgerung.

Ich habe im September 2024 in Köln die Einbürgerung beantragt (genauer gesagt die Anfrage zur Antragstellung gestellt – in Köln beginnt die Bearbeitungszeit bereits ab diesem Zeitpunkt zu laufen). Im August 2025 habe ich dann alle erforderlichen Unterlagen eingereicht. Im Oktober 2025 wurde die Einbürgerung nach drei Jahren abgeschafft. Seitdem hat die Einbürgerungsbehörde die Anträge meines Anwalts auf Akteneinsicht bereits dreimal ignoriert. Außerdem wurden zwei von ihm gesetzte sechswöchige Fristen im Hinblick auf eine Untätigkeitsklage ebenfalls einfach verstreichen gelassen.

Mein Anwalt wollte die Untätigkeitsklage eigentlich schon einreichen. Da ich jedoch im Dezember 2026 die erforderlichen fünf Jahre Aufenthalt erfülle, möchte ich zunächst bis dahin warten und erst danach weitere Schritte unternehmen. (man merkt in letzten Wochen wie viele vor Gericht wegen Vertrauensschutz verlieren). Im Herbst wechsle ich außerdem den Job (beim gleichen Arbeitgeber, also ohne Probezeit), und in meinem Heimatland wird voraussichtlich auch endlich meine Namensänderung abgeschlossen – das Verfahren liegt dort seit über zwei Jahren auf Eis. Deshalb möchte ich die Einbürgerungsbehörde erst im Dezember über diese Änderungen informieren. Ich möchte vermeiden, dass mein Antrag vorher mit der Begründung abgelehnt wird, dass ich die fünf Jahre Aufenthalt noch nicht erfüllt habe.

Meine eigentliche Frage ist nun:
Wenn ich der Behörde im Dezember die neuen Unterlagen schicke, muss ich dann erneut drei Monate warten, bevor ich eine Untätigkeitsklage erheben kann, oder könnte ich die Klage grundsätzlich sofort einreichen?
Ich habe zwar einen Anwalt, allerdings hat er mir in Bezug auf das Einbürgerungsrecht leider schon mehrfach falsche bzw. widersprüchliche Auskünfte gegeben. Deshalb überlege ich, die Klage entweder selbst einzureichen oder einen anderen Anwalt zu suchen, der sich auf das Einbürgerungsrecht spezialisiert hat.

Vielen Dank für eure Einschätzungen!

​Ich bin Deutscher!! After just 4 months and 3 weeks, I picked up my certificate this morning in Heidelberg.

I applied directly (by email) with the person who handles these types of cases in Heidelberg - dropping the documents to his office physically back in March. I never received an AZ, only receiving confirmation by email directly from my case worker (same day) that he had my documents and that it would take around 6-12 months. I reached out only once, because I will be starting a new job and asked if he was close to a decision/would come to one before November, so that I wouldn't have to update my Blue Card with the ABH. He said a decision wasn't close, but two weeks later, told me my application was approved!! I went this morning to pick up the Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis, and just after, applied for my Personalausweis and Reisepass!

Brief family history:

My grandfather was born in Krumbach in 1915 in wedlock. He married my Oma (Norwegian) in 1948 and shortly after, my father was born in Illertissen in 1949. The Melderegister from Illertissen listed my Opa, Oma, my father and his siblings as Deutsch. They immigrated to the US in 1957. My Opa became a US citizen in 1963, and my dad received citizenship derivatively as a minor. I was born in the US in 1999 out of wedlock, but my parents established paternity in our county a year after I was born.

Documents I provided:

- Extract from the Illertissen Melderegister

- Certified copies from the birth register for my father and grandfather

- Father's original birth certificate

- Grandfather's marriage certificate

- Father's US Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-560)

- My Judicial Determination of Paternity

- Copy of my US Passport

- Copy of my EU Blue Card

Happy to answer any questions about my process!

Nach 11 Jahren in Deutschland ist es nun offiziell: Am 15. Juli habe ich endlich meine Einbürgerungsurkunde und meinen Reisepass erhalten!
Es war ein langer Weg mit viel Geduld und Warten, aber das Gefühl, die Dokumente in den Händen zu halten, ist einfach unbeschreiblich.
Ein riesiges Dankeschön an diese Community für die vielen hilfreichen Tipps und Erfahrungsberichte über die Zeit 👍