r/germany • u/supercalliefragislit • Feb 27 '26
Culture I got my German citizenship!
I’ve been dreaming of this day since I was 17 during my study abroad program.
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u/That_Relar Feb 27 '26
Congrats, how long did it take you to get it, and what are you looking forward to the most now that you are a German?
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u/GouacheGelanthi Feb 27 '26
The question everyone runs into the comments to ask!
It's been 6 months since I've submitted my "I'd like to apply" form. No reply at all yet. Excited to hear how long it took OP!
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u/Deathisfatal Kiwi in NRW Feb 27 '26
6 months? I've been waiting 16 without any reply
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u/Existing-Room58 Feb 27 '26
I applied 4 months ago and got invitation to get my Urkunde. Living in Germany for 3.5 years
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u/lovesjw Feb 28 '26
15 months and no reply here. Practically speaking, there is little that can be done to speed things up other than continuing to wait.
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u/MrBagooo Bremen Feb 27 '26
The thing that most don't understand is that this is extremely regional and highly depends on the exact person who's taking care of your application. So what's true for OP doesn't need to apply to you. Even if you're in the same city. Just because your second name starts with "Z" and OP's second name starts with "A".
And that is simply because some are assholes and some are nice. And everything bureaucratic in Germany is like that. Like tax declaration and so on.
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u/Luke_mullet Feb 27 '26
I applied a few weeks ago, I've already had a reply to say it will take 2 years minimum.
"Aufgrund der sehr hohen Anzahl eingehender Anfragen und Anträge kommt es bei der Staatsangehörigkeitsbehörde zu starken zeitlichen Verzögerungen und damit zu einer momentanen Bearbeitungszeit von mehr als zwei Jahren. Dies bitten wir zu entschuldigen."
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u/cham43 Feb 27 '26
Which city are you in ?
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u/Luke_mullet Feb 27 '26
A small town in Niedersachsen with a population of 25'000. They must have only 1 person working on them if that's the length of time it will take.
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u/hughk Feb 27 '26
Very few places do more than the initial processing locally. Most of the processing is at Lander level. So I applied to Frankfurt. They tokd me what documents were needed, accepted them, checked for completiness and forwarded them on to the Lander centre in Darmstadt.
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u/BossiBoZz Feb 27 '26
it took me 9 months to get wohngeld denied. its horrible.
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u/NoConversation8 Berlin Feb 28 '26
Hi I’m interested in applying that too Was everything online? And what were the basis of denial
You can also dm
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u/BossiBoZz Feb 28 '26
was receving bürgergeld at the time and the jobcenter wrote:"apply for wohngeld. you eligable and they have to pay a part of the money. we dont pay all. if you dont apply we cut your money." so I applied for wohngeld. the jobcenter had send the papers. not my first rodeo with wohngeld. fill out the form and either sent it to them or throw it in directly. did that. got no answers for months, so i emailed them. no answer. then did it again. no answer. so I mailed the jobcenter, that the wohngeld doesnt answer. no answer. did that again. no answer. then I found a job. a month later the jobcenter send me a letter saying:"APPLY FOR WOHNGELD OR WE CUT YOUR MONEY!!1!!" and three months after that I got a letter from Wohngeld stating:"No Wohgeld for you. you already get Bürgergeld, stupid" and then I kinda lost it. everything is just ridiculus.
something to add: while I got Bürgergeld or better while my full time working GF got Bürgergeld (she had to apply because she received Bürgergeld earlier in her life and we live together, so she has to apply every time for the rest of our lives) we got a letter:"you got a raise of 150€. now you earn to much for Bürgergeld. You get nothing now fuck you." So I looked at the calculations and found some weird numbers. The numbers for the earnings were bigger than on the paycheck. not much like 60€ but we didnt get money because we had 20€ too much. So I wrote them:"please explain your math. the margin for error is small here." answer:"nah dont wanne. you just get the money ok?" like wtf ppl. lifes depend on you doing your job right.
so basically if you want anything you gotta be really really sturdy and grind your way to it. best is to make an appointment if you dont get an answer within like a month.
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u/NoConversation8 Berlin Feb 28 '26
Thanks for explaining and it’s really disheartening to see when government departments are suggesting something yet it’s being denied by another one
And I’m assuming all of the Wohngeld submissions were by post?
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u/TooManyGamesNoTime Feb 27 '26
We're going on 3 years and are up to the oberstlandesgericht (we keep winning and the government wont quit) fun (read expensive) times! Of course winning won't mean that we get it, just that we're in the right.
I don't expect miracles but pfft.
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u/RubMyNose18 Feb 28 '26
My answer came after 1 year. The appointment was for 6 months after I received the answer. Then maybe wait again another 6 to 12 months probably to get it.
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u/LionRage1337 Mar 03 '26
I applied february 2025. Have a meeting in two weeks where I have to bring all the documents in paper which I already send them online. Wouldn’t be surprised to then wait another 6 months for things to go further. The fun part? I was born in Germany
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u/supercalliefragislit Feb 27 '26
I have been living in Germany for 4 years. The process took almost 2 years. Let me know if you have any other questions :)
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u/supercalliefragislit Feb 27 '26
The whole process took around two years from start to finish. I really can’t wait to vote in my first election as I was quite active in every election in my home country. :)
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u/supercalliefragislit Feb 27 '26
Thank you! I have been living here for over 4 years now and the application took close to two years of waiting.
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u/chaoticneutralsheep Feb 27 '26
Congratz. Your leaf shaped bowl will arrive within a few weeks.
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u/Hot-Equipment-7339 Feb 27 '26
Have you complained about the weather yet and aired out your apartment?
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u/Ach4t1us Feb 27 '26
OP should also expect a leaf bowl to appear in her kitchen cabinet, for no reason
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u/Delicious-Shame-3620 Germany Feb 27 '26
Can confirm, had one appear at mine right after the Einbürgerung!
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u/LowLog7777 Feb 28 '26
The Einwanderungsbehörde usually sends someone who breaks into your apartment at night to check if you have one. If they don't find one, they place one in the cabinet.
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u/supercalliefragislit Feb 27 '26
Always!
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u/Hot-Equipment-7339 Feb 27 '26
Then you are hereby officially acknowledged as a fellow german! :D
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u/Present_Spinach_2380 Feb 27 '26
...and eating pretzels for breakfast and Schnitzel mit Pommes for lunch.
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u/Working_Salary60 Feb 28 '26
Ist auch viel zu kalt/nass/sonnig/warm/trocken/wolkig/windig gerade für die Jahreszeit!
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Feb 27 '26
Too smiley for a German, tone it down to fit in please
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u/supercalliefragislit Feb 27 '26
I’ll work on my gloom and doom demeanor, I promise!
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u/Kanibasami Hamburg Feb 27 '26
Thank you for submitting your joke. You're joke budget for this month is now depleted.
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u/chabadooda Feb 27 '26
Great, now you just have to learn to make a very unhappy face to this good news and start talking how much better it is everywhere else and you will be fully assimilated. 😂
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u/CasualBeer Feb 27 '26
No no, you must be speaking of Poles. That, or we are really not that different.
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u/EinSchurzAufReisen Feb 27 '26
Darauf nen Mett-Igel!
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u/supercalliefragislit Feb 27 '26
Boaa ich liebe Mettwurst.
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u/FearlessReddit0r Feb 28 '26
waiting patiently for you to find out that Mett-Igel has little in common with Mettwurst. And welcome to the land of bureaucracy and doomsayers.
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u/cursed-annoyance Feb 27 '26
Willkommen in der Hölle
Hier gibt es nur schlechte flachwitze und mettbrötchen mit Bier
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u/Late-Bison-2087 Feb 27 '26
Glückwunsch. How long did it take and was it too difficult?
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u/supercalliefragislit Feb 27 '26
From the beginning of the process to the end it was about two years. So a bit long and required lots of patience.
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u/chef2303 Feb 27 '26
Warum sind die ganzen Antworten auf Englisch? Die Dame ist nun Deutsch.
Also: Bitte eine Portion Sauerkraut verspeisen. Jetzt. Danke.
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u/ApprehensiveLet8631 Feb 28 '26
Ausgezeichnet!
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Eintritt.
Möge dein Müll getrennt und dein Heim gelüftet sein!
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u/foxxxer22 Feb 27 '26
und jetzt nicht die AfD wählen, sonst ist der Pass gleich wieder weg
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u/cheir0n Feb 27 '26
I like how the attitude of “congrats” changes based on the skin color
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u/Escanor_Pride8185 Feb 27 '26
Fortunately, people who pay attention to such unnecessary things are in the minority here.
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u/Segolin Feb 27 '26
Nicht wirklich, k.A wann des war abet vor rin paar Wochen hat des ein brauner Kerl postet und er wurde todeshated von einigen. Hier bisher nicht einen Kommentar gesehen. Was gut ist und die Norm sein sollte, egal wer einbürgert
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u/DunkleKarte Feb 27 '26
Echt? Kannst du zufällig der Link zur Post mitteilen?
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u/Segolin Feb 27 '26
Wenn ich ihn finde sicher, ansonsten einfach durch den sub gehen. Göaub das war ende Dez/Anfang jan.
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u/MrBagooo Bremen Feb 27 '26
Sorry I'm genuinely curious, do you have an example? I didn't see any post where the "congrats" were different. And you'll always have a hating minority.
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u/charlolou Hessen Feb 27 '26
I don't have a link or anything, but I remember that there was a black person who made a post similar to this one. Some of the comments were positive, but there was also a lot of racism
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u/MrBagooo Bremen Feb 27 '26
Well yes unfortunately racism does exist. But I wouldn't generalize this like u/cheir0n did. As if everyone was being racist and only white people would get the congrats. I don't really think this kind of accusation is warranted.
For sure we need to be aware that racism is a thing so we can all go against it. But I find it counterproductive to generalize this and conclude that everyone in Germany is racist. That's simply not true and doesn't help anyone.
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u/charlolou Hessen Feb 27 '26
Eh, I don't think they generalized it. They never said that everyone in Germany is like this. It was just an observation that the comments here are much more positive than on other posts due to racism, which is true. That doesn't mean that everyone in the comments is racist.
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u/MembershipBig8707 Feb 27 '26
I applied in july 2025, and got no answer till now. When I asked about Sachstandsanfrage, I got this answer.
Aufgrund des derzeit sehr hohen Antragsaufkommens ergeben sich bei der Bearbeitung der Einbürgerungsanträge erhebliche Verzögerungen. Insofern bitten wir Sie um Geduld.
Sie erhalten unaufgefordert eine Rückmeldung, sobald wir die Bearbeitung aufgenommen haben, sowie bei fehlenden Unterlagen oder für einen Termin.
Bitte sehen Sie von Sachstandsanfragen und Erinnerungen ab, denn eine Beantwortung dieser Anfragen bindet Personal und führt zwangsläufig zu weiteren Verzögerungen.
Die Einbürgerungsbehörde der Kreisverwaltung Trier-Saarburg ist nach Kräften bemüht, die Anträge nach bestem Wissen und Gewissen und so schnell wie möglich zu bearbeiten
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
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u/pragmatist1368 Feb 27 '26
I need to get this done. My parents were both German Citizens, permanent US Residents. I should have claimed it a long time ago! Congratulations!
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u/CraicProtocol Feb 27 '26
If your parents are Germans, then so are you. Just need to let the German authorities know
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u/pragmatist1368 Feb 27 '26
I wrote to the consulate and heard nothing. Time to take their passports there in person do a face to face.
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u/CraicProtocol Feb 27 '26
Just apply for the passport. There should be questions about eligibility. Just answer them. If at least one of your parents was German citizen when you were born, you’re German regardless whether the German authorities know about this or not.
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u/Segolin Feb 27 '26
Willkommen! Hoffe du wirst hier glücklich und lässt dich nicht zu sehr eindeutschen und pessimistisch.
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u/ALostStranger Feb 27 '26
What is also cool is checking out your post history how your life moved from one thing to another and such…
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u/grancanaryisland Feb 27 '26
Congratulations! May I know if you also have to do health check for military? My friends who got their citizenship late last year all had to do health check.
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u/TotallyInOverMyHead Feb 27 '26
Congrats. for everyone pulling out, there is a new one buying in. You look like you will do nicely for the pension system.
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u/Old_Cicada_6281 Feb 28 '26
You can now start wearing white socks and sandals when you go to holiday on Gardasee…
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u/Tarkobrosan Feb 28 '26
Herzlichen Glückwunsch!
Der verpflichtende Goethe-Lesekreis beginnt am Mittwoch.
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u/Thommie83 Mar 01 '26
Ich möchte gerne ein paar Leute los werden, welche nur im Internet große "Krieger "sind und Ansonsten alles relativieren was unangenehm werden könnte/kann.
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u/FantasticClue8887 Feb 27 '26
Welcome to the team, du Kartoffel!
Tomorrow is Saturday, you need to go to the Wertstoffhof and kehr your Bürgersteig!
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u/Thommie83 Feb 27 '26
Ja,mit dem Gesichtsausdruck wird das auf der Straße nichts. Das verwirrt die Leute 😀. War nur Spaß. Glückwunsch.
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u/Entire_Scheme_1857 Feb 27 '26
Have you redeemed your free pair of tennis socks and Jack Wolfskin trekking sandals yet? There should be a voucher in the documents.
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u/Beautiful-Earth-970 Feb 27 '26
Willkommen im deutschen Irrsinn 😂👌 Wohnst du im Westen oder im Osten?
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u/Nab0t Feb 27 '26
Congrats and welcome! Please follow the rules and stoßlüfte twice daily and don‘t forget to trenn your Müll.
Where are you originally from? First guess was Irish but thats too close. Something like australia or canada was my next best guess (if you keen to share)
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u/Dr_Penisof Feb 27 '26
Any complaints?
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u/johnnyrmountain Feb 27 '26
Congrats! And now keep regelmäßig Stoßlüften in mind! 😁