Applying for a new
Citizenship
(A big "Thank you" to
Erich and Emen, they helped a lot researching the data for this page)
Usually the residence permit is issued for a time for up to three years. After that the foreigner can apply for an unlimited residence permit when he is still married to the German partner.
But it is possible, after three years to apply for the German citizenship. This means, you apply for a German passport. This automatically means that you will lose your previous citizenship. There is some discussion going on in Germany to have a dual citizenship, but this is not yet possible. In the case of the Philippines this is not a real issue because the Philippines do not allow dual citizenship either, so they will release you from the Philippines automatically. But there are consequences: The Philippines do not allow for foreigner to own more than 50% of any property. Therefore it will not be possible after you have become a German to buy or own (legally) property in the Philippines. There are some exception for former Filipinos, have a look at this page!
When you want to get the actual law texts, have a look at the web site of the "Bundesministerium des Innern, BMI". This site contains most if not all German laws. A special page contains the book: "Das neue Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht", this available as a PDF file for download
Ok, what are the Rules:
The applying person has to have lived at least for three years in Germany, and be married for at least for two years. Furthermore she has to have a valid residence permit. After 8 years staying in Germany the requirement of being married does not apply anymore.
But this causes a problem: The acquirement of the German citizenship can take between 4 month and 2 years, depending on the original citizenship. Fir the Philippines this could be fairly fast, as they (the Philippine Embassy) automatically release the applicant from the Philippine citizenship. Otherwise the applicant has to process the release from the previous citizenship on his own, and this can take some time. Some countries really hate it when they lose their citizens (like Turkey). But this means that the residence permit will not be valid anymore when the German citizenship should be granted. So in any case after three years you have top apply for an extension (unlimited) of your current residence permit. You can do this at the same time when you apply for the German citizenship.
So, what will happen: The application has to be done at the local city hall (/when the city is big enough to hire a person for this purpose, otherwise in the respective larger community). The application will be forwarded to the county police to check for any criminal records, and then it will be forwarded to the president of the respective county. They will inform the Philippine Embassy. After 3-4 month you will get the bill about DM 500,-, and after you have paid this, you will get the certificate that you can apply for a German passport now. With this certificate you wil have to go to the city hall again to finally apply for the passport. This again will take 3-4 weeks as for any German as well.
Citizenship for Children which joined their
mother after she has married: For children as well there is the rule that
they have to be in Germany for at least 3 years before they can apply for
the German citizenship. But this only applies when the apply for the German
citizenship together with their mother. Otherwise they will have to wait 8
years. For children less than 6 years old the rule is that they must have spent
the majority of their life in Germany. This means that a child with age of 4
years can apply when it has spent more than 2 years in Germany. The fee for the
kids is DM100,- then.
The consequence than is that you should wait with the application for the
mother until all the children fulfill these requirements. Then it will be
relatively fast and is a lot cheaper.
Citizenship, "Geburtsrecht" and "Optionsmodell". For children there are some more rules: They can keep their old citizenship until their 23rd year. Only then they have to decide which citizenship they want to keep. In case they do not decide, they automatically lose the German citizenship. These rules are controlled by the "Geburtsrecht" (See the book: "Das neue Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht").
Citizenship and "Abstammungsrecht". There is another law, called: "Abstammungsrecht". This allows double citizenships when one of the parents is German. They can keep this double citizenship forever.
The Application: You have to provide the following:
Furthermore there will be a German Examination! This examination must proof that the applicant is able to make himself understood in his new home country. The examination consist of two parts, one is a simple conversation which proofs that the applicant can understand and reply in German, and a further test. This had been a written test before, but now it is sufficient to read any article from a local newspaper. Should you fail this exam there is still the possibility to repeat this an the next higher authority.