Important information for German citizens born abroad

German Nationality Acquired through Notification of Birth Occurring Abroad (After 1999)

For German nationals who were born abroad after December 31, 1999, the following generally applies:

Their children born abroad shall acquire German nationality only if the parents report the birth of the child to the competent German foreign mission within one year.The relevant passage Section 4 (4) of the German Nationality Act is worded as follows:

(4) In case of a child born abroad, German nationality shall not be acquired pursuant to Para. 1 if the parent was born abroad after December 31, 1999, and has his/her habitual residence there, unless the child would otherwise be stateless. The legal consequence pursuant to sentence 1 shall not enter into force if, within one year of the birth of the child, an application pursuant to Section 36 of the Civil Status Act is filed to have the birth recorded in the register of births. To meet the deadline, it shall also be sufficient if the application is submitted to the competent foreign mission within this time period. If both parents are German nationals, the legal consequence of sentence 1 shall enter into force only if both have met the conditions cited thereunder.