If you naturalize as a U.S. citizen on or after June 27, 2024, keeping your German citizenship as a U.S. citizen is automatic. Germany’s reformed Nationality Act now accepts multiple nationalities, so the old rule that stripped Germans of their citizenship the moment they took the U.S. Oath of Allegiance no longer applies. You do not need to file anything with the German authorities before your ceremony, and no U.S. law requires you to surrender your German passport.
What the 2024 Reform Actually Changed
For decades, German nationality law worked from a principle of avoiding dual citizenship. A German who voluntarily acquired another country’s citizenship without written permission lost German nationality automatically, on the date of the foreign naturalization. Many Germans in the United States discovered this only after the fact.
The reform that took effect on June 27, 2024, changed the underlying rule. The Nationality Act now generally accepts multiple nationalities, and the previous “permission to retain” procedure (the Beibehaltungsgenehmigung) was abolished entirely.1Federal Foreign Office. The New Nationality Law as of 27 June 2024 If you acquire U.S. citizenship on or after that date, your German citizenship survives by operation of law. There is no application, no fee, and no waiting period on the German side.
If you had a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung application pending when the new law took effect, it simply became moot. The requirement it satisfied no longer exists.
The U.S. Side Was Never the Problem
The United States does not require new citizens to formally give up a prior nationality. The Oath of Allegiance contains renunciatory language, but the Department of State reads it as a statement of primary loyalty rather than a directive to surrender other citizenships, and no U.S. agency contacts foreign governments to cancel them.2U.S. Department of State. Foreign Affairs Manual – 7 FAM 080 Dual Nationality
The U.S. recognizes dual nationality as a legal reality and takes no position on encouraging or discouraging it. Dual nationals are expected to obey the laws of both countries, enter and leave the United States on their U.S. passport, and understand that U.S. consular help in Germany may be limited compared to a country where they hold only U.S. citizenship.2U.S. Department of State. Foreign Affairs Manual – 7 FAM 080 Dual Nationality
If You Already Naturalized Before June 27, 2024
This is where the reform disappoints many people. The new law is not retroactive. If you became a U.S. citizen before June 27, 2024, without holding a permission to retain, your German citizenship was lost under the rules that applied at the time, and it stays lost today.3German Missions in the United States. Germany’s Nationality Law – Significant Changes
Former German citizens can apply for renaturalization under Section 13 of the Nationality Act, but approval is discretionary rather than automatic. The Federal Office of Administration reviews each case, and the baseline expectations include:
- Ability to support yourself without public assistance
- Adequate command of the German language
- Ongoing close ties to Germany
- A clean criminal record
How closely those factors are scrutinized depends on when your citizenship ended. If you naturalized as a U.S. citizen on or after January 1, 2000, the authorities look at whether you would have qualified for a retention permit had you applied in time, and whether your ties to Germany still meet that standard. If you lost citizenship before January 1, 2000, the threshold is higher: you must show that renaturalization serves a “particular public and national interest.”4German Missions in the United Kingdom. Restoration of Citizenship for Former German Citizens
Applications go through the German embassy or consulate for your place of residence. You will need a German-language CV, proof of your former German citizenship, a current police clearance, and documentation of your ties to Germany. The forms themselves must be completed in German.4German Missions in the United Kingdom. Restoration of Citizenship for Former German Citizens
A Separate Trap: U.S. Military Service
Naturalization is not the only way Germans have historically lost their citizenship. Since January 1, 2000, voluntarily joining a foreign country’s armed forces has also been a ground for loss, unless the German Ministry of Defense gave prior consent.5German Missions in the United States. Loss of German Citizenship
For most dual citizens today this is no longer a live concern. Since July 6, 2011, Germany has granted blanket consent for its nationals who also hold citizenship in a NATO member state, which includes the United States. No separate application is required if your entry into service occurred on or after that date.5German Missions in the United States. Loss of German Citizenship If you joined the U.S. armed forces before July 6, 2011, the blanket consent does not cover you, and your citizenship status should be checked with a German consulate.
Passing German Citizenship to a U.S.-Born Child
Keeping your own German citizenship does not guarantee that a child born to you in the United States will have it. A specific rule catches many families off guard.
If you were born abroad after December 31, 1999, and you live outside Germany when your child is born, the child does not automatically acquire German citizenship at birth (assuming the child acquires another nationality, such as U.S. citizenship through the Fourteenth Amendment). To secure German citizenship for that child, you must register the birth with the competent German consulate or registry office before the child’s first birthday.6German Missions in the United States. German Citizenship Acquired Through Notification of Birth Occurring Abroad Miss the one-year window and the claim may be permanently lost.
If you yourself were born in Germany, or were born abroad before January 1, 2000, this restriction does not apply and your child should acquire German citizenship automatically at birth.
What Dual Status Will Cost You in Paperwork
The right to hold both passports comes with U.S. reporting obligations that many new dual citizens underestimate. The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live, so a German-American dual citizen must file a U.S. federal return every year and report income earned anywhere in the world.7Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad
If your German bank, brokerage, or other financial accounts together exceed $10,000 at any point in the calendar year, you must file an annual Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) with FinCEN.8FinCEN.gov. Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts That threshold is low enough to catch ordinary checking accounts. Separately, if your specified foreign financial assets exceed the Form 8938 thresholds (starting at $50,000 at year-end for a single filer living in the U.S.), you also file that form with your tax return.9Internal Revenue Service. Do I Need to File Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets
The U.S.-Germany tax treaty and tools like the Foreign Tax Credit and the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (set at $130,000 for tax year 2025) exist to prevent the same income from being taxed twice, but the filing obligations themselves do not go away. On the retirement side, a U.S.-Germany totalization agreement keeps you from paying into both social security systems at once and lets work credits from each country count toward eligibility in the other; your German pension rights are tied to contributions, not nationality, so acquiring U.S. citizenship does not affect them.10Social Security Administration. U.S.-German Social Security Agreement