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Applying for German Citizenship in Berlin, Step by Step

Fiona Macdonald
2 days ago
5 min read

Every naturalization application in Berlin goes to one office. That office is the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA), the city’s immigration authority. It has handled naturalization for all of Berlin since 1 January 2024. You apply online through service.berlin.de. The fee is €255 per adult, and the wait after filing is long. This is the process for anyone whose main residence is in Berlin.

Before you file: the legal test

In most cases, the standards are set out in § 10 StAG. You need five years of lawful habitual residence in Germany. Your identity and nationality must be clear, and you need a residence title that qualifies. You must be able to support yourself and your family without Grundsicherungsgeld (formerly Bürgergeld) or social assistance. Any criminal conviction must stay within the limits the law tolerates. You need German at level B1 and knowledge of the legal and social order. You also commit to the free democratic basic order and to Germany’s historical responsibility for the Nazi era.

Some residence titles do not count. They include titles for studies and several humanitarian titles. Two older rules no longer apply. Since 27 June 2024, you no longer have to give up your previous citizenship. Since 30 October 2025, the three-year fast track in § 10(3) no longer exists.

The five-year post linked below covers each requirement. Berlin also offers a Quick-Check on its service page and asks you to use it before filing.

Filing online with the LEA

The online form is long, but you can save it and finish later. Uploads must be PDF, JPG, JPEG or PNG files. Each file can be up to 7 MB, and all files together up to 100 MB. Children under 16 can be included in a parent’s application. Spouses, partners and children aged 16 or over file their own.

For an employee, the core documents on the Berlin list are these:

  • valid passport or national ID card, plus civil status documents such as a marriage certificate

  • employment contract, payslips for the last six months and an employer’s confirmation that the job is not under notice

  • proof of health and long-term care insurance

  • rental contract showing the current rent, or a land register extract for owners

  • B1 language certificate and the Einbürgerungstest or “Leben in Deutschland” certificate

  • registration confirmation (Meldebestätigung)

Self-employed applicants send tax documents and a report from a tax adviser instead of payslips. The form ends with a PDF confirmation. Keep it. Filing does not change your residence status. If your residence permit expires during the wait, you still have to renew it.

The fee, the language level and the test

Under § 38(2) StAG, the fee is €255 per adult. It drops to €51 for a minor child who has no income of their own and is naturalized together with a parent. Berlin collects the fee by credit card or PayPal before you can send the form.

If the application is refused after processing has started, § 38(2) StAG sets a fee between €25 and the full amount. The Berlin service page states that the full fee is due.

German at level B1 is the standard. A B1 certificate such as the Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer counts. So do some German school, vocational or university qualifications. Civic knowledge is shown in most cases by the Einbürgerungstest (citizenship test). It has 33 questions, you pass with 17 right answers, and it costs €25.

The wait, and when a court can step in

The LEA reviews the file and asks for missing documents where needed. For applicants aged 16 or over, it also checks with the domestic intelligence services (§ 37 StAG). Once the review is positive, the LEA invites you to an appointment.

Waiting times in Berlin are long and vary from case to case. The LEA took over from the districts on 1 January 2024. At that point it inherited about 40,000 open naturalization cases. Its own service page warns of longer processing times. The same page asks you not to send status inquiries (Sachstandsanfragen).

The law also sets an outer limit. § 75 VwGO allows an action for failure to act (Untätigkeitsklage). It is admissible if the authority has not decided within a reasonable time without sufficient reason. As a rule, it cannot be filed before three months have passed since the application. Three months is a minimum, not a deadline for the LEA. If the court finds a sufficient reason for the delay, it suspends the case. It then gives the authority a period to decide.

From certificate to first German passport

Naturalization takes effect when the Einbürgerungsurkunde (certificate of naturalization) is handed over. Before that, you make a solemn declaration to respect the Basic Law and the laws of Germany. The law intends the handover to take place at a public ceremony.

Next comes your first German passport or ID card. In Berlin, the Bürgeramt needs the certificate and the passport of your previous nationality, or an identity certificate from the LEA. Berlin runs a special office for these first documents at the Bürgeramt Wedding. A passport for an adult aged 24 or over costs €70.

When to get a lawyer

Advice before filing makes sense when one requirement is borderline. Typical cases are a long stay abroad within the five years, a residence title that may not count, a criminal conviction, or income that dropped in recent months. After filing, a lawyer can judge whether the wait has become unreasonable. If it has, the next question is whether to bring an Untätigkeitsklage at the Administrative Court Berlin.

Prepare your Berlin application with a clear plan

Fiona Macdonald advises on naturalization at the LEA. Her work runs from the first check of the requirements to the Administrative Court Berlin, if an application has waited too long or been rejected. Fiona Macdonald advises clients anywhere in Germany and internationally by video. A consultation can show where your file is strong and where it needs work.

Related reading

Sources

Last reviewed: October 2026 — RAin Fiona Macdonald

This article reflects information available at the review date above and may not remain current as rules and practice change. It is general information only, not legal advice, and does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Liability for reliance on its contents is excluded to the extent permitted by law.

© 2026 Fiona Macdonald Rechtsanwältin

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