Appointment-System of the German Foreign Office — Washington

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Citizenship law

The Embassy serves the following U.S. States: District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
If you live outside the Embassy’s jurisdiction, please contact the German Consulate-General which serves your U.S. State.

Please make an appointment here if you wish to submit a new application for matters relating to nationality law. This applies to

• Applications for naturalization under Article 116 II of the Basic Law or under Section 15 of the Nationality Act (naturalization for victims of Nazi persecution)
• Applications for naturalization of former German citizen (Section 13 STAG , Section 14 STAG)
• Declarations of renunciation of German citizenship.
• Applications for determination of German citizenship

Family members can submit their applications during the same appointment.

For applications for declarations on the acquisition of German citizenship (§ 5 STAG), please book an appointment in the “Declaration of Acquisition” category.

Please note that appointments in this category cannot be used to apply for German passports or to submit applications relating to civil status matters (e.g., birth notifications).

Certified copies

Any necessary copy certifications can be done here during your appointment. Please bring the original documents with you for this purpose. It is therefore not necessary to arrange a separate certification appointment or to obtain copy certifications from US notaries.

Perhaps you are already a German citizen?

German citizenship by descent usually occurs automatically and does not require a separate procedure, provided that the German parent was not born outside Germany after December 31, 1999. If a child is born in the US to parents who can prove their German citizenship, an appointment to apply for a passport can usually be booked directly (please note the information on first-time applications).

As demand for appointments is consistently high, appointments at the Embassy in Washington, D.C. are often fully booked ! If you cannot find an available appointment in your category, please try again at a later date.

Thank you for your understanding!

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