The term "nationality" can currently be interpreted in two ways: as belonging to the citizenship of a given state, or as a person's belonging to a particular ethnic community. German, as a rule, uses two different terms: "Nationalität," meaning ethnic origin, and "Staatsbürgerschaft," meaning state affiliation, i.e. citizenship.
In the Soviet Union, filling in the "nationality" field on a passport and other identity documents was mandatory. Everyone could determine their own nationality at age 16, when receiving their passport, by choosing between their father's or mother's nationality. However, because certain nationalities were considered "problematic" (for example, Jewish, German, Crimean Tatar, and others), the choice usually fell on whichever parent had a "neutral" nationality (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, etc.).
B1/B2 Language Certificate Requirements
To obtain late resettler status, an applicant must prove German proficiency at a native-speaker level (Section 6 BVFG) — exemption from the test is possible only on medical grounds.
After the collapse of the USSR, many of its successor states decided to drop the mandatory entry of a citizen's nationality on their passport, or allowed people to state their nationality at their own discretion in other documents, such as marriage certificates.
Today, a citizen's ethnic affiliation is not recorded in any official document in Ukraine, which often creates problems when it becomes necessary to prove a particular person's nationality.
Alla (name changed), a Ukrainian citizen, intended to obtain late resettler status in Germany and move there permanently with her family, and to that end filed the relevant application and documents with the Federal Office of Administration on her own. Confident that she would achieve her goal, Alla waited eagerly for the competent authority's response — but after many long months, she was refused.
Panicked and at a loss, Alla decided to turn to our law firm right away so that we could help her understand the reason for the refusal and advise her whether her family still had a chance of obtaining late resettler status in the future.
Our attorney explained to Alla that the first step in assessing the prospects and possibilities for challenging the decision of Germany's Federal Office of Administration was to obtain the case file in order to review it and identify the reasons for the refusal. A corresponding request was promptly sent to the authority, following which our firm was forwarded our client's case file.
Having carefully reviewed the materials provided, the attorney concluded that Alla had been refused late resettler status on the grounds that our client had not proven her German ethnicity. The issue was that Alla's birth certificate stated that her father Vladimir (name changed) was German, while her mother was Ukrainian. However, the marriage certificate issued to our client back in the days of the Ukrainian SSR stated that Alla herself was of Ukrainian nationality. When submitting her documents to the competent authority, Alla had not attached much importance to this fact, believing it sufficient that her father was recorded as German in the documents.
German government bodies, however, have always been known for their meticulousness and precision, especially on matters of such importance. With extensive experience in immigration law, our attorney was familiar with every requirement and nuance of such a process and quickly grasped the situation.
Having gathered the necessary information, the attorney informed Alla that she would first need to amend the corresponding civil-status entry and obtain a new marriage certificate stating that she was German by nationality. To that end, our attorney suggested filing a court action to establish a legal fact and amend the civil-status record. Alla was alarmed at having to resolve the matter through the courts, but the attorney reassured her, explaining that, unfortunately, such an issue could not be resolved without going to court, since under Ukrainian law a court decision specifying the need for the relevant amendment is, among other things, a basis for amending civil-status records.
Having received these details, Alla readily agreed to proceed according to the attorney's plan, and the attorney set about drafting the court action, which was subsequently filed with the relevant Ukrainian court. In the action, the attorney relied primarily on provisions of Ukraine's Civil Code establishing an individual's right to their own identity and to preserving their national, cultural, religious and linguistic distinctiveness. In addition, the attorney noted that under Article 11 of Ukraine's Act "On National Minorities in Ukraine," Ukrainian citizens are entitled to freely choose and restore their nationality. The attorney emphasized that Alla had grown up in a family that honored German traditions and celebrated German holidays, since her father and her paternal grandparents were German. Alla had spoken German since childhood but, fearing persecution by the authorities, had been forced to conceal her German origin. Now, however, our client wished to restore and preserve her ethnic German origin, relying on the relevant provisions of Ukrainian law that allow for this. The attorney clarified that establishing the fact of Alla's German origin was necessary in order to exercise the rights German law grants to persons of German origin.
In addition, the attorney submitted all the necessary documents (the father's birth certificate, archival records confirming the nationality of the client's grandparents, etc.) that could serve as evidence of Alla's German ethnicity.
The court accepted the action drafted by the attorney and, having reviewed the case materials and analyzed all the evidence the attorney had provided, concluded that establishing this legal fact would make it possible to restore our client's national affiliation and thereby confirm her German origin. Accordingly, it found the claims set out in the action to be well-founded and ordered the relevant civil registry office to amend the marriage record, stating the wife's nationality as "German."
On the basis of the court's decision, our client successfully obtained a new marriage certificate with the amendment. Once the attorney had received the necessary documents from the client, he appealed the Federal Office of Administration's decision, submitting the corresponding evidence of Alla's German ethnicity and duly arguing her legal position.
Having reviewed the documents and additional information provided by our attorney, the competent authority (Bundesverwaltungsamt) agreed with the position the attorney had advanced and, within a very short time, granted Alla late resettler status, allowing her to enter Germany together with her family.
In light of the circumstances of this case, successfully concluded by our law firm, we strongly recommend that you seek timely legal advice from a qualified attorney, who can point out the nuances that exist in a given area of law, help you avoid pitfalls, save you time and money, and skillfully defend your interests even in the most difficult of situations.
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