The subject of acquiring German citizenship is one of the central areas of our law firm's practice. But it is such a multifaceted subject, and each case's story is so individual and interesting in its own way, that we never tire of sharing these stories with our readers.
A young man named Nariman (name changed) recently came to our firm. Nariman was born in the Republic of Azerbaijan but spent very little time there, since back in the late 1990s he moved together with his parents to Germany permanently, as contingent refugees. The whole family had lived in northern Germany ever since. The young man integrated into this unfamiliar society very quickly, later finished secondary school (Gymnasium), and then studied computer networks and communications at university. Nariman never had his own passport from his country of origin, since, being so young when the family left the country, he had simply been listed in his mother's passport; in Germany, he was issued a foreign national's passport, which served as his sole form of identification until his situation was resolved.
Dual Citizenship
Since 2024, Germany has allowed most naturalizing citizens to keep their previous citizenship — though exceptions still apply for certain countries (§§ 10-12 StAG).
At one point, believing he had fully integrated into German society and culture — with an excellent command of German, a good German education, and a stable, well-paid job — the young man decided to apply for German citizenship. In line with the requirements of German law, he sent an application to renounce his Azerbaijani citizenship to the Consulate of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Germany. Having never received a written response despite repeated phone calls to the consulate, he was eventually told that he had not provided enough documents, and that his documents did not comply with Azerbaijani law. But what was the young man supposed to do, when the only documents he had were his birth certificate and a copy of a page from his mother's passport? Some time later, Nariman submitted the application again, but to this day he still has not received a written reply.
In complete confusion and unsure what to do next, he came to us for legal help with the process of obtaining German citizenship. It was a genuinely difficult situation. After carefully listening to the young man's entire life story, our lawyer proposed a plan of action. Given all the circumstances, it was clear that reaching the goal would require patience, and the lawyer warned Nariman of this in advance. Under German law, obtaining German citizenship does indeed require first renouncing one's existing citizenship — or, if that's impossible, submitting a reasoned letter to the citizenship authority (Bürgeramt), together with evidence proving that renunciation is not possible. Such evidence could take the form of a written response from the consulate refusing to allow renunciation, stating specific reasons. In our situation, although the young man had already filed an application to renounce his citizenship, the consulate had still not provided any coherent explanation as to why his application had been refused. It was therefore necessary to obtain an official refusal from the consulate to renounce Azerbaijani citizenship, in order to fall under § 12 of Germany's Nationality Act (der ausländische Staat die Entlassung regelmäßig verweigert — "the foreign state regularly refuses to grant release").
Nariman, following the lawyer's clear guidance, filed his renunciation application again. This time, after a considerable delay, the Azerbaijani consulate in Germany sent a written negative response, stating the reasons for refusing to process the application favorably. The response explained that, since the young man was an Azerbaijani citizen but lacked the relevant documents, he would first have to return to Azerbaijan to obtain a national identity passport there. He would also need to obtain a military service record book and complete service in the national army. Only after all that, having traveled back to Germany, could he then file a petition to renounce his Azerbaijani citizenship.
This response gave the lawyer more than enough to move forward. He then set about the next step in the plan — drafting an application for our client to acquire German citizenship, to be submitted to the German citizenship authority. Choosing the right arguments was crucial. Since renunciation was impossible, the application concerned acquiring dual citizenship. The lawyer pointed to the following circumstances: our client had spent the greater part of his conscious life in Germany, had been educated there, and currently held stable, paid employment there. It was also where his worldview and way of thinking had taken shape. As a result, he was completely cut off from life in Azerbaijan and did not speak Azerbaijani at all. On top of that, his family had left for Germany as contingent refugees, leaving everything behind in Azerbaijan — they had no property and no relatives there. Given these circumstances, requiring him to return to his home country was simply not feasible. In parallel, the lawyer also sent the Azerbaijani consulate in Germany a request to determine whether the young man actually held Azerbaijani citizenship. This step turned out to be decisive for the entire case.
Before even receiving a response from the German citizenship authority regarding the dual-citizenship application, a notification arrived from the consulate regarding our inquiry. Following its review, the consulate issued a document confirming that our client did not, in fact, hold Azerbaijani citizenship. This completely changed the situation and, accordingly, our client's legal status. It turned out there was nothing for our client to renounce at all, since he had been stateless the entire time. This meant there were no grounds standing in the way of his acquiring German citizenship. On this basis, there was no longer any need to provide proof of renunciation or to pursue dual citizenship. So, losing no time, our lawyer forwarded this document to the German citizenship authority, asking that it be added to our client's file and that the claim being made be amended accordingly.
Some time later, Nariman received the long-awaited German citizenship. His joy knew no bounds — especially since, before coming to us, the young man had spent an enormous amount of time simply trying to get a coherent response from the consulate about his situation. After he turned to us, the processing of his case at the consulate sped up considerably, and his problem was resolved in the shortest possible time.
This story clearly shows that turning to professionals for help can substantially speed up the handling of your case. Lawyers with years of experience can help you not only navigate the finer points of the law and choose the approach best suited to solving your problem, but also promptly and thoroughly prepare the necessary set of documents and achieve the outcome you're looking for.
All rights reserved. Copying or republishing this article requires a link to the original source.
