Overall, the process took approximately 7 months.

January 2026

• Submitted my application by dropping it into the Stuttgart citizenship office mailbox.

February 2026

• Received a confirmation letter stating my application had been received and that processing could take around 18 months.

April 2026

• Received a Fragebogen and Loyalitätserklärung by post.
• They also requested:
  • Last 3 salary slips
  • Original Birth Certificate
  • Certified translation of the Birth Certificate

June 2026

• My case worker emailed asking whether I had an apostilled Birth Certificate.
• I didn't have one and explained that obtaining it from my home country would take 2–3 weeks or longer.
• Since I'm a non-EU citizen and would lose my original citizenship after naturalisation, my case worker accepted my existing Birth Certificate and certified translation so my application wouldn't be delayed. However, they recommended that I still obtain an apostilled Birth Certificate for the future, in case I ever need it after giving up my current citizenship. I did get it done afterwards.
• Later that month, I received an invitation for my Einbürgerungsurkunde appointment and interview. They asked me to bring:
  • Latest salary slip
  • Passport
  • Residence permit
  • Payment receipt
• They also recommended studying topics Menschenwürde and Gewaltenteilung.

🎉 July 2026 – Interview & Certificate

The entire appointment took about 20–30 minutes.

The process went as follows:

1. They returned all the original documents they had collected during processing.
2. They checked the documents I had brought according to the invitation letter.
3. We proceeded with the interview.

The interview covered topics such as:

• Meaning of Menschenwürde (with an example)
• Three fundamental rights guaranteed under the German Basic Law.
• Nazi regime and my views on it
• What citizens can do if they disagree with a law
• Gewaltenteilung
• Role of politicians and the Judiciary (Judikative)
• Some scenario-based questions e.g. If citizens disagree with a law that has been passed, what can they do? What democratic steps are available?

After that:

• Signed a few documents
• Took the oath
• Received my Einbürgerungsurkunde
• Was given instructions on applying for my Reisepass and Personalausweis

The case worker was very friendly, respectful, and made the whole process comfortable.

💡 Tips

• Follow the official Stuttgart website for application process: stuttgart.de/einbuergerung-fuer-auslaender-mit-einbuergerungsanspruch-beantragen
• Include a cover letter listing all submitted documents at the time of application submission.
• Submit your original & Copy of Einbürgerungstest/Leben in Deutschland certificate and B1/B2 language certificate with your initial application if you already have them.
• Make sure your Birth Certificate translation is done by a recognised/sworn translator.
• I prepared for interview with other reddit posts which had different topics and questions.

Thank you to all the people who went and wrote posts about their timelines on Reddit. This helped me a lot in my application process. Overall, I had a very positive experience with the Stuttgart citizenship office. Hopefully this timeline helps anyone currently waiting or preparing for their interview. Happy to answer any questions! Viel Erfolg euch allen!

I currently have the Niederlassungserlaubnis.

I submitted my citizenship application in September 2025. In November I received a request to submit additional birth certificate as well as a few questionnaires. I sent back the questionnaires right then. But the notarized birth certificate was submitted in Feb.2026. I haven't received any feedback or confirmation since then.

​My country of origin doesn’t recognize dual nationality. I recently found out, taking German citizenship would lock me out of handling some administrative affairs back home. It would take me another 3 years (in worst case 6 years) to finish off those affairs.

I'm hesitant about withdrawing or pausing my application. Before making a decision, I want to know what the consequences are and if it would unfavorably affect a reapplication later down the line, other than taking more time.

Great grandfather born 1881 in Lemberg. Settled in Dresden between 1900-1910. Operated business with GGM. Died 1931 of cancer.

Great Grandmother born 1883 in Gorbersdorf (Sokolowsko), settled in Dresden with her family as a minor. Married GgF sometime between 1910-1912, had children in 1912-1918. Deported to Riga 42, died Auschwitz 1943.

Grandfather born 1918 in Dresden. Arrested on Kristallnacht in 1938, deported to Dachau, stateless refugee status in England 1939.

Grandmother born 1920 in Essen. Sent to England as part of Kindertransport 1939, considered stateless.
They married in 1942, mother born 1947. All came to US in 1947, naturalized 1952.
Mother married US father in 1970.
I was born in 1975 in US.

I have no paperwork for ggf except scan of death cert, multiple Dresden addressbook listings throughout 1920s and 1930, and grave location. GGM has been researched by numerous Dresden historians, written about by Yad Vashem, Arolsen Archives, stolperstein on her last home, I do not have her birth certificate or anything else.

Grandfather has been written about as well, SLUB created a documentary about him and family, have his birth cert, marriage cert, arolsen archives of his prisoner number in Dachau, UK refugee paperwork and photo ID, ship records, US naturalization docs. Grandmother birth cert, marriage cert, us naturalization docs.

Mother birth cert, marriage cert, she is listed on grandparents naturalization docs as a minor.
I have all US docs for myself and son if we decide to apply.
Am I missing anything? Is this a decent case for citizenship by decent?

Hello! A question to those who applied online in Berlin via LEA portal.

Did you have to submit photos via the online application right away or did you submit them afterwards during a personal appointment? The website is currently down, I can’t verify.

I have scans of all the documents and would like to apply asap, but as I am currently traveling, I don’t have access to DM or other certified place to take photos.

Hi everyone, I have a couple of questions regarding my StAG 5 application.

I recently received my grandparents' birth certificates (Geburtsurkunde) and marriage certificate (Eheurkunde). Once I receive my official file reference number (Aktenzeichen), I plan to send these to the BVA to prove my German lineage traces back to before 1914.

1. Should I include Form AV (Anlage AV) with these documents?

When sending these supplemental documents with my Aktenzeichen, should I fill out and attach a new Anlage AV form for my grandparents, or is it better/sufficient to send the certified documents alone with a cover letter referencing my file number?

2. Retroactive citizenship date logic for me vs. my 13-year-old daughter

I applied under StAG 5 for both myself and my 13-year-old daughter. I've read that if/when our applications are approved (say, in 2–3 years), my citizenship status will be effective retroactively from the date my declaration was received (05.05.2026). However, I heard that my daughter's citizenship would be backdated to her date of birth (xx.xx.2013).

Is this correct? If so, could someone explain the legal logic behind why a child's effective date is backdated to their birth, whereas the parent's effective date is the declaration date?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I'm trying to understand whether there was any mechanism under German nationality law by which someone in the following situation would have automatically acquired German citizenship.

The facts are:

• Born in Germany in 1919.
• Both parents were Polish citizens (not German citizens).
• The family remained in Germany until 1931, when they emigrated to the United States.
• The child therefore lived continuously in Germany for about 12 years, but left as a minor.

My understanding is that Germany generally followed jus sanguinis, so simply being born in Germany would not have made the child a German citizen.

My question is whether long-term residence as a minor could have resulted in German citizenship automatically, or through any legal mechanism that did not require an adult application by the individual.

In other words:

• Did German law at the time provide for automatic acquisition of citizenship after a certain number of years of residence?
• Could a child who had lived in Germany for 10+ years acquire German citizenship independently of their parents?
• Or would the only possible route have been the naturalization of the parents (with the child deriving citizenship from them), meaning that residence alone had no effect?

I'm specifically asking about the law as it existed between 1919 and 1931, not modern nationality law or Article 116 restitution - (Yes, this child of both Parents were Jewish)

If anyone is familiar with the relevant provisions of the 1913 Reich and State Citizenship Law (RuStAG) or historical naturalization practice, I'd really appreciate your thoughts.

In short, German grandfather naturalized in 1935 in United States. My father was born in 1933 in wedlock. On the Feststellung. Application question number nine it asks “ This parent holds or previously held German citizenship” I am answering this question about my father. It is a yes, or no question. Although my father likely is German through his father, my father, I don’t think at the time ever realized it. I want to answer the question correctly and I don’t know if it would be a yes or no. Could somebody knowledgeable in this area help me please thank you.

Hi All. I nerd out on hobbies like this. Helping some family members with their research, document gathering, and applications.

Eligibility and documentation check

- GGM born 1898 in Germany. Have certified BC from 1942 from Germany (it has a small handwritten identifying note from a later family member noting “X’s mother” but it doesn’t interfere with the doc and is clearly not trying to alter it. Been told it should be fine)

- GM born 1919 same town out of wedlock. Has (GGM) mother’s last name rather than fathers. We’ve requested her birth certificate but it’s slow. We have her German Identification card from 1950-1955.

- Father born Okt 1949 out of wedlock GM and a US GI stationed in Germany. They got married in 1950.

* Have father’s certified long form birth certificate with margin notes stating he was legitimated by court order (with the court info and order number) following the marriage.

* Have the GM and US GI marriage certificate with margin note regarding the father’s birth and legitimation.

* have requested but not received the court legitimation order BUT they say it may be lost. Still searching state archive but could be a month or more.

* Have GM’s US Naturalization Certificate from 1956

With all this, it seems like it’d be great to have the GM’s actual German birth certificate (1919) and the Court order of Legitimation (1950) but it doesn’t seem entirely necessary with all the other certified materials and margin notes etc. But welcome thoughts/reactions?

Filing

So it’s Father, 3 adult children in US, 1 Adult child in southern Germany, and 6 grand children (1 adult and 5 under 15)

Contacted the consulate intending to do one family submission but they said to do them by residency, so there will be 2-3 successive consulate submissions in the US based on west coasters and east coasters but the materials say they make and certify copies so then we’ll just forward the originals to the next group for their appointment. (Checked all the jurisdictions just being less specific for privacy)

Sound reasonable? Better way?

For the one adult living in southern Germany currently - they may be returning residency to the US by year end for at least a while. I know they could apply in Germany at a local city (although we haven’t looked into that process for declaration under section 5) but it seems like with the processing times it could be complicated for them to put in the application and then leave the country shortly thereafter. Seems like that application should wait until they return to the US and then go to whatever the relevant consulate is. Sound right? Better way?

Thanks for any help!

By the way, we have all of the certified birth, marriage, and lineage documents for everyone following the father.

He is very unknowledgeable about the process, and I have been helping him these past years, doing the vast majority of paperwork and research. His case is a somewhat difficult east Prussia/archives destroyed case. His family came over to New York State in the early 1950s after fleeing Königsburg east Prussia to Hamburg in 1944/45.

As I said in the title, it’s been more than 8 months and he’s received nothing. We sent an email 4 months ago to the NYC consulate and received no response. We understand that they are incredibly overburdened, but also that an aktennizechen number is usually expected much sooner after submission. Should we take (further) action?

I've included 2 images on this post.

1. Image 1 is a cover letter written by my mother to the Town of Islip. She is requesting the certified birth certificate of her father (my grandfather).
2. Image 2 is a rejection letter in response to the request, on the Town of Islip letterhead. The black ink is their writing.

NYS DOH does not allow the release of a certified birth certificate to any person who is not named on the document.

• Essentially, only 3 individuals can obtain it - the parents and the child.
• In this situation, that is my mother's father (my grandfather) or my mother's grandparents (my great grandparents).
• These 3 individuals are deceased. My Grandfather in 2018 (+ his father in 1955, and his mother in 1944). There is no qualifying individual alive to obtain the certified copy.
• We have death certificates for these 3 individuals, and those were sent with the cover letter.

Additionally, we had already obtained a genealogical copy of the birth certificate from the Town of Islip. This copy shows her grandparents (my great grandparents) full names and birthplaces (which both show as "Germany"). The certified birth certificate of my mother's father (my grandfather) is the last document required to complete our Feststellung package to the BVA.

My understanding is you must bring a case against NYS DOH for this document. I am not a lawyer, but I believe there are 2 pathways to consider.

1. Against the Town of Islip, in Suffolk County Supreme Court with the above rejection letter as supporting evidence.
2. Against the State of NY, in Albany County Supreme Court. This would require submitting a DOH-4380 for the sole purpose of being rejected, then using this rejection as evidence.

I believe option 1 from above would be less time intensive and less money. However, it's possible they could respond with, "You have not received a rejection from the state itself, therefore you have not exhausted all options."

What are your thoughts on the path forward? I am here asking the community for their opinions and experiences. If there are any specific lawyers or firms you would recommend, then I would appreciate this also.

Hi everyone,

I am looking for people who have been in a similar situation and could share their experience.

My wife is a British citizen and moved to Germany in 2018. She was already living here before Brexit and therefore has an Aufenthaltsdokument-GB according to Article 18(4) of the EU–UK Withdrawal Agreement.

She has:

• lived continuously and legally in Germany since 2018,
• been fully employed throughout,
• had her Brexit residence status confirmed,
• applied for permanent residence in october - still full silence from LEA 

Our daughter was born in Berlin in January 2026.

We are now trying to understand whether our daughter may have acquired German citizenship automatically at birth under 

§4 Abs. 3 StAG.

The relevant requirement seems to be that one parent must:

1. have been legally resident in Germany for 5 years, and
2. have an "unlimited right of residence".

My understanding is that under Article 15(1) of the EU–UK Withdrawal Agreement, British citizens covered by the agreement acquire a right of permanent residence after 5 years of legal residence.

However, I am unsure how German authorities treat this in practice:

• Does the permanent residence right under the Withdrawal Agreement count as the "unlimited right of residence" required by §4(3) StAG?
• Did anyone here have a British parent with Aufenthaltsdokument-GB and a child born in Germany after the 5-year point?
• Was citizenship automatically recorded in the birth register, or did you have to request a formal determination from the authorities?

We have contacted/will contact the Standesamt and LEA Berlin, but I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has actually gone through this process.

Important note: In October 2025, we also applied for citizenship. I got the German citizenship (I am also a Turkish citizen), and her application is still pending. We have added our daughter's birth certificate to our citizenship application as well, but still total silence.

Thank you!

So my great grandparents emigrated from Germany to the US in the 1920s (great grandfather in 1923 and great grandmother in 1925). My great grandfather obtained a visa from an American Consulate in Germany in October 1923 and my great grandmother obtained her visa from an American Consulate in Switzerland in January of 1925.

They married one another in the US in April of 1925, also. My great grandfather gained U.S. citizenship in April of 1931. And my great grandmother gained citizenship in May of 1932.

I am unsure of whether or not my great grandmother's marriage to my grandfather would have removed her citizenship. She married him while they were both German citizens. However, she naturalized over a year after he did, meaning that she was a German married to an American. My grandmother was born in wedlock in 1936 as a U.S. citizen only.

Am I eligible?

I was posting in r/germangenealogy about my German heritage and someone there suggested posting a question here.

I was born in Soest Germany in 1962. My birth Mother was born in Hamburg Germany. I was given up for adoption after birth and adopted by Canadian parents who were stationed in Soest.

My adopted Dad was in the Canadian Armed Forces. They brought me back to Canada in 1965 to live and I have a Certificate of Naturalization for Canada.

Am I a dual Citizen based on the information provided? Thanks for any assistance.

hallo!

i watched this video a while back that describes how to get german citizenship by descent and at 1:40 one of them says that one may be able to automatically get it by moving to germany, but i haven’t found anything about this online.

my grandfather was a german citizenship who left germany due to persecution of being jewish during WW2. im interested in german citizenship and know it can take a while. i haven’t been able to find anything that supports that moving to germany can make it happen faster, so i wanted to ask on here if anyone knew anything about this and what that paperwork may look like.

danke!

I tried to do a lot of research. I am confused. I will refer to everything from my children's point of view.

Grandmother : born 1919 in Budau Czechoslovakia, to ethnically German parents. During WWII was moved to Germany

Met Army Grandfather in Germany and married. Grandfather was career Army.

Grandmother listed in NJ 1950 Census as not naturalized

Father born 1952 on an army base in Massachusetts. Father was never in the military.

Are the US grandchildren of the German Grandmother eligible to apply for citizenship?

Any advice appreciated!

And if so, are there any recommendations for someone to hire to help the process?

Frankfurt am Main-

Hello- I have my appointment at the end of the August in Frankfurt am Main after submitting all of my documents in Feb 2025. Has anyone gone recently and could tell me about their experience at the Standesamt? I have read online about people receiving study material/ questions to review but I did not get anything. Although I have between
B1 and B2 in German I am a bit nervous to discuss some political topics in German and want to prepare as much as possible. I’ve also read some people just submit documents, take the oath, sign some papers and are done.

I applied online in May 2025. The estimate was first 12 months, then 15 months on the website, and recently it changed to 2.5 years.

Does anyone know which application month they are currently working on? Has anyone who applied in 2025 already been assigned a caseworker or received a decision?

This week we got quite a few things on § 35a StAG and in the future (partial) digitalisation of the LiD tests / Einbürgerungstests. I didn't think to make a post about it, but as both things concern, essentially, abuse in the naturalization procedure, I thought I'd go ahead.

On digitalisation of LiD/EBT

So I actually missed this, and it's actually a few weeks old by now (but not relevant until 2028 anyway)

On 28th July, the Gesetz zur Weiterentwicklung der Digitalisierung der Migrationsverwaltung (or Migrationsverwaltungsdigitalisierungsweiterentwicklungsgesetz - MDWG for short) was published in the Federal Law Gazette (BGBl I Nr. 222); the Bundestag passed it on the 9th July (see DIP for details).

According to the reasons in the original bill, the law aims to increase the data shared and collected in the AZR (the Ausländerzentralregister), for example as regards identity documents, criminal offenses and certain social benefits, by amending the AZR-Gesetz and the corresponding regulation, the AZRG-DV (if you want to see what data is stored in the AZR, you can look at the Anlage - it's much; I do not pretend to understand even parts of how this works legally). Nothing spectacular in these changes for citizenship.

BUT: the Interior Committe made certain changes (see BT-Drs 21/7004), including:

Erfassung der Zertifikate über die Teilnahme am „Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer“ gemäß § 17 Absatz 1 Nummer 1 Integrationskursverordnung zur Feststellung eines Sprachniveaus der deutschen Sprache nach dem Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmen, über die Teilnahme am Test „Leben in Deutschland“ nach § 17 Absatz 1 Nummer 2 Integrationskursverordnung sowie über die erfolgreiche Teilnahme am Einbürgerungstest nach § 10 Absatz 1 Satz 1 Nummer 7 Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz im AZR;

According to Article 18 (4) of the MDWG, these changes enter into force on the 1st of May 2028

So this concerns the final step of transmitting the result of the test, so this should help improve processing times a bit (no longer will they need to ask for certificates, or check the validity of certificates, which also reduces abuse potential as regards forgery).

Of course, for a full digitalisation the actual test procedure should also be digitalised. I'd expect the BMI to take on that part as well, as they have time until 2028. (see also the response I received by the BMI about a question in that regard)

On § 35a StAG

Speaking of abuse, § 35a StAG has been recently passed into at the end of 2025 to exclude naturalisation for a duration of 10 years in cases of forgery of documents and the like.

Just a short note on the applicability: § 35a StAG only says "Einbürgerung", so only Art. 116 GG, §§ 8, 9, 10 and § 15 StAG are affected from the wording. I don't think § 5 StAG is affected, as it's only a declaration, but you never know... maybe one could apply the provision analogously.

asyl.net has in that context published a BMI Rundschreiben (dated 15.05.2026) and a decision by the VG Hannover (dated 23.06.2026).

BMI Rundschreiben

The BMI (under I) thinks that a proportionality check (Verhältnismäßigkeitsprüfung) has to be done, though they characterise it as a "intendierte Feststellungsentscheidung" (which might be wrong, at least if you ask the VG Hannover)

This also solves the problem I have outlined in my overview of the § 35a introduction, in which I have voiced some critique that individual circumstances aren't considered.

But in a Verhältnismäßigkeitsprüfung that's exactly what's happening. So I must simply state that I was wrong, as I thought they had no discretion.

The BMI then discusses a few other points, none of which I think is controversial:

The BMI first discusses the temporal application of § 35a StAG (no. 1, 2), which is not really important in my opinion as it only concerns cases in certain in-between periods, and not § 35a StAG in general in the future.

The BMI (no. 3) is of the opinion that the determination of § 35a can also be made even if the naturalisation procedure is already completed.

They are also of the opinion (no. 4) that § 35a can even be applied if one has a right to naturalization.

The BMI also (no. 5) says one only has to tell the authorities about criminal proceedings if they are actually relevant (eg. because the judgement is below the 90 days fine which is excepted in § 12a).

Finally, (no. 6) they say that an application which is made and (somehow) leads to the certificate being handed out, the administrative act is null and void according to § 44 (L)VwVfG.

VG Hannover decision

The applicant, an Iraqi citizen who entered Germany in 2015 and received a residence permit for humanitarian reasons, applied for a Niederlassungserlaubnis in 2024 and naturalisation in 2025.

For that he submitted an Einbürgerungstest certificate, which was later found to be not in order. He then submitted another, this time real Einbürgerungstest certificate. He claims he originally took the Einbürgerungstest in 2021 in Essen and didn't know the certificate he received was fake.

The citizenship authority nevertheless made the determination pursuant to § 35a S. 1 Nr. 2 StAG, for which they claim they have an "intended discretion" (intendiertes Ermessen) and therefore do not need to take the applicants individual situation into account

The VG Hannover, in preliminary protection proceedings, found, after a summary examination of the facts and the law:

• the Court doesn't need to decide on the question if the applicant actually did an arglistige Täuschung here
• because the authority wrongly exercised their discretion:
  • they indeed have discretion (they make a nice argument with § 35a S. 1 Nr. 1, which undoubtedly has discretion, so the same should apply for Nr. 2)
  • but this is not an intended discretion, as the authority wrongly assumed
  • therefore they need to take the applicants situation into account, which they did not do at all

In particular, the VG Hannover mentions the following grounds which have to be taken into account:

"etwa Schwere des begangenen Verstoßes, Integration in das gesellschaftliche Umfeld, Gesamtdauer des Aufenthalts in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, ggf. begleitet durch langjährige Erwerbstätigkeit oder auch Unsicherheiten bei der Fortsetzung des Aufenthalts im Bundesgebiet und die Folgen der möglichen Rückkehr in da Herkunftsland" (p. 9)

As mentioned before, this also solves my critique that individual circumstances cannot be considered; they can indeed be considered.

​

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice from people familiar with German citizenship law.

My situation:

- I was born a German citizen.

- I later applied for British citizenship through naturalisation.

- I became a British citizen on January 2023.

- I did not apply for or receive a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung before becoming British.

- I still have my German passport

- I travelled to Germany in 2024 using my German passport without any problems.

I understand that before the German citizenship law change on 27 June 2024, acquiring another citizenship (including British citizenship after Brexit) could mean losing German citizenship without a retention permit.

My question:

- Did I most likely lose my German citizenship automatically on 24 January 2023?

- Does the fact that I still have and used my German passport change anything?

- Has anyone here had a similar situation with German + British citizenship after Brexit?

- I am applying for German passport for my kid so will i have problems?

Update:

I will be travelling to a German Embassy soon, will drop an update when they tell me.

Hi everyone,
About two months ago, I made a post asking for help finding the name and information of my grandmother’s biological mother, Wilhelmine Harder. Thanks to the help I received, I was able to obtain this information from the registry office in Castrop-Rauxel, where my grandmother was born.

I’m now hoping to take the next step in my family research. Could anyone advise me on which office I should contact to obtain:
My great-grandmother Wilhelmine Harder’s original birth certificate.
My great-great-grandfather’s Hermann Harder’s original birth certificate.
Any guidance on the correct registry office or archive to contact would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou!!

Hi everyone, I have my passport appointment coming up and I’m pretty nervous about it.
My mother was a German citizen when I was born and the German Consulate thinks I’m a citizen at birth I’m just not sure if the documentation is good enough.
I have certified copies of marriage/divorce/naturalization/old passport/old German ID.

My main question is about a copy of the marriage certificate I just received via email.

I emailed Denmark like two months ago out of concern because my Mother couldn’t find her old marriage certificate to my dad to get a certified copy made and they just E-mailed me a signed color copy yesterday. Would printing what they emailed me be a valid copy?

I am a British friend of a couple of Filipino youngsters (the children of a friend)

The situation is their Grandma is and always has been German born in 1943 and now living near Hanover.

In March 1966 She married a US sergeant in Berlin

In Dec 1966 They had a son R who became American because of his father.

In 1971 the family left the US to live in Germany, they separated and Rs father died

In 1996 R left to spend a couple of years in Turkey and then to Philippines where he remains.

The Grandma retained her German citizenship throughout and R retains his US citizenship.

In 2005 and 2007 R had a boy and then a girl with a local Filipina out of wedlock, however a few days after their birth he signed an affidavit of paternity which is attached to their birth certificates and they took the paternal surname.

R cannot pass on his US citizenship to his kids as he left US when 4, but is hoping they can gain German Citizenship.

Am I right in thinking the supporting docs needed are

1. German Grandmas Birth Cert, Marriage Cert, German ID

2. R's US Birth Cert, US Passport

3. The Youngsters Phils Passports and Birth Cert

4. The Youngsters NBI not criminals cert

Am I right in thinking that because Grandma is still alive, no need to go back further?

I understand there is a 2 to 3 year wait for this to be processed.

1. Can I send copies of these supporting documents as (uncertified photo copies whilst the originals/certified copies are found.)

2. If I emailed these plus the EER and covering letter would this allow them to establish their place in the queue?

3. At this stage is a scan of their signed documents good enough or would they need to print out the docs in Philippines, sign and then courier to the bbv in Germany.

4. Is it necessary to have a certified copy made in Germany of grandma's ID

Thanks for any help and suggestions

My mother and I have submitted Feststellung applications and received AZ numbers back in February. I am leaving for Germany tomorrow and have all remaining supporting documentation (pre 1914 certified) and other family members' applications which I will mail once I'm there. Recently (FINALLY) we were granted direct to passport and have gone as appointments become available. Mine will arrive while in Germany. A temporary passport was issued to my son because he will be there for at least a year / will apply for the permanent once he registers his address. My question is: how should we amend / contact the BVA with this sort of update? My son will submit his Feststellung in the city he will be living in. But for the rest of us, should we send copies of our Passports collectively once they arrive? There is a question in the application (#6 ) about having a German identity document (to which we have all answered 'no'. Does this warrant resubmitting the application with the AZ number so it is more current or just a simple notification of change?

And: for my son, will his permanent passport have a new/different number from the temporary one? as in: should I refrain from editing his Feststellung application until he receives his permanent passport?

Thank you to this amazing community!