LumenCan you keep your current citizenship when you become German?
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Yes. Since the nationality law reform took effect on 27 June 2024, Germany generally accepts multiple citizenship, the interior ministry says, so you no longer have to give up your previous nationality to be naturalised. Germans who take another country's citizenship also no longer lose German citizenship automatically for that reason.
Key facts
| What | The law says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Giving up your old nationality | No longer required for naturalisation; multiple citizenship is generally accepted | BMI, “Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht”, section on the 2024 modernisation |
| Since when | 27 June 2024, when the Act to Modernise Nationality Law (StARModG) took effect | BMI, “Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht” |
| Germans taking another citizenship | Automatic loss of German citizenship for that reason and the retention permit (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung) were abolished | BMI, “Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht”; StAG § 25 (marked as repealed) |
| Children born in Germany | No longer have to choose between German and their parents’ citizenship (option duty abolished) | BMI, “Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht”; BMI, “Geburt in Deutschland” |
What changed in 2024
The interior ministry’s guidance says that until 27 June 2024 Germany followed the principle of avoiding multiple citizenship, with exceptions in particular for citizens of other EU member states and Switzerland. With the reform, the ministry says, naturalisations now generally take place accepting multiple citizenship, so giving up your previous citizenship is no longer necessary.
Germans who take a second citizenship
The ministry says the rule under which Germans lost their citizenship when acquiring a foreign one was abolished, together with the retention permit that used to prevent that loss. In the current Nationality Act, § 25 is marked as repealed.
What this page does not answer
Whether your other country lets you keep its citizenship when you become German depends on that country’s law, which German sources don’t settle.
Related questions
- Children born in Germany to foreign parents get German citizenship at birth if one parent has lived lawfully in Germany for five years and holds a permanent right of residence, and can keep it permanently (BMI, “Geburt in Deutschland”).
Sources
- Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI): Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht (page as of 29.09.2026) checked 2026-10-25
- Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (StAG), § 25 (consolidated text as last amended on 21.7.2026, gesetze-im-internet.de) checked 2026-10-25
- Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI): Geburt in Deutschland checked 2026-10-25
Change history
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