Applying for German Citizenship under StAG 15

This page provides information on the eligibility for and documents required to apply for German citizenship under the StAG 15 provision. Please read the overview page first which provides general information and a list of the steps you will have to take.

Introduction to StAG 15

Pursuant to Section 15 StAG (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz), persons who lost their German citizenship in some other way who were never able to acquire German citizenship due to Nazi persecution and their descendants can become German citizens.

Such persons have been entitled to naturalization since 20 August 2021.

StAG15 essentially allows persons, whose claim otherwise falls outside the scope of Article 116(2) GG, to now proceed with a claim for naturalization as a matter of right. Article 116(2) GG covers persons who were “deprived” of their citizenship due to “political, racial or religious grounds” based on two specific decrees, which directly and immediately resulted in the loss of German citizenship.

Such loss occurred either (1) pursuant to Section 2 of the 11th Decree Implementing the Reich Citizens Act of 25 November 1941 which applied to all German citizens considered to be of Jewish faith residing outside of Germany when the ordinance entered into force or later or (2) pursuant to the Act on Revocation of Naturalizations and Deprivation of German Citizenship of 14 July 1933. Such individual cases of deprivation were published in the Reich Gazette (Reichsanzeiger).

However, many people lost their citizenship because of other reasons. For example, they left Germany and acquired another citizenship prior to the enactment of the decrees, or a descendant was born to a German mother and a non-German father, which also precluded a claim under Article 116(2) GG to such descendants at that time. Thus, you (or your ancestor) may now be eligible to have your German citizenship restored according to §15 StAG, even if your (or your ancestor’s) citizenship was not considered “deprived” under Article 116(2) GG, but was lost for other reasons, or due to an impediment to acquire it.

Who may be eligible?

It is important to note that the new law, seen as an extension or broadening of Article 116(2) GG, applies to persons who were persecuted based on political, racial, or religious grounds between 30th January 1933 and 8th May 1945 during the National Socialist regime. The eligible categories are persons (and their descendants) who:

a. renounced or lost their German citizenship before 26th February 1955, especially if this occurred via naturalization upon application in another country;
b. were legally excluded from acquiring German citizenship through marriage, legitimation or the collective naturalization of Germans between 30th January 1933 to 8th May 1945;
c. were either not granted naturalization upon application, or were generally excluded from naturalization, assuming this would have been possible had an application been made; OR
d. either lost or gave up their ordinary residence in Germany, as the borders existed at 31st December 1937, as long as such residence had been established prior to 30th January 1933, or even after 30th January 1933 if such person was a child at the time.

  • Yes, this is possible. The new law eliminates the inequities that many applicants faced under Article 116(2) GG where a person may not have been able to acquire citizenship because they were (1) not granted naturalization or (2) were excluded from naturalization or (3) gave up or lost their ordinary residence. They were thus not “deprived” of citizenship because they did not legally hold it. For example, if you ancestor gave up or lost her or his residence in Germany – provided that residence was established prior to January 30th 1933  – subsequent descendants may apply for German citizenship. In cases where your ancestor was a child during this time, the residence may have been established even after January 30th 1933. In other words, a grandchild or great grandchild etc. may apply, even though their ancestors (who may have even been a minor child at the time) never had German citizenship.

  • Yes, the right to re-naturalization based on grounds of restitution extends to the descendants of such persons and includes also descendants who were adopted before January 1, 1977 by eligible persons. The right to naturalize under this section seeks to provide redress and put the applicant in the position he/she would have been but for the loss (or non-acquisition) of citizenship in their lineage due to Nazi persecution.

  • Certain serious criminal offenses will usually render a person ineligible to acquire citizenship. Also, if after having had your citizenship granted in a restoration process based on persecution, you subsequently renounce or release your acquired German citizenship, or acquire a foreign citizenship via application, you may not apply under §15. However, an exception applies, and you remain eligible, if you acquired German citizenship after 8th May 1945 and lost it before 1st April 1953 as the result of a marriage to a foreigner or through legitimation by a foreigner. However, in very limited circumstances, it still may be possible to pursue a discretionary restoration process.Description text goes here

  • No. There is no language requirement, and you acquire German citizenship on the day the Federal Office of Administration approves your completed application.

  • No, not necessarily. The loss or retention of your existing citizenship is governed by the law of the country of your current citizenship. You may retain your current citizenship(s) as long as the law of your current home country allows dual/multiple citizenship. You must consult with the competent authorities in your country of origin prior to submitting your application to determine whether your existing citizenship will be affected by the acquisition of German citizenship.

Examples of cases where applicants are eligible under StAG 15

The following examples illustrate typical cases where an application under Section 15 of the German Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG) might be promising

My German mother fled as a young woman escaping Nazi persecution to the United Kingdom. There, she married my British grandfather in 1940 and, under the laws at the time, lost her German citizenship. If she hadn't left Germany, she might have married a German, and my siblings and I would now be German citizens.
My German grandfather was an outspoken opponent of the Nazis. Due to escalating pressure on dissenters, he left Germany in the summer of 1933 and emigrated to America. In 1938, he acquired U.S. citizenship and, by law, lost his German citizenship. However, he only lost his German citizenship because he was persecuted as an opponent of the Nazis.
My ancestors are from the Sudetenland and identified as German. In September 1938, my grandparents fled to Prague. They sent my father on a Kindertransport to Britain while they themselves perished in a concentration camp. If the family hadn't been Jewish, they would have acquired German citizenship by law.
My grandfather hails from Danzig. His family, including himself, held Polish citizenship. In 1936, due to escalating anti-Jewish measures, they fled to Argentina. Despite their German cultural influence, with my grandfather attending a German school, the family identified with the German language and cultural sphere. The necessity to flee deprived my grandfather of the opportunity to acquire German citizenship.
My grandparents were from Poland. They survived the concentration camp and immigrated to Israel in 1948. They had German names, and in their original families, Yiddish and German were spoken. Due to their experiences during the Nazi era, they later rejected anything associated with Germany. Nevertheless, if they hadn't been Jewish and persecuted, they could have acquired German citizenship in the so-called General Government in Poland.
My father was born in 1947 in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany. In 1948, after the establishment of the State of Israel, my grandparents emigrated from Germany with my father. The parents of my father originate from Poland and are survivors of the Holocaust. As a child born in Germany, indirectly affected by the Holocaust, I wonder if I am eligible for any claims or benefits.
My grandmother was born in Königsberg in 1922. In 1934, she moved to Warsaw and emigrated to Palestine in 1937. In 1939, she acquired Palestinian citizenship. Her naturalization documents state that she was a Polish citizen. Königsberg, where she grew up until 1934, was part of the German Reich, but she couldn't obtain German citizenship due to being Jewish.
My Jewish grandfather lived in Berlin since the 1920s. He married my grandmother, also from Poland, in 1929. In April 1933, they fled to Palestine. Both held Polish citizenship. My ancestors had their habitual residence in Germany and would not have left if they had not been persecuted.

Please note: These examples are illustrative only. Whether a claim to naturalisation actually exists depends on the case-by-case assessment of a number of facts which, despite generally good prospects of success, could not be listed in full within the text.

How to apply

The information sheet here gives more information in English: BVA Information sheet on Section 15 of the Nationality Act

This BVA document packet includes information and the application forms for citizenship under StAG15.
The first part of the document is in German. It includes:

  • Form E15: an application form for people aged 16+

  • Form E15_K: an application form for children under 16

  • Form Anlage_AV: the appendix for providing information about ancestors

The second part of the document (from page 27 onwards) is in English. Pages 27-34 provide information, then English translations of the forms are provided. Note however that the translations are just provided for assistance. Your application must be submitted using the German form.

Section 15 [Naturalisation on grounds of restitution of German citizenship]

Persons who, between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945, in connection with persecution for the reasons listed in Article 116 (2) sentence 1 of the Basic Law

1. gave up or lost their German citizenship before 26 February 1955,

2. were excluded from lawfully acquiring German citizenship through marriage, legitimisation or the collective naturalisation of ethnic Germans,

3. were not naturalised upon application or were generally excluded from naturalisation which would otherwise have been possible upon application, or

4. gave up or lost their ordinary residence in Germany, if established before 30 January 1933 or, if they were children at the time, after that date,

and their descendants are to be naturalised upon application if they possess legal capacity as defined in section 37 (1) sentence 1 or have a legal representative, unless they have been incontestably sentenced to a prison term or a term of youth custody of at least two years for one or more intentionally committed offences, or if preventive detention was ordered in connection with the most recent incontestable conviction; section 12a (1) does not apply. Persons who had German citizenship after 8 May 1945 but renounced or lost it, or were born to or adopted by a person who renounced or lost German citizenship are not entitled to naturalisation under sentence 1. Persons who lost German citizenship after 8 May 1945 are entitled to claim naturalisation if their citizenship as lost through marriage to a foreigner or through legitimisation by a foreigner with legal effect under German law.

Source: Nationality Act, Section 15