German citizenship by declaration: StAG 5 and the restitution routes

The three repair routes

Article 116(2) Basic Law

Restores citizenship to people formally deprived of it between 1933 and 1945 on political, racial, or religious grounds, and their descendants. No generational limit in practice, and free of charge under section 38(3) StAG.

Section 15 StAG (2021)

Covers Nazi-era persecutees who lost or never acquired German citizenship without a formal revocation, for example those who fled and naturalized abroad, or were excluded from naturalization, and their descendants. Free of charge under section 38(3) StAG.

Section 5 StAG (2021)

A declaration route for people excluded by old gender-discriminatory rules, chiefly children born before January 1, 1975 to a German mother and foreign father, children born out of wedlock to a German father before July 1993, and descendants of both. Free of charge under section 38(3) StAG, by declaration to the BVA, and section 5(3) StAG allows the declaration only within ten years of the 2021 law's entry into force, that is until August 2031.

How a StAG 5 declaration works

• It is a declaration, not a discretionary application: if you fall within a category, citizenship follows from the declaration itself.
• Filed with the Federal Office of Administration (BVA), from abroad via the German mission, on the official forms (bva.bund.de).
• Evidence: civil records establishing the German parent's citizenship at your birth and the chain to you; German record offices and consulates can help source them.
• No renunciation required: acquiring German citizenship this way does not require giving up your current citizenship, and Germany's 2024 nationality reform allows multiple citizenship generally.
• Deadline: section 5(3) StAG allows the declaration only within ten years of the law's entry into force, so the window closes in August 2031 (StAG). File early.

Ordinary descent, for contrast

Outside the repair routes, German citizenship passes only where every generation held it when the next was born, and old loss rules (automatic loss on foreign naturalization; the pre-1904 ten-year absence rule) broke most emigrant lines long ago. The BVA's formal determination procedure gives a definitive answer where documents are ambiguous, for a fee of EUR 51 under section 38(2) StAG (StAG). This page is general information, not legal advice: category boundaries under StAG 5 and 15 are precise, and a German citizenship lawyer or the BVA should confirm yours.

All three repair routes are free of government fees under section 38(3) of the German Nationality Act, which makes Germany unusual: the cost of a claim is records and, if you choose, professional help, not the state.