Hi all

I am German, but I’m looking for input of those US citizens that have a German spouse and their child was born in Germany, and applied for the US citizenship for the child while living in Germany. My husband is US American and I would like to know, if there’s a concern that if we apply for it she will lose her German citizenship, which we obviously don’t want.

I’ve been researching but found contradicting information (which I’m pretty sure isn’t, I’m just too simple probably), where it said we’d need to apply for a “Beibehaltungsbescheinigung” with the German state first, but then I also found that it’s different if your parent applies for it, when you’re a child and that parent is a citizen of said country.
And I read here again, that it’d be possible (?)
https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/faqs/EN/topics/migration/staatsang/Doppelte_Staatsangehoerigkeit_Mehrstaatigkeit_en.html

In the wiki I only found this part
“…. But one can also lose German citizenship just as unknowingly, for example by voluntarily getting the citizenship of another country (1914-today)…”. But does our daughter count as voluntarily here?

We know that the US is ready to naturalize her and would have an appointment at the embassy too.

Thanks everyone and sorry if this is the wrong place to post, please point me to the right direction, if you know any.
Thanks!!!

Edit: i’m happy if anyone else has input, of course. Not only US Americans. Thanks 🙂

by this_is_it__

9 comments

  1. Can’t speak to this specifically but two points of consideration: 1. The law is set to change. It should be voted on before the end of the year and will be implemented 6 months after the date it is voted on. So if timing isn’t an issue, waiting 7-8 months will eliminate your worries.
    2. If you register her as a US citizen, she will be liable for US taxes once she starts working. This will also make it difficult for her to access many banking and investment options outside of the US as many institutions don’t want US citizens as customers due to extensive reporting requirements. There are many benefits to citizenship, but this issue is often overlooked.

  2. I’m just an ordinary German, but these are my thoughts about it after reading some stuff about it:

    Your daughter may already be an US citizen from birth by having such a parent. No naturalization, but registration of a foreign birth only.

    Losing the German citizenship is no issue until she is 18 and can decide for herself which citizenship she wants to retain. Giving up the US one at that time may fall under the hardship rule, because the US has a several thousand dollars fee for that a person at that age probably won’t have that.

    The current government in Germany has it on the agenda to make multiple citizenships more easy. Nothing has been decided by now, but some changes may happen before the next elections.

    These are just thoughts, just use them for ideas about what to ask a lawyer.

  3. She can apply for permission to keep her citizenship in advance.

  4. As a child of a German, she is German. Period. As a undisputed child of a US-American, she is probably also US-American, no matter where she was born. That I’m not sure of and you need to check. Dual citizenship by descent does not require applications or Beibehaltungsgenehmigungen.

    ​

    To quote your link: *As a rule, children born to a German and a non-German parent, or to parents with dual nationality, acquire the nationalities of both parents at birth, according to the principle of descent.*

  5. I’m American my wife is German my daughter is both

  6. Another option is letting her decide if she wants to register as a U.S citizen once she becomes an adult. I have heard of many people being unregistered U.S citizens because their parents did not register them, and they abstain from registering now that they are adults, because of all the tax, banking and reporting requirements, as someone else mentioned. If you register her as a U.S citizen now, then you take that future choice away from her to remain unregistered, which many in her situation prefer. As the daughter of a U.S citizen, she will always have the opportunity to register, if that’s something she really wants to do. She doesn’t lose anything by remaining unregistered in the meantime. She is still by default a U.S citizen. But I’m not sure if it’s ethical to make that choice of registration for her in advance. If she ends up living her whole life in Europe, then you will have considerably diminished her freedom, ironically.

  7. I can’t help you with the laws and such, but I can also confirm that I am American, my (ex) wife is German, and my kids are both German and American.

  8. I’m doing it backwards, but talked to the Consulate just a few weeks ago. I’m a dual citizen, which means I get to pass on both citizenships (US & DE). It’s not really an application for citizenship exactly; if you’re born with it, you’re born with it. This also means that you don’t have to give up other citizenships you acquired at birth to comply with the laws prohibiting dual citizenship in Germany. Your child also doesn’t need to choose a citizenship as a young adult.

  9. You aren’t going to apply for US citizenship for your child. He or she already has US citizenship as the child of a US citizen. Instead you are going to report to the US embassy that the child of a US citizen was born abroad and apply for a US passport for your child.

    All the stuff about a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung doesn’t apply in this case.

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