German Dual Citizenship: What Changed in 2024 and What It Means for You

For decades, if you wanted a German passport, you had to give up your old one. That was the rule — and it kept millions of long-term residents from naturalizing. A Turkish family that had lived in Cologne for thirty years still had to choose between their German life and their Turkish passport. An American researcher who had spent a decade in Berlin still had to weigh citizenship against the loss of their US passport.

That rule ended on June 27, 2024. Germany now accepts multiple nationalities for all naturalization cases. But "Germany allows it" is only half the equation — whether you actually get to hold two passports depends on what your home country allows.

What Changed in June 2024

The 2024 Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Staatsangehörigkeitsrechts (StARModG) made two major changes relevant to dual citizenship:

1. Multiple nationality is now universally accepted for naturalization. Previously, non-EU/Swiss nationals were required to renounce their birth citizenship to obtain a German passport. There were exceptions — for people whose renunciation was legally impossible, financially ruinous, or practically dangerous — but they required individual applications and were not guaranteed. The 2024 reform eliminated the renunciation requirement entirely.

2. The standard residency requirement dropped from eight years to five years. This is relevant for dual citizenship because it means people who had been avoiding naturalization over the dual citizenship issue are now eligible sooner than they expected under the old rules.

In 2024, 291,955 people were naturalized — a 46% increase over 2023 and the highest number since Germany began tracking this data. The largest percentage increases were among Turkish nationals (+110%) and Russian nationals (+551%), both groups that had historically avoided naturalization precisely because of the dual citizenship prohibition.

USA: Dual Citizenship Is Fully Permitted

Germany allows it. The United States allows it. If you are an American living in Germany with five years of qualifying residence, you can naturalize as German without any impact on your US citizenship.

The United States does not require you to renounce foreign citizenships when you acquire them, nor does it revoke US citizenship automatically when you naturalize elsewhere. The State Department's official position is that dual citizenship exists and is permissible under US law.

One area to watch: taxes. The US taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live. Becoming a German citizen does not remove your US tax filing obligations. If you live in Germany and earn income here, you file both a German tax return and a US Form 1040. The US-Germany double taxation treaty prevents you from paying full tax twice, but the compliance burden — FBAR reporting, FATCA obligations, potentially Form 2555 or 1116 — is real and ongoing. This is not a reason to avoid naturalization, but it is something to plan for.

Turkey: Dual Citizenship Is Fully Permitted

Turkey allows its nationals to hold dual citizenship. This means German-Turkish dual passport holding is now fully legal on both sides.

For the Turkish-German community — over 2.8 million people of Turkish origin in Germany — this reform has been transformational. Many held a "Mavi Kart" (Blue Card in the Turkish sense, not to be confused with the EU Blue Card work permit) that preserved some rights in Turkey without full citizenship. Since June 2024, Turkish nationals can retain their Turkish passport while acquiring the German one, eliminating the need for the Mavi Kart workaround.

One practical consideration: military service obligations. Under a bilateral agreement, dual German-Turkish citizens who have completed military service in one country are generally exempt from service obligations in the other. If you have not yet fulfilled your Turkish military service, this is worth clarifying with the Turkish Consulate before naturalizing.

India: Germany Allows It, India Does Not

India's Constitution (Article 9) prohibits Indian nationals from holding a foreign passport. The German reform changed German law — it did not change Indian law.

The practical consequence: when you naturalize as German, you automatically lose Indian citizenship in the eyes of the Indian government. Germany does not require you to renounce in advance, but the Indian government will treat your German naturalization as a termination of Indian nationality.

The OCI Card path: Most Indian professionals who naturalize German transition to Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status. OCI is not full citizenship, but it provides a lifelong visa and the right to live and work in India without restrictions on duration. You return your Indian passport to the Indian Embassy in Berlin and apply for OCI simultaneously or immediately after receiving your Einbürgerungsurkunde. In 2026, the OCI process was further digitized with the introduction of e-OCI cards.

The document chain for Indian nationals seeking German citizenship is one of the more complex ones — apostilled birth certificates, the Surrender Certificate process, and OCI timing all need to be sequenced carefully. The complete guide covers this in detail at /de/citizenship/.

Countries That Do Not Allow Dual Citizenship

Some countries automatically strip their nationals of citizenship when they voluntarily acquire another. Germany allowing dual citizenship does not override these rules.

• China: Does not permit dual citizenship. Chinese nationals who naturalize as German automatically lose Chinese nationality under Chinese law.
• Japan: Generally does not allow dual citizenship for adults. Japanese nationals are typically required to choose by age 22.
• India: As discussed above.
• Singapore, Malaysia, and several others: Have similar prohibitions.

If you are from a country that prohibits dual citizenship, you do not need to renounce before applying for German citizenship — but understand that the naturalization act itself will trigger the loss of your original citizenship under your home country's law.

For EU Nationals Already in Germany

If you are from another EU country (France, Italy, Spain, etc.) and living in Germany, this reform matters less for the dual citizenship dimension — EU nationals were already generally permitted to hold both nationalities under pre-existing EU law and bilateral agreements. But the five-year residency reduction is relevant: you may be eligible to naturalize earlier than you thought.

The Practical Upshot

The 2024 reform removed a significant psychological and administrative barrier. For millions of people, the question had been: "do I really want to give up my home country passport?" That question no longer applies for the purpose of German naturalization. The new question is: "does my home country let me keep my passport?" For most applicants — especially those from the US, UK, Turkey, and EU countries — the answer is yes.

For a country-by-country breakdown of how German dual citizenship interacts with specific nationality laws, the complete Germany Citizenship Guide is available at /de/citizenship/.

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