Documents for naturalisation: checklist 2026

Which documents do you need for naturalisation?

For naturalisation you need proof for every requirement from § 10 of the Nationality Act (StAG). This usually includes passport, residence title, birth certificate, proof of income, proof of language at level B1 and the certificate of the naturalisation test. Which documents exactly are necessary is laid down by the nationality authority responsible for your place of residence.

The law only names the requirements. Your documents are the proof of them. If you wish to apply for German nationality, first check which requirement you prove with which document. What the individual requirements mean is explained by our overview of the requirements for naturalisation.

Why your authority's list is decisive

Responsible is the nationality authority, often also called the naturalisation authority. Which authority this is for your place of residence you can find out, for example, from the city or district administration or from the foreigners' authority. At some authorities you can also submit the application online. This is stated on einbürgerung.de, the portal of the Federal Government's Integration Commissioner.

How different the requirements are is shown by the lists of Berlin and Neuss.

Checklist to print: what belongs in your application?

Your application should include identity and residence documents, certificates, proofs of residence, language, income and housing, as well as signed declarations. The checklist summarises what einbürgerung.de, the state of Berlin and the city of Neuss name (accessed on 02.10.2026). Not every point concerns every case, and your authority can require further documents.

Tick off what you already have. The list of your authority always remains decisive.

Print checklist

Tip: in your browser's print dialog you can also save the list as a PDF. When you pay the fee is explained by the guide Costs and fees of naturalisation.

The city of Neuss also offers the checklist „Naturalisation documents“ of the state of NRW as a PDF. It has the status 11.11.2022 and is thus older than the reform of 27 June 2024. It names further possible proofs, for example on assets, private pension provision and health insurance.

Which documents are added in your situation?

Depending on your situation, authorities require additional proofs, for example documents on the spouse or certificates and school proofs of the children. The self-employed submit tax and profit proofs, recognised refugees their recognition notice. The table shows examples from the official lists of Berlin and Neuss and from the NRW checklist.

The time of the asylum procedure does not always count towards the five years. It only counts if you are recognised as entitled to asylum or have received international protection (§ 55 Abs. 3 AsylG). Recognised refugees, for example, have international protection.

Spouses and minor children can be co-naturalised, i.e. naturalised together with you. This is also possible if they have not yet lived here for five years (§ 10 Abs. 2 StAG). The other requirements apply to them in principle as well. From the age of 16 you make the application yourself in principle (§ 34 StAG).

A proof that you have given up your previous nationality you no longer need since 27 June 2024. Whether you keep it, however, is governed by your country of origin. More on this in the guide on dual citizenship.

What to do if passport or birth certificate are missing?

Without a valid passport, naturalisation is not ruled out from the outset, but your identity must be clarified (§ 10 Abs. 1 StAG). According to the Federal Administrative Court a staged model applies for this: first passport, then other official certificates, then further evidence. Only in special exceptional cases do your own statements suffice (BVerwG, judgment of 23.09.2020 – 1 C 36.19).

1. Passport or passport substitute. This is the standard case.
2. Other official certificates. If you cannot present a passport or reasonably obtain one, other official certificates count. On their issuance it must have been checked that name and person belong together. The court names documents with a photo such as driving licence, service card or military passport. It also names documents without a photo such as birth certificate, registration, baptism or school certificate.
3. Further evidence. If even that is not enough, other official and non-official documents or statements by witnesses come into consideration.
4. Own statements. In special exceptional cases your conclusive and credible statements can suffice. This only applies if other proofs are objectively impossible for you and the authority has exhausted all its own investigations.

You only move to the next stage if the proofs of the previous stage are impossible or unreasonable for you. In doing so you must cooperate to the best of your ability. As examples of such evidentiary hardship the court names countries of origin without a functioning civil status system (official registers for births and marriages). A further example are refugees for whom even contact with authorities of the country of origin could trigger reprisals against other persons.

If doubts about your personal details remain, this is to your disadvantage. Therefore explain in writing why a document is missing, and prove your efforts. An expired passport can also be helpful according to einbürgerung.de. A German travel document is, according to the notes of the state of Berlin, as a rule not sufficient proof.

Do foreign certificates have to be translated and certified?

Yes, as a rule: certificates from your country of origin you present in principle in the original and with a certified German translation (einbürgerung.de). Whether the certificate additionally needs an apostille or a legalisation depends on the issuing state. Whether such proof of authenticity is necessary is decided by the German authority to which you present the certificate (Federal Foreign Office).

Who may translate?

According to the Federal Foreign Office, translations by translators publicly sworn or recognised in Germany are regularly accepted. Whether a translation produced abroad suffices is decided by the authority at its own discretion. In case of doubt, ask beforehand.

The city of Neuss requires translations from court-authorised translators. You can find such translators in the interpreter and translator database of the state justice administrations (justiz-dolmetscher.de).

Apostille or legalisation: what is that?

Both confirm that a foreign public document is genuine. The legalisation is carried out by the German embassy or the German consulate in the issuing state. The apostille is issued by an authority of the issuing state itself. It replaces the legalisation if the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 applies in relation to Germany.

Certain public documents from other EU states need neither (Regulation (EU) 2016/1191). Multilingual birth, marriage and death certificates according to the model of the Vienna CIEC Convention also need no apostille or legalisation in Germany. The contracting states include, for example, Turkey, Poland and Romania (Federal Foreign Office).

A translation itself receives neither an apostille nor a legalisation. The NRW checklist names apostille or legalisation „ggfs.“ (where applicable) for birth and marriage certificates.

Do you need a justification for the naturalisation application?

For naturalisation under § 10 StAG the law does not require a justification as to why you wish to become German. If you meet all requirements and there is no ground for exclusion (§ 11 StAG), you have a claim to naturalisation. But you should justify and prove exceptions, such as a hardship case for the proof of language or the receipt of social benefits.

„Claim“ means: the authority must then naturalise you. The NRW application form (status 11.07.2024), which the city of Neuss offers, also has no field for your personal motives. It only asks about the reasons if you receive benefits such as unemployment benefit II, social allowance or social assistance. A written justification with proofs is, however, important in these cases:

• Social benefits: if you receive benefits under SGB II or SGB XII, an exception under § 10 Abs. 1 Satz 1 Nr. 3 StAG can apply. An example: you work full-time and have done so in at least 20 of the last 24 months.
• Hardship case for proof of German: is B1 impossible for you despite serious and sustained efforts, or permanently substantially harder? Then an oral communication in everyday life can suffice. You must prove this (§ 10 Abs. 4a StAG). You then do not have to take the naturalisation test (§ 10 Abs. 6 Satz 2 StAG).
• Illness, disability or age: if you cannot provide proof of language or the naturalisation test for this reason, it is waived (§ 10 Abs. 6 StAG). Prove the reasons, for example with medical documents.
• Discretionary naturalisation: if a requirement of § 10 StAG is missing, a naturalisation under § 8 StAG comes into consideration. For this, separate minimum requirements apply, for example your own dwelling or accommodation. The authority decides at its discretion, that is, after weighing in the individual case. It can waive the requirements „no conviction“ and „ability to provide subsistence“. This is possible for reasons of public interest or to avoid a special hardship (§ 8 Abs. 2 StAG).

Circumstances that speak in your favour you must put forward and prove yourself and without delay. This is your duty to cooperate (§ 34 Satz 2 StAG in conjunction with § 82 Abs. 1 of the Residence Act, AufenthG). If your authority asks about your personal reasons, answer briefly, honestly and in your own words.

Which declarations belong to the naturalisation application?

You make two declarations of commitment and a loyalty declaration (§ 10 Abs. 1 Satz 1 Nr. 1 and 1a StAG). Anyone younger than 16 does not have to make the declaration of commitment to the free democratic basic order and the loyalty declaration (§ 10 Abs. 1 Satz 2 StAG). You declare your commitment to the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law. According to the NRW form, this includes, for example, free elections, independent courts and human rights.

In addition, you declare your commitment to Germany's special historical responsibility for the National Socialist unjust regime and its consequences. This responsibility applies in particular to the protection of Jewish life. Added to this is the commitment to the peaceful coexistence of peoples and to the prohibition of waging a war of aggression.

In the loyalty declaration you declare: you do not pursue or support any endeavours against this basic order or against the security of Germany. The declaration also applies to the past. Anyone who has pursued or supported such endeavours in the past must credibly show that he has turned away from them.

Some authorities require further declarations. The city of Neuss offers, for example, a form „Declaration under § 42 StAG“. With it you confirm that you know the criminal provision for false statements. In addition, you confirm that you have been informed: changes to your personal or economic circumstances you must communicate without delay.

Alongside this, Neuss offers a form for a declaration of commitment to Israel's right to exist.

How do you avoid gaps and subsequent requests?

Check every document before submission: is it current, complete and, if necessary, translated? If something is missing, the authority can request it subsequently and set you an appropriate deadline for it. What you submit only after the deadline has expired may be disregarded (§ 34 Satz 2 StAG in conjunction with § 82 Abs. 1 AufenthG).

Complete documents help to avoid queries. But no one can promise a faster decision. Pay particular attention to these points:

• Periods: pay slips must cover the required period, in Berlin for example six months, in Neuss three months.
• Data: the NRW application form asks for all places of residence since birth and for your employment relationships of the last five years. Note down these data beforehand.
• Stays abroad: stays of up to six months abroad do not interrupt your habitual residence in Germany. For longer stays it counts whether you returned within the deadline that the foreigners' authority has set (§ 12b Abs. 1 StAG).
• Criminal proceedings: convictions as well as investigation and criminal proceedings abroad belong in the application (§ 12a Abs. 4 StAG). If an investigation is running against you, the authority suspends the decision until the proceedings are concluded (§ 12a Abs. 3 StAG).
• Signature: according to the NRW form you sign the declarations of commitment and the loyalty declaration only on submission of the application.
• Changes: if your personal or economic circumstances change during the procedure, you must communicate this without delay. This applies, for example, to a new job, a move, a marriage or a separation. The duty is stated in the NRW form.

What to do if the authority requests documents subsequently?

Submit the missing documents within the deadline and keep proof of the submission. If you do not manage the deadline, write to the authority before the deadline expires and state the reason.

If the authority does not decide despite complete documents, an action for failure to act in naturalisation can come into question. This is an action at the administrative court because the authority does not decide. The action is as a rule admissible at the earliest three months after the application (§ 75 VwGO). Before the administrative court you can also conduct the action yourself (§ 67 Abs. 1 VwGO).

Sometimes the authority has a sufficient, i.e. adequate, reason for the delay. Then the court suspends the proceedings and gives it a deadline (§ 75 VwGO).

What happens after submitting the documents?

The nationality authority examines your application and requests further proofs if needed. For applicants aged 16 and over, it transmits data to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in order to check grounds for exclusion (§ 37 StAG). If naturalisation is granted, you become German with the handing over of the naturalisation certificate (§ 16 StAG).

Before the handing over you make, from the age of 16, a solemn declaration. It reads: „I solemnly declare that I will respect the Basic Law and the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany and refrain from anything that could harm it.“ The certificate is to be handed over at a public naturalisation ceremony (§ 16 StAG).

Only afterwards do you apply, with the certificate, for a German identity card or passport. How the procedure proceeds and which waiting times authorities publish is shown by the guide on the duration of naturalisation.

Frequently asked questions

Rechtsanwalt Nihat Kaygalak, LL.M.

Responsible for the content of Mein Deutscher Pass. Admitted as a lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) since 2007, member of the Düsseldorf Bar Association (Rechtsanwaltskammer Düsseldorf), firm in Neuss. You can verify the admission in the nationwide official register of lawyers.

Mein Deutscher Pass is an offering of the Rechtsanwaltskanzlei Kaygalak and not an authority. Get in touch · Legal notice