Hallo,

I have a query related to German citizenship. I came to Germany in October, 2004. I studied my Masters in English and was here till April, 2007 (appro. 3.5 yrs) and then moved to the Netherlands on the basis of other job. I was in the Netherlands for 2.5 years and paid taxes there. I moved again back to Germany in October, 2010 and it is almost three years that i am paying taxes here. On the basis of new rule (18b), i have received my permanent residence permit. In total, i have paid taxes for about 3 years in Germany and in the Netherlands 2.5 years.

Can i apply for German citizenship now. Or do i have to wait for atleast 3 more years to apply for citizenship. Do they count my time only from 2010 or do they also take into account my previous time in germany (or) as well as the Netherlands time period?

Is it compulsory for me to do an integration course and write an exam for German citizenship? I mean can i prepare on my own and write B1 exam? 

It would be very nice if anyone of you can help me in answering this query or you may provide a thread where i can post this question.

thank you

You are eligible for citizenship only on October 2018 and if you do the Integration course then you can become eligible in October 2017 but the the citizenship process with Integration course takes longer time as its decided by state government so you can only expect it by 2018.
As you moved back to Germany from Netherland and the time starts counting from the day you moved here till date.If you left Germany and did abmeldung then the citizenship counter becomes 0
So you still have to wait for 5 more years and there is no other options available.Now if you marry a German then after 4yrs of your marriage you can apply for citizenship.
I have myself applied for citizenship and after 8 years stay here so the information given is accurate and if you don't believe then you may refer to the website bamf.de to get clear information.

Here is my story;

I also came in October 2004, did my Masters in Germany and since 2006 holding a permamnent position in a mid-sized company in Hessen. In May 2011, i went to my local Einbürgerungsamt to inquire about my chances and the Beamter said usually its after 8 years and with Integration Course its reduced to 7 years (Anspruch Einbüurgerung §10). But there is a discreationary Naturalization (Ermessens Einbürgerung §8.x.x.x) and under certain cases even after 3 years one can apply for Citizenship. In my case it was 6.5 yrs back than and within three weeks i received my "Einbürgerungs Zusicherung". I didnt do any integration course and I was also exempted from Zertifikat Deutsch B1, as the Beamter said that I have done my Masters from a German University. (Although I told him the medium of instruction was english, but he told me that I have sufficient German language skills). All in all, I believe people in Einbürgerungsamt are really friendly as compared to Aussländerbehörde.

So just from my experience, i would like to recommend you and all the people in similar position to please go and talk to your concerned Einbürgerungsamt (not Aussländerbehörde). Everyone has the right to information in Germany and I take pride in telling you that my country needs highly qualified individuals like you.

@raj2009 thats a really good suggestion made by you.

As you have mentioned that you already received the citizenship then how was it with the Indian passport surrender ? As its been told that one surrenders the Indian passport to the German authority which means we never get the cancelled passport back whereas in other countries after getting foreign citizenship the Indian embassy returns the cancelled Indian passport.So @raj2009 do you still have the old passport with you or its taken by German authority ?

@shreedhark

When we apply for Ausbürgerung (cancellation of Citizenship), we must surrender our passport and ID cards. Whether you give it directly to the embassy or local standesamt depends on your country of origin and their laws. In some cases you can even keep dual citizenship e.g. I have a friend from Mexico, he is a dual citizen now, as according to Mexican laws you cant cancel your citizenship. I have a few colleagues from India, they have to apply for Ausbürgerungszeugniss at Indian Embassy and they have to surrender their passports, just like me.

PS: I'm originally from Pakistan

Hallo All,

Thank you very much for your valuable opinion and suggestions.

I will make a visit to Einbürgerungsamt in the coming days and will inform you about the feedback.

Best regards
Basbrem

I also have same question regarding German Citizenship. I am working in Germany since September 15, 2006. that means in september 2013 it will be my 7th year(completed).  I already completed the integration course B1 level. So my question is can i apply for German Citizenship after september 2013?
or i need to wait another year like in september 2014, i can apply?

one point i should mention, once i was jobless for 6 months during this 7 year. Is that an issue?

Thanks in advance if anybody answers me.

Hallo Raj and others,

Update and feedback from Einbürgerungsamt

Yesterday i went to Einbürgerungsamt to discuss about the chances of my citizenship. I clearly mentioned that after completing my studies in Germany, i moved to the Netherlands on job purpose and i returned to Germany after 2.5 years. She asked me how long its been that i am in Germany. I told her that it is almost 3 years. Then she said that i have to atleast complete 5 years after returning to Germany. That means she asked me to come in the year 2015 with B1 certificate and einbürgerungstest. She said that she will consider the current 5 years and the previous study period for the citizenship (may b rule 8 or ?) . I asked about my wifes chances.

She said that  my wife do not have to wait for 8/7/6 years. But she can apply after 4 years along with integration course certificate, new einbürgerungstest and B1 certificate. She said that me and my wife both can start the process in 2015 with all the documents that she has mentioned. I asked whether she need any special letter from my employer. She said it would be enough to have a job contract, salary slip and tax payment statements.

This is the info that i received yesterday, we do not know what will change in the coming years.

Lets hope for the best.

I shared this info bcoz may b its helpful for some of them who are similar to my case.

Best regards
basbrem

I read in this forum about name change procedure going to standesamt.

My query is:

My wife has no surname and i have not changed her surname to my surname as  it was not necessary at any time of our stay or travel. Now i  like to know if we start or submit the application form for german citizenship, do we get the possibility to change or add (edit) my wifes name. (or add, edit our name just as an example).

It would be good if anyone of you can comment on this based on experience.

Thank you
Basbrem

Go ahead with the your application.
Once the process is complete & after you pick up the citizenship certificate, go to the Standesamt and get the name change done.  
Basically, the change can be done without much stress before you apply for German ausweis. 

Hallo enfield,

thanks for the reply.

BR
Basbrem

Hallo,

Last week, we both received german citizenship certificate. I wanted to add my family name to my wifes name. In this regard, i contacted standesamt. She gave me a call and told me that they are busy at the moment and therefore may receive an appointment either first week of december or in the first week of january. She also informed me that the process might take some time as she has to check what documents are required and may be she has to contact persons in new delhi for some verification.

She advised me to go ahead taking one year temporary passport with citizenship certificate that we have now.

On the next day of her phone call, i sent her our translated dob certificates, marriage certificate, citizenship certificate and our passport copies per email so that atleast she can start our process faster, but i did not hear or receive any letter yet.

My question is, at the moment we do not have our indian passports or aufenthaltstitels with us. I like to apply for 10 yrs validity passport straightaway, once i complete the process at standesamt. Can i wait or do we have to take right now temporary passports to avoid any issues.

Next week, i am also going to take an advice from einbuergurungs officer who has dealt our application.

If any one of you have an idea, then pl. also let me know.

Thanks in advance
basbrem

Good to hear that the EB certs are in place, but sorry to hear about the delay from the Standesamt.

Typically it always helps to have a face to face discussion with the officials and with all the documents in original & copy. I suggest you still give that a shot, before going ahead with the ausweiss/passport applications.

Further to that, if your spouse has been here for a few years already, then the verficiation bit should have already been done during the initial visa grant. If yes, you will need to take any references along with you to convince the officials against kicking off another long drawnout verification.

If I read it right, your spouse intends to take up your family name and this is the most common name change application the standesamt officials deal with. So, it should not be a difficult case. I had to prune down my name and with lots of documents and an official willing to listen, it took me about 45 minutes, before I walked out with my namenänderung document.

Unless you have pre-planned travels out of the EU, a temporary ausweis would suffice.
Good Luck!

Hallo enfield,

Thanks for your detailed reply.

I have contacted standesamt but they have not received my phone. Later they gave me a call and asked about my query. I informed them that my wife is willing to take my family name and i like to know the procedure so that i can provide her the documents. She told that at the moment they are quite busy and will send me a letter/email by first week of december or in first week of january. She also mentioned about marriage verification and contacting Delhi. But i told her that the marriage verification has been done. It is only a process of giving wife my family name. I guess we will get a bescheinigung and heiratskunde with which we both can apply for ausweis and pass. She informed me that she will prepare a letter or list of documents to bring. I am waiting for her email/letter, but i will try to give her a call next week again to cross verify whether i have undestood her properly (means she will send a list of documents that we need to submit or bring along with an appointment).

As soon as the call was over, i have sent her per email our documents (einbürgerungsurkunde, translated marriage certificate, dob and our passport copies).

Thank you very much

which city was it ?
I have exactly the same case. I have finished my PhD and I am almost five years in Germany. I might work in England for two years. But, I will then come back to Germany. For this, I do not want to lose the whole period I spent in Germany.

thanks a lot for your answer.

Kind regards,
Wesam

Hallo Wesam,

pl. elaborate your query. Name change has been done in standesamt, niedersachsen.