Applying for German Citizenship - Personal experience

I am currently in the process of preparing my application for German Citizenship, and will share my progress to this page. I am applying at my local Bürgeramt, who will send it to the Landkreis Esslingen for further processing. Search online for Einbürgerung + your town or Landkreis

Step	Action	Details	Time Frame
1	Einbürgerungstest	I made an appointment at the VHS Stuttgart. This was in July 2023. I had to enrol for the test in person and got a date for the test in September 2023. I used the apps listed on the website to prepare and I found they prepared you very well for the test.	The result was sent to me via post within 3 weeks
2	Beratungsgesrpäch at the Bügeramt	I contacted the Bürgeramt on 19 January 2024 via E-Mail to arrange an appointment, and they made one for me on 24 January 2024. During this consultation session, the official (Beamtin) went through the list of required documents with me and explained the application process. I received an application form as a hard copy. It was made very clear that if I apply before the new law is implemented, I still have to renounce my South African citizenship. Note: Many Bürgerämter now ask people not to come for a Beratungsgespräch, as they are a bit overwhelmed with requests.
3	Apply for Retention of my South African citizenship	Even though this may or may not be needed, I decided to do it anyway to cover all my bases. We applied for these the same time as the other doucmentation from South Africa. The turnaround time was about a week, but we waited for the rest of the documentation pack to be finalised before having it sent to Germany. See info on the different options below.	1 Week
4	Gather the needed documents	We used a company in South Africa to help us apply for our Retention letters, Unabridged Birth Certificates and Unabridged Marriage Certificate. The UBC and UMC had to be apostilled. We applied on 9 May 2024 and received the apostilled documents via DHL courier in Germany on 16 September 2024. We did have issues with my UBC, as my ID number was not on it. We received the electronic copy on 13 June 2024, and asked them to apply for a corrected UBC. This meant my application was in the back of the queue and we realised it is going to take too long so we asked them to have the documentation apostilled as is and send it to us in Germany. On 18 September I received an electronic copy of my correct UBC, the original document will now be apostilled and send to us via courier. The next step is to have the UBC and UMC translated in German.	4 Months
5	Document translation	The requirement for our Behörde is that the UBC and UMC must be translated by a sworn translator. It took a while to get our documentation due to availablity of our translator
6	Get German Documents	I had to submit my pension documentation, 3 months salary slips, and proof of employment. The pension documentation I requested online and it was sent to me within two days. The Employment and Salary documentation I could download directly from our company HR wesite.
7	Submit application	We live in BW and they have an online application form. This did not cater for my situation as there is a section about children that did not apply to adult children, and I could not complete the application. We then phoned our local Bürgeramt to make an appointment. Our appointment at the Standesamt was on 12 February. The lady checked all our paperwork and said she would submit it to Esslingen who will handle it. The expectation is that it will take 18 months

Apply for documentation from South Africa

There are 4 ways to obtain documentation from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in South Africa

Apply in person in South Africa. There is always a wait period for the documents, sometimes months. You can collect it in person or give someone authorisation to collect on your behalf
Give authorisation to another person to apply and collect on your behalf. Currently, you can only make appointments to apply for and collect IDs and passports, for the rest you must queue at the Home Affairs offices.
Apply for your documentation in Germany at the South African Embassy in Berlin or the Consulate in Munich. In many cases, you can either apply in person or send it via post. This will then be sent to South Africa via the diplomatic bag. Depending on the documents being sent, you can pay extra to have them courier them for you. Applying via the consular services takes much longer and you will have to supply additional documentation
Apply using a Company. This is the easiest way, but there are more costs involved. Shop around for the best prices, but be careful and only use trusted companies. You are giving very personal information to these companies and it can be abused.

To my knowledge, and also required by our Bürgeramt, all documents from the DHA must be apostilled and translated to German. Translations should be done by a sworn or certified translator in Germany. As per the list of documents needed – “Please note the following for foreign birth certificates: National birth certificates must have an apostille or legalisation mark and be translated by a publicly appointed and sworn translator. ” I am assuming that the Marriage certificate must also be apostilled, although they do not specifically ask for it “Current marriage certificate or current certified copy of the marriage register “
Feedback from people who are currently applying for German citizenship is that each office has its own requirements in terms of apostil and translation of documents. So we advise you to make sure before paying for something they do not need. The risk is always that they might need it apostilled and translated further down the process.

Companies that can assist with documentation

Docs4U

Our services for you: All Unabridged Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates and also the Vault Birth Document Foreign Birth Registration in SA Foreign Death, Marriage

RSA DOCUMENTS

We are a document procumbent company assisting South Africans with the admin if dealing with Government Entities Divorce orders Foreign death registration Foreign divorce registration

Apostil

Get South African apostilles, police clearances, birth/marriage certificates, legalisations and much more quickly and efficiently through our legal service. We have helped thousands of people

Doc Assist

Embark on a hassle-free journey with our comprehensive document services. Whether you’re planning to travel, work abroad, or need vital documents, Doc Assist is here

Unabridged Birth certificate

As mentioned there are 4 ways to apply for documentation from South Africa. If you apply via the consular services in Germany, you need to submit the following documents:

Form BI-154
Form BI-529 / DHA-529 (Determination of Citizenship)
The applicant’s South African birth certificate or birth record, if available. A photocopy of the document must also be submitted. The original document will be given back to the applicant.
in respect of applicants who do not have a South African birth certificate or birth record, form DHA-24. • This form may not be downloaded i.e. is available to the applicant to complete when he or she applies to person.
The applicant’s original South African passport. A photocopy of the passport page with the applicant’s biometric data/photograph and residence permit / Chipkarte for Germany, as applicable, must also be submitted. The applicant’s original passport must be submitted regardless of whether it is valid or expired. The original document will be given back to the applicant.
The applicant’s original South African unabridged birth certificate. A photocopy of the document must also be submitted. The original document will be given back to the applicant

If you apply through a company, you must submit a BI-154 form and a copy of your South African ID.
Applying in South Africa – I assume you need to submit the same when doing it in person. If a family member/friend applies on your behalf you must also submit an authorisation letter.

Unabridged Marriage certificate

As mentioned there are 4 ways to apply for documentation from South Africa. If you apply via the consular services in Germany, you need to submit the following documents:

Form BI-130
A letter from the applicant. The letter must be signed and dated by the applicant and confirm the applicant’s contact details (residential address, mobile phone number and email address) and that the certificate is to be certified with an apostille in terms of the 1961 Hague Convention.
The applicant’s South African birth certificate or birth record, if available. A photocopy of the document must also be submitted. The original document will be given back to the applicant.
Both spouses’ original passports or identity documents. A photocopy of each document must also be submitted. The original documents will be given back to the applicants.
A copy of the South African abridged or unabridged marriage certificate, if available

If you apply through a company, you must submit a DHA-130 form and a copy of both spouses’ South African IDs.
Applying in South Africa – I assume you need to submit the same when doing it in person. If a family member/friend applies on your behalf you will have to submit an authorisation letter as well.

Note: On the list of required documents I received, it does not explicitly state that the Marriage certificate must be apostilled, but I would rather not take the chance that they do not accept it without an apostille.

Apostille

An Apostille is a confirmation of authenticity and allows for a document (for example a birth certificate) to be accepted by authorities in another country. Documents from the DHA can only be apostilled by DIRCO
More information on Apostilles and legalisation can be found here.
Apostil has a great page which explains the difference between a DIRCO and a High Court apostille.
From our understanding, documents older than 12 months cannot be apostilled. Please confirm this with DIRCO.

Legalising Documents

Depending on your needs, you may require documents to be authenticated, certified, or have certified copies made Document authentication South Africa and Germany are both

Translations

It is crucial to understand the different types of translations that my be required for documentation

Translating documents

When seeking translation services in Germany, it’s crucial to understand the different types of translators, each specializing in various fields, to ensure your documents meet

Example of documents needed

The following is a list of the possible documents that might be needed, depending on your situation. I got the list during the Beratungsgespräch at our Bürgeramt in Leinfelden. They will send the application to Esslingen to process.