By Christine Stenner, Attorney (Germany) at Stenner Law| Foreign Legal Consultant (PA) | June 14, 2025
Every week, I receive emails or calls from former German citizens who became American citizens . Most were totally unaware they lost their citizenship—until they tried to renew their German passport.
Until June 2024, German law required a “Beibehaltungsgenehmigung” to retain citizenship when acquiring a non-EU nationality. Without it, citizenship was automatically lost under § 25 StAG. Intent did not matter.
Germany allowed dual citizenship last year in June 2024 for the first time ever and there is no need to obtain a prior approval anymore. But those who lost their citizenship status before that date remain subject to the old rules. For them, re-naturalization is only possible under § 13 StAG. And this is not an easy path.
Why is it so complex? The wording in § 13 StAG is short and sounds straightforward. But the real rules are buried in internal regulations because re-naturalization is based on discretion. The guidelines for discretion are not public or easy to find. They define what counts as a valid case and when re-naturalization is possible.
This is why experienced legal representation matters. At StennerLaw, we conduct a thorough evaluation before taking a case. We assess whether the facts support a realistic path to renaturalization under current practice.
Visit our website stennerlaw.com for more information or schedule a consultation and speak me.
Schedule a consultation and speak with German attorney Christine Stenner
*Picture taken in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall at the German Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
