The new German Naturalization Act came into force on 27.06.2024. This not only simplifies the naturalization process, but also makes it generally permissible to have multiple nationalities, i.e. foreigners can now acquire German citizenship without having to give up their previous nationality.
Many people are now asking themselves whether this also applies to Germans who wish to acquire foreign citizenship, especially Spanish citizenship, by naturalization.
First of all, it should be noted that according to § 25 StAG old version, German citizens have been allowed to retain their German citizenship under German law since 28.08.2007 if they acquire the citizenship of an EU member state or Switzerland. Previously, a German citizen had to obtain a so-called retention permit. Until 27.06.2024, this was still the case for citizenships outside the above-mentioned countries.
With the entry into force of the Citizenship Modernization Act on 27.06.2024, a German citizen no longer requires a retention permit, regardless of which foreign citizenship they wish to acquire.
A further and much greater problem, however, is that the new regulation on multiple citizenship is German law, but in cases of dual citizenship, one must not only look at the law of one country, but also at the law of the country whose citizenship one also wishes to acquire. The foreign law must therefore also permit dual citizenship.
If a German citizen wishes to acquire additional Spanish citizenship, the only question that now arises is whether Spanish citizenship law permits dual citizenship. In Spain, the general rule is that a person must renounce their previous citizenship when acquiring Spanish citizenship through naturalization. There are some exceptions to this, but in the absence of an agreement between Spain and Germany on dual nationality, Germany is not one of these exceptions.
For German nationals, this means that they still have to renounce their German citizenship if they wish to acquire Spanish citizenship through naturalization. The declaration of renunciation is made to the Federal Office of Administration for persons with habitual residence abroad. However, a declaration to a Spanish authority does not lead to an effective renunciation.
Author:
Dr. Dominic John Patrick Porta, LL.M.
Attorney at Law (Düsseldorf Bar Association n° 52954)
Abogado (ICAIB n° 6645)
dominic.porta@anwaltmallorca.eu
www.anwaltmallorca.eu
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