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If my mom and my family came to America from Germany in the 70s but had to renounce their German citizenship would I still qualify for citizenship by descent?
Fun fact: a few years ago a friend of mine applied for and changed his citizenship from American to German after having lived in Germany for I think more than 50 years. The next time he entered the US, the border agent looked at his German passport and said "hey, you were born in Texas, you could apply for American citizenship" 🙂
I went through the naturalization process 7 1/2 years ago. I did not have to take either the language test or the citizenship test because I had studied law in Germany for 3 1/2 years, and the certificates I had earned at that time more than proved I met these requirements. I had no qualms about renouncing the American citizenship. I came to Germany right after graduation from university (with a degree in German 😄) and have lived essentially all of my adult life in this country, and I‘ve now lived here for more than 47 years. It is my home.
very very funny...germany is a defeated country, to this day US troups occupying germany..only due to the US Marshall plan is germany doing well today .in general there is an anti amercian sentiment in germany..
@@inka87871 You confuse a few things there, if not all of it. 😄 The troops are welcomed for the most part, even if many critizise the operations the US has conducted in recent history: The locals are happy for the company and economic boost this arangement brings. Not to mention the laziness having a big brother in the house keeping the "bad guys" out. The so called "anti americanism" is mostly for the US government and business practices, not so much for its citizen. A decently smart human being recognizes the difference between a country, its politics and its citizen, especially germans with their history. The Marschall plan... lol Germany got the smallest bit of it, by far. Interestingly the money is still actively used today. Insteat to be spent, it was put into an investment fond which to this day still exist and is being used to boost upcoming companies. The actual reason for germany's quick recovery was that the war did not destroy the industrial foundationm which was one of the strongest in the world back in the day. The bombing was targeted primarily against civilian targets. Germany did not need the money from the Marshall plan to recover, it needed workers for the factories, which were not provided by the then occupying forces.
@@madrooky1398 you may want to google what cities where the most heavily bombarded ones during ww2. My hometown of Schweinfurt in particular. Ball bearing factories to this day. the biggest losses the allies had in the air were over schweinfurt. So, both civilian targets like hamburg or Dresden, but also the manufacturing were very heavily bombarded. The russians dismantled entire factories and moved them to russia. you could make the argument that is the reason why germany did so well. Everything was new, where russia kept building pre-war BMW motorcycles (look up URAL motorcycles).
@@uliwehner Allright, i hear you. But lets make a comparison for perspective. Which is more likely, a post war Germany recovering from a war in some decades, or a post war Afghanistan become democratic and build an entire industry from scratch in the same time? The german industry wasnt completely gone after ww2. Both the allies and the russian took what they seemed to find usefull for them. And of course many factories have been destroyed. But that is not the very base of an industry that has been moved out of the country. Steel production, coal mines, basic manufacturing... The russians surely did take some machinery, maybe even moved entire factories. But that does not mean everything is gone, does not mean the knowledge to build a machine has been lost. The war took so much more industrial effort than a country needs in peacetime. And the industrial base of a country is not only a building with machines in it. And as you have pointet out, sometimes its worth to rebuild completely, which is hard if you have no incentives. A destruction is a very good incentive, and knowing how to do it certainly makes it much easier. There is also a psychological aspect that helped in the process. Many expect a defeated country to be crumbled and depressed. But it wasnt Germany's long dream to conquer the world. The war did not start out of a healthy situation. If youre not totally ignorant to the interwar condition you know that the events that lead to the rise of the NSDAP wasnt inevitable. As much as the defeat of Germany meant a liberation for other countries, as much was Germany libertated and relieved from an elite that wasnt good for itself. Perhaps the thing i would point out as most usefull for the recovery was the chance to rebuild in the first place. You should know that some forces in Britain and France were not happy to see Germany recover. For example the Iron Lady herself left some distinctive remarks about the germans. If not for some reasonable voices in the alliance the british might even have prevented the reunification.
why would it be? What would Germany get in return? Especially if they remain dual citizens. Germany has no single reason to implement dual citizenship. It is just agenda of small parties to gain more votes, nothing else.
@@lidijalincender461 Germany already has a lot of benefits from Ashton and Jonathan living in Germany. They are part of the economy and will probably have most of their consumer spending here in Germany. They build a house here and hire other craftsmen/small businesses, they work here and pay taxes of all kinds. If they have their center of life in Germany for years, work and pay taxes here, are well integrated and share our values, why shouldn't they be able to become equal citizens and participate in the democratic processes here in this country, even if they still have U.S. citizenship at the same time? I think it is beneficial for our country if someone who has lived here for many years can also participate fully here. Especially people as open and interested as Ashton and Jonathan would probably identify even more with our country and get involved here. I believe that immigrants should be able to become German citizens under defined conditions, without having to give up their roots and property in their country of origin. The two have already mentioned reasons why it is difficult to give up all citizenship rights in your home country if you still have your whole family there.
@@lidijalincender461 because of Germany's low birth rates, allowing dual citizenship especially when it comes to higher educated immigrants or higher skilled immigrants allows those immigrants better to integrate into the German way of life without having to in a way even though not truly gave up their ancestral land. Realistically though, their next generation and specially the generation after that we'll have no tie to the Homeland and will be fully German. It's what's the US has done successfully for centuries and now has a humongous population along with the huge economy without the negative dampening effect that having no children have especially a reversed dependency ratio. It's a smart policy if you ask me specially if the requirement are stringent but at the same time easy to acquire for people who meet them
One additional perk of having German citizenship: You're also an EU citizen and can vote in EU elections. Also the travel- and work regulations for EU citizens apply.
Only when you don't want pay taxes for the USA anymore it is a good idea to become german. Than you have to give up the US citizenship. Otherwise for example Texas, Florida and SouthDakota are "havens of liberty" with wise Governors. Would I be American I would think to go into this states, and not becoming a german citizen.
Wirtschaftsflüchtlinge. Sind sofort weg wenns kein Geld mehr gibt. Absolut abartig irgend welchen Leuten den Deutschen Pass zu geben nur weil sie hier leben. Ich schäme mich für mein Land.
I have lived in Germany since 1974, worked in schools for over 44 years, am a German language teacher (echt), paid German income taxes for 48 years, have retired on a German social security pension, but I never became a German citizen because I could not bear to give up my US citizenship, a right many of my ancestors fought wars to establish and maintain. Your watching these developments has alerted me to the fact that things could finally be changing. Thank you.
We are happy you have brought this up, thank you. For the same reasons we have the same internal conflict of that ever happening. We do not have much desire of giving up our American passports and are very excited about this new possibility.
@@fightthechaos781 I began filing again about 20 years ago, when there was a kind of amnesty offer of three-years-back-declaration-and-you're-clear. I did that and have filed ever since.
As long as you keep US citizenship, you are still subject to having to file US taxes, and pay US taxes, which, in some cases, are a real problem! The USA is one of only 2 or 3 countries that have taxation based on citizenship, instead of residence!
Yes, so that is a downside to keeping our US citizenship. We are required to file, but not necessarily pay taxes in both countries. For the past 8+ years, we've used the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion to only be required to pay German taxes. However, the obligation to file in both countries and follow up with the IRS and Finanzamt simultaneously is a considerable hurdle. We are VERY thankful to have a good tax consultant to help us each year.
@@TypeAshton Thats interesting. I heard of that. So you really have to pay us taxes even if you live somewhere else? But that would probably mean you would pay double taxes? How is that even sustainable? And why dont you have to pay taxes? Whats this foreign earned income exclusion?
Yes, so it's complicated. The Foreign Earned Income Tax Exclusion basically means that we can avoid double taxation. We show that we live full-time in Germany and pay taxes in Germany so therefore we re not asked to pay again in the US (but we still have to file paperwork each year). However, there are some loopholes and exceptions to this rule. I think if we were quite wealthy there is a cap to the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and we might be doubly taxed on income over a certain threshold, but I am not 100% certain on this.
@@TheMntnG they DO pay taxes in Germany where teachers and most nurses are on state payroll and avoid paying taxes where they do not use hospitals or schools which are mostly not on a state payroll anyway
My wife has dual citizenship (German and US) and as a German born it was important to her to have both. She too wanted to participate in the democratic process here in the US. It was a challenging but not impossible effort and being in academia was a big help to achieving it.
I lived as a British citizen in Germany for 48 years, always in the belief that I couldn't have dual citizenship. I heard repeatedly that it wasn't possible. I had also heard that it was very expensive, so I just never followed up on it. That is, until Brexit. That was when I found out that as a member of the EU, I was eligible and it wasn't anywhere near as expensive as I had previously been told! I got dual citizenship therefore in 2018, before Britain's final exit. I didn't need to take the German test or submit any proof that I have knowledge of the language (I never took a German course or went to a German school, so I didn't have any documentation), because they figured with my job I had to be able to speak fluently. So they were happy with just a certificate of employment.
Ah cool! I am so happy that you were able to get dual citizenship. Really interesting also to hear that you didn't need to take the exam or show proof of language. I will be curious what they ultimately ask of us to do to get dual citizenship (if the legislation goes through, of course). Thanks for watching! ❤️
@@greatpoochini1 I also had to take the citizenship test, which was really easy. I think everyone has to take that. I just didn’t have to take the language test, because they knew that I wouldn’t have been able to do my job as Assistant to the General Manager in a German company if I couldn’t speak the language. The people I spoke to, of course, could hear that my German is fluent and accent free, they just needed the certificate of employment for the main office in Berlin who process all applications.
I'm so happy that as a Dutch citizen I'm able to enjoy the four freedoms all EU citizens have: -Free movement of goods -Free movement of capital -Freedom to establish and provide services -Free movement of persons Good luck.
That's an aspect of the EU that in my opinion does not receive enough recognition. I actually feel more European than German after spending years in different European countries. I lived a decade France working in Switzerland and Germany commuting daily. One day they removed the border check points, a place where people fought wars in order to cross a river. That felt really good. The EU is so much more than just the stupid economy. A country that is no country, where people can be different, speak different languages and still mix and match the way they want. Love it...
@@michaelutech4786 When my British colleagues ask me what I was first, Dutch or European, my answer was; European. They sort of expected that answer, but started rolling their eyes towards one another anyway. The UK is also a Union of some countries so I returned the question. I can't imagine what my life would look like without the EU, with all its contradictions and diversities.
@@CrownRider "asked me what I was first" - That's actually one of the most important aspects of why I love the EU so much. Being a European does not require me to define what I am or at least the definition is so much broader than what Germanitude would have to be. When I grew up there were still a lot of resentments between Germans and their neighbours. Once I started living in these neighbour countries, I did not feel any of them, I was just another guy with an obvious German accent. Calling someone a French guy does not have any particular meaning if you lived their kind of live yourself. Nationalities (as well as patriotism) are in my view very overrated unless they are abused to manipulate people. When I feel proud to be a European, I'm proud of actual achievements and shared values that actually mean something, not some obscure coincidence of birth. People tend to make fun of the EU bureaucracy, f.e. that every piece of paper is translated into every language. I perceive that as admirable dedication, putting money where the mouth is. This is embracing diversity even if you have to work for it, not just by making a fancy speech. The EU is considered to be inefficient and economically weak. I know of no other "country" that could have transformed Eastern European economies from post Cold War ruins into what these countries are now. And this is not derogative, because these countries participated in the process just as much as their western neighbours. In recent years I had a few proud-to-be-German moments. In retrospect that were moments when Germans acted compatible with the spirit of the EU (when Merkel accepted refugees despite the political capital this "wasted" in the eyes of many "patriots"). I'm proud to be European because the French blonde did not win her election with a popular vote that allowed Trump to win. Funny that I consider(ed) both Merkel and Macron as political opponents and still feel like clapping their shoulders every now and then. I hate the political landscape in Poland, but even such a horrible government plays by the rules in a European context. Without it, the relations would not be as good as they are. The EU needs better PR.
Thank you for the information. I have lived in Germany since July 2018, and I am married to a German citizen who has US permanent residency. We have discussed my options to gain German citizenship, but the requirement to give up my US citizenship was a barrier. All of my family; children and grandchildren live in the US. Germany is home, but I would like to retain my US citizenship and gain German citizenship. I am taking a B1 German course currently. My goal is to successfully pass my B1 test by the end of this year. Good luck with your classes and congratulations on finishing your PhD. I sadly abandoned mine at the end of my exams in the US before moving to Germany. I am considering beginning again here in Germany in 2023.
I concur with your concerns, my wife is from Niedersachsen & has been a green card holder in the US for 15 years. We've gotten the dual for our kids completed a couple years ago, starting the process after my Dad passed & have only stayed US side for my Mother (who passed away in late 2020). So, we're actively downsizing here in the US with the goal of transitioning over to Germany by 2024. Would I be able to hold my properties in the US & would my wife & I be able to procure a property in Germany to be able to have (2) homes? Kinda like the snowbirds who go from Canada to Florida OR New England to Costa Rica... I would envision being a "snowbird" from New England to Germany.
Dual citizenship sounds like it would be such an asset for both of our families. ❤️❤️ And good luck with your PhD. It is such a mountain to climb and I hope that this summer when I defend, I will have finally accomplished it. ❤️
@@markmagiera6115, Mike and I own a home in the US and a home here in Lower Saxony. My son pays the mortgage, utilities, and taxes for the US home. We retained ownership in name only. We have not had any issues. That is an excellent question for one of the Expat Facebook groups.
Thanks for this! As an American who's been married to a German citizen for 24 years I've always thought about getting my German citizenship. While we live in the US currently, we are planning to move back to Germany permanently here soon, and it only makes sense for me to become a citizen. However, I receive disability from the VA so I can't really give up my US citizenship or I'll lose that. It's nice to know that Germany is considering changing their policy on this.
I was born here in 1957 (son of a German woman and an American soldier. Have been living here since 1977 and working for a German employer ince 1978. Being able to acquire dual citizenship would mean a lot to me as I consider myself both a German and a American. If it should become üpossible, I hope to be among the first to do it. Was raised with both languages and even attended a German Kindergarten. I pay German taxes and file US taxes but I qualify for the foreign tax exemption because my earnings are below the limit, so there is no tax due.
yo i’m a german and us citizen i was born here in us but speak both, i wanna go to college for free in germany work in america under german employer. i’m 16 rn trying to figure everything out any tips for me?? yk how this would work or if it would work
Thank you for your well-researched video! As Always. I am an American-German dual citizen by birth. The only aspect that affects me regularly is the fact that the US expects a tax declaration from every citizen living abroad. (Besides Eritrea, the US is the only country that does that.) As you mentioned in regard to military personnel, work income is included (up to more than 100k per year). BUT: Income from investments or rent or dividends from companys have a much lower exemption rate! Meaning that you have to pay American taxes on German income from rent or dividens, etc. For your German taxes, you will need to ask for a tax credit to subtract your American taxes from your German taxes on the selfsame income. If you don't do that, this income will be taxed twice. Ultimately, this means having an American CPA for handling your American taxes on your German income - unless you have no "passive income".
Oh this is so complicated and we are so happy to have a great tax advisor to help us on this. We actually didn't realize that was the case, because we aren't earning anything on rent or dividends.
I was randomly looking for videos about Germany and your video came up. After 13 years living in UK they just told our whole family to pack our bags and leave😢. No one knows better than me my family how that feels with a 4 year young child who was born here. Paid taxes, integrated and know the peoples around us. We got our visa recently and moving to EU specially looking forward to Germany. Your video was interesting 👍
Oh my goodness this would be so difficult! One of our biggest fears for sure and hopefully dual citizenship can help keep us from worrying abotu this. Although, I believe it's pretty uncommon here (until your visa runs out.)
@@TypeAshton but its common in UK when you go through renewal process. Family of 3 application fees will cost you around £10k if you hire a solicitor. good luck to you and god bless.
Ich bin seit 21 Jahren in Deutschland, meine Tochter ist hier geboren und mittlerweile zieht aus Elternhaus und geht ihr Leben. Ich habe aus ähnlichen Gründen ukrainische Staatsbürgerschaft nicht abgeben wollen, denn Teil meiner Familie mit Eltern in Russland leben. Ein Besuch wäre dermaßen schwierig, so dass ich den ukrainischen Pass immer weiter behalten habe. Mit dieser Regelung wird auch die Sache für mich enorm erleichtert. Ich danke euch für gute Nachrichten! Und noch, es gibt Länder von denen die Bürgerschaft man nie verlieren kann (Griechenland), es kann in Heimatländer auf Grund politischer Lage unverschuldet verfolgt wird. Und schließlich es gibt Fälle, wo das Abtreten aus der ursprünglichen Staatsangehörigkeit immense Verluste für das Person bereitet. Für alle diese Kategorien ist schon heute Annahme deutscher Bürgerschaft unter Doppelstaatsangehörigkeit möglich.
19:20 According to Jacks citizenship. I´m speaking as a immigrant from Hungary to Germany at the age of 11 (1984). I think Jack is gonna associate himself as a German with parents and grandparents from the US. Although he will be able to speak English natively which is a great gift, the Kita, Kindergarten, School and friends will have a bigger influence on him than the past lives of his parents. The most important thing is where you live and grow up and not where your roots are from.
These are great points. We hope to travel quite a lot within Europe and back to the United States so he can also grow up learning about different cultures. To us, that's important too.
It depends on families and how the surroundings perceive him, I suppose? My parents moved within India and but I still consider myself with my parents ethnicity since those around me told me so. People with Turkish and German parents seems to view themselves as belonging to both. Those who had only Turkish parents see themselves as Turks primarily since society tells them so. My daughter is Austrian, since my wife is Austrian. I am not sure how she would perceive herself when she grows up. Will have to wait and see.
As someone whose partner is American and who looks forward having them here, your channel is a revelation. I just found it, and I am happily going through your clips. This one was especially helpful to see how it is for Americans to move to Germany. Thank you for everything!
I actually think it’s a major advancement since previously it was a matter of leniency in some areas in order to avoid making clear laws for everyone in order to appease the sceptics in different spectrums. You definitely would be a great enrichment for germany, particularly because you understand the relevance of local involvement in a federal society and are willing to get involved, also you’re genuinely excited about lifelong learning and life itself. You can recognize the PhD student in your methodical approach to the topics, I enjoy the methodical madness of life and find it really calming to watch your videos, they‘re exciting and structured.
Well done on another informative video. I am always blown away by your research, thoughtfulness, and smarts. How proud your families must be. I think it would be such an amazing decision for Germany to pass this so that people and families like yours could obtain dual citizenship. My daughter holds dual citizenship between Australia and England due to her father being born in England. This has been such an asset to her and allowed her to transition to Germany prior to Brexit to live & work in Germany. I believe she will also with lay down her future family roots in Germany like you. As a parent, I fully support her decision to go where she finds her happiness. Of course I miss her as your families miss you, but we are as strongly connected as ever, because of the internet and because of our special bond. Ageing parents is always going to be something that is ion your mind when you live on the other side of the world or even if you are just down the road. That’s life! I would never feel let down if my children couldn’t care for me. I have worked hard all my life to ensure I can afford the care I need in my time of need as part of My life plan. I take comfort knowing my children are living their best lives as you and Jonathan appear to be doing also. Love your work! 😘😘
Thank you for such a nice message. We usually connect with our parents every weekend using Facebook Portal, which lets us use our TVs with a video camera covering the entire room. It really makes the conversations a lot better and keeps us well connected, especially our son Jack. Fortunately it's still relatively easy to travel home whenever we need to. We are lucky people.
Danke, liebe Ausländerin, für Deine so klare, deutliche und verständliche englische Aussprache! Auch Deine so wunderbare Handgestik ist sehr aussagekräftig und faszinierend zu beobachten.
Great video and excellent production as always. I became a German citizen in 2013, giving up my American Citizenship in the process. In my case it was threw the legal mechanism of revocation instead of renunciation, by my own choice… but that’s a whole other topic. I appreciate the benefits that making dual citizenship available to a wider range of people, and you did a great job describing how that relates to your family commitments and priorities. For me however, I don’t regret not having had that option, and I wouldn’t choose it today if I could. I have both philosophical and pragmatic motivations. Philosophically, when I decided to become a German citizen (which was way beyond the 8 year date of eligibility, also not considering an earlier eligibility through my native German wife) I wanted to enjoy all rights and responsibilities that come with citizenship. And, I wanted my part of the commitment to be complete, without any potential competing alliances. As a member of my adopted home country, I didn’t want to reserve any special privileges for myself that my fellow citizens didn’t have, and I didn’t want to be subject to any restrictions, regulations or obligations that the American side might also put on me. The pragmatic side has a huge focus on taxes and finances. As you know, all American citizens are required to file an income tax return, regardless of their country of residence or obligations to pay taxes or social contributions in their country of residence. This is particularly true for your son Jack who could potentially grow up without a particularly strong emotional, cultural or social connection to the USA, but will still be bound by these obligations. Years before I became a citizen, I got a notice from my bank that I would no longer be able to purchase certain securities as they decided that evolving American laws meant that it was no longer practical for them to continue to offer these products to me. I was lucky. At the time, other banks gave their American customers just two weeks’ notice to transfer or liquidate their holdings; I was able to keep the holdings that I already had and maintain (but not change) currently active standing monthly orders. I also had a wife whom I was able to nudge to open her first trading account. Also, as you know, as US citizens, you need to sign a release allowing you bank to file tax reports of your holdings to the IRS, or be subject to to a burdensome withholding tax. Despite the fact that there are foreign earned income exclusions and deductions, you can still be subject to American taxes, particularly if your total wealth passes a certain threshold. As expatriates don’t have an effective lobby, this all felt increasingly precarious for me as an American permanent resident in Germany. And, as we have seen over time, the regulations and fees have become worse. If you want a good, quick introduction to this, Evan Edinger does an excellent deep dive on his UA-cam channel. I’m fascinated to learn more about your evolving decision making process. Also, it would be lovely to get together for a chat over a cup of tea. Do drop me a line if you happen to be traveling in the Nürnberg area. My wife and I also have thoroughly enjoyed our travels to the Black Forest. And, my favorite German band Äl Jawala is from Freiburg im Breisgau.
I lived in Germany for 3 years during my early teen years. I have often considered moving back to Germany. If the American political climate keeps deteriorating, I may seriously consider a move to Germany.
This is a really interesting story of how you have adapted to life in Germany and fully became a German citizen. Thank you for sharing. There are a lot of points in here that we have not considered yet. For Jack, that's very accurate. He will be required to file (but not pay) taxes in America even if he may never live there his entire life. Not a nice add-on for a passport that's not really needed (German passport is often stronger.) We will certainly keep you updated with how we move along with this new potential regulation. And, thank you for the offer of meeting up over a cup of tee. We will keep you in mind if we head to the Nürnberg area.
@@TypeAshton I'm curious why you say that Jack would have to file but not pay taxes. Is that because you're assuming he would either earn below the threshold of paying or the deductions from German taxes (or taxes of whatever country he ends up living in) would always cancel out his American tax obligations? I ask because the law is that US citizens abroad must file and pay taxes (if the math works out that way), not just file taxes (edit: If I understand my own tax obligations correctly!).
Thanks for the video. We have been waiting for this change for a long time, let's hope they implement this law sometime this year. My wife is American and we are looking forward to this game changer. My German nephew is married to an Iranian (she came to Germany when she was 4 y old) and they have 3 kids. She became a German citizen more than 20 years ago but Iranians cannot simply renounce their Iranian citizenship either, so technically she is also an Iranian citizen. More importantly,, according to Iranian law children of Iranian citizens are automatically citizens as well. My Iranian niece was so freaked out about that, that she refused to give her first two children persian names, simply not to be associated with Iran in any way in case her kids would want to travel there at some point in their lives. Their third child is named Kian though, a persian name. I guess the worry wore off .... :)
thank you so much for sharing your story and perspective! We had also read while doing research for this video that there was something interesting happening with renouncing Iranian citizenship but didn't quite understand. We also hope that this law goes through as well. I think it could really be a cool development for both of our families. ❤️
As a German citizen I really appreciate learning what it means to you personally to become a German citizen and to retain your American citizenship at ghe same time. I fully agree with another follower that it would be a great gain for Germany if you became German citizens. However, for some people there might also be a flip side of the coin, I guess, with respect to obligations associated with a citienship; for example, the miltary service, which is still mandatory in some countries.
There was a very famous singer, composer and political comedy writer, its name is Georg Kreisler. His family being jewish fled from the nazis to the USA. Coming back to Europe and Vienna his music was a huge success, his german textes were of utmost irony and black humor, he was fully integrated into the intellectual life of Germany and Austria. Till death he never gave up his US-nationality and never applied for the german or austrian citizenship.
der kreisler ist super. ich habe das aber etwas anders gehört, dass österreich ihm (und anderen emigrierten) die österreichische staatsbürgerschaft nicht wiedergeben wollte. also selbst , wenn er es beantragt hätte. ?
Tja...Identität und Heimat sind Fragen denen man sich irgendwann stellt, wenn man permanent (irgendwo) im Ausland lebt. Als Familie lebt man zwar in einer eigenen kleinen Bubble, aber eigentlich möchte man doch (irgendwo) ankommen und dazugehören. Selbst als Weltbürger braucht man Wurzeln. Vielen Dank das Ihr mich so offen an Euren Überlegungen teilhaben lasst.
Most US consular missions around the world have suspended their expatriation services for those wishing to give up US citizenship (‘loss of nationality’ interview appointment during the pandemic), according to the British newspaper "The Guardian" (article headline "Americans seeking to renounce their citizenship are stuck with it for now", 31 December 2021). There may be as many as 30,000 people among the 9 million US citizens living abroad who would like to begin the renunciation process but can’t. Fun fact: UK prime minister Boris Johnson, who was born in New York but has not lived in the US since he was five, renounced his US citizenship in 2017.
Wow that is really interesting! I know we had a really hard time getting an appointment last January for to register Jack with the American consulate. We had to get a special exemption as a "report of a citizen birth abroad" and even then it took weeks and weeks for them to get back to us.
Wow! I was just researching yesterday that Germany usually does not allow dual citizenship with some exceptions, so that’s amazing! I wish you the best when you apply!
I appreciate your thoughts about being able to care about your parents. Being a parent myself I have started wondering where my kids will later be ( both have partners with a background in a different (but European) country). My parents took their parents, my grandparents, into our house (500 kilometers from where their parents lived) when they needed support. But here the grandma's had to find new friends. That is not easy once you are over seventy or eighty years old.
It is hard, there's no way around it. We do feel a certain amount of guilt, because if our parents needed care it would either fall unfairly upon our siblings back home or for them to pay out of pocket. We want to do what we can to help. Family is family. ❤️
My son has 2 citizenships (German and US) because we have lived in the US in the 1990's and he is born in New Mexico - so he is American citizen by birth and we (his mom and dad) are German ....so he is German too. He has an american passport and a social security number. He doesn't have to choose a citizenship.
It turns out that electing this unusual traffic light coalition to government has some happy unintended side effects! 🤩🥳 I'm very happy for you and aaaall the other immigrants in Germany to (hopefully) get such a relief in their lives. Germany has to make itself honest finally and admit that we have been an immigration country for a long time already. Now it is time to adapt our legal system to this fact and to embrace the cultural, social and intellectual diversity you all brought with you (and take advantage of it, hehe!)
Immigration is not the problem, citizenship not either. We are talking about the specifics of double citizenship. Being married to my American wife, we are very much hoping for this new change concerning double citizenship. Also, do not forget though that all citizens of 26 other EU countries already have the right to live, work and become German citizens while keeping their other EU citizenship. This is already a reality now and legally possible without a problem and for everyone else too that legally lives and works here, it just takes a little longer than for EU citizens.
@@BlissLovePeace it is an issue, believe me. That's why the EU is fractured into blocks. And the other thing is that it does lower the standards. If one product is allowed to have a low standard of quality is automatically is allowed in any other EU member state. That's why you see so often lorries/trucks with more than one foreign car registration plates to overgo the German TÜV which does lower the German standards on German Autobahn.
As a Guatemalan citizen, let me clear up the situation regarding our citizenship: if I were to acquire the German (or any other) citizenship, I would indeed have to renounce my Guatemalan one in the process. However, our constitution establishes the Guatemalan citizenship can’t be denied to any natural born citizen so, even after renouncing it, you can re-acquire it, thus becoming a double citizen.
You hit the nail on the head. I can’t see the future, so I want to keep both nationalities. I have German citizenship and it’s fantastic to be able to vote and enjoy all the benefits of still (!) being in the EU. Keine Ahnung how it will all go with the Brexit, on top of everything…! I hope I can keep both and don’t have to choose.
We totally agree - being able to keep every door open possible is nearly always going to be an asset in the end. We don't know what our futures hold, so being able to have dual citizenship would be wonderful.
Hi black forest family, I became a naturalized German citizen without the "German Basic Test". I got my German B1 language certificate and my postgraduate certificate from a University with 7 years living in Germany. I had the "unbefristete Aufenthaltserlaubnis". My spouse is German. The idea of dual citizenship was not new. I was informed by the Residence Amt Hamburg in 2020 that I can apply for the dual citizenship to regain citizenship status of my country of birth I previously renounced in order to get the German citizenship.
Ah cool! Since I (Ashton) will also be graduating with a PhD from a German University, we wondered if I would also be able to skip the exam. However, the information we found on it was conflicting. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Your understanding of the law is very impressive. Many Germans, in particular German journalists after doing their "research", completely fail in this topic. You instead developed a great understanding, not only of the general rules but also of very special cases, like foreign soldiers. One (currently theoretical) issue of German citizenship is the Wehrpflicht for males younger than age 46. That was one of the reasons why dual citizenship was handled restrictively in the past. Let's hope it will stay a theoretical thing.
Thank you so much. We try to provide as much factual information as possible. Of course, we do make mistakes from time to time, but we enjoy the research aspect of it. Making these videos has been super helpful for our own understanding as well. We are just so thrilled that other's enjoy them.
I've applied for a determination of German citizenship (Antrag zur Feststellung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit) using the first exemption you mention (born a dual citizen). But in my case, I'm not basing this on my parents, but rather on my great-grandfather who was born in the US before his parents naturalized. He was born a dual citizen because he was born in the USA (birthright citizenship), and his parents were still German citizens at the time of his birth. He passed the dual citizenship on to my grandfather, who passed it on to my father, who passed it on to me. I learned about this from a friend who works at the German consulate. Germany will recognize you as a person born with dual citizenship if a male ancestor was born a German citizen and neither he nor your other male ancestors (or female ancestor born after 1974) in that line naturalized or volunteered for military service with a non-German military unit. An ancestor who was drafted (a conscript) is not disqualified. It's a great way to do it if you qualify because you don't have to meet any of the requirements for naturalization and you don't have to give up your American (or other nationality) citizenship. The application process is a bit complicated, and it can take up to 2 years to get your certificate, but it's something you can pass down to future generations. Once you have the certificate, you can get a German passport. Since you've covered this topic a couple of times on your Channel and in your blog, I thought you might find this interesting.
Thanks for touching this subject, I wasn't aware of it being discussed. As a Romanian citizen that's been living and working here since 2013, this is of great interest. It is particularly so because my family still has some property back in Romania and same as you, my mother is getting old in age and being able to work through Romanian bureaucracy is much easier as a Romanian citizen. I've been wanting to do my citizenship for quite a while now (had my B1 certificate and my Integrationskurs certificate done 5 yeras ago) but i would definitely wait now and see if this law passes and apply for dual citizenship. I feel my values and my sentiments allign me more to Germany than Romania and funnily enough the reason for dual citizenship is also one of those (being more efficient with paperwork back home). Great video as always, thanks!
As mentioned in the video, dual nationality within the EU underlies different laws, it is an EU requirement that member countries allow multiple nationality between members of EU States. This is why many UK Nationals scrambled to gain citzenship of a further EU country before Brexit was implemented, this way they did not have to give up their UK citizenship.
Very, very interesting. There are so many aspects. You can decide from the ❤️ heart. You have to think about your future. Jack's future. You want to consider your loved ones in the States. You would have to abide by the laws and rules of both states. Woah, not an easy task. 🤔 I'll keep my fingers crossed that you find the best for you. 👍👍 Hope you give Germany a yes. People like you we wish and need for the future. 🙋♂️
Thank you so much. If we have the opportunity to have dual citizenship we would definitely go for it. It would be such an amazing asset to have. We really appreciate all of your support and kind words. Comments like yours make us really feel at home.
With regard to the test... a former british co-worker of mine applied for german citizenship (Brexit 😑). His 'test' was a quick chat with a person in his local Amt that went something like 'You've lived here a while, haven't you?' 'Er... yeah, a while.' 'Congrats! You can pick up your german passport in a few weeks'. Advantage of living in a very small Gemeinde.
Woah! That is super interesting! It sounds kind of similar to how Jonathan got his Permanent Residence Permit. Rather than showing a B1 language certificate, he just had a conversation with the person at the Auslanderbehorde. Apparently he could carry on well enough that he passed and they sent him on his way.
definitely following along! I’ve been living in Germany for almost 15 years and would really love to become a German citizen without renouncing my current citizenship.
This long overdue. I hold German and since 1995 US citizenship. The main issue was not to become a "naturalized American citizen" but to obtain the "Beibehaltungsgenehmigungsurkunde" (Ha, say that 3 times real fast: the document that permits someone to retain something (in this case the German citizenship). It required a (Canadian) lawyer because American attorneys did not know how to handle it. Cost me almost 10 G (that was real money in 95) and took about 1year. And "Neiderlassung" is spelled incorrectly, should be Niederlassung... funny thoug because "Neid" means envy, so one could translate Neiderlassung into to forgive envy. German language is so much fun.
You are correct, I totally messed up the spelling 😬😬 haha but I'm glad you found the humor. Also - for a fun story. When I first enrolled at my German University they sent me a mountain of paperwork to fill out. On page 1 was a word that was 28 letters long... that is more characters than the ENTIRE english alphabet. I was stunned, so secretly I kind of enjoy super long words like this. It is always fun to try my best at pronouncing it (and probably failing 90% of the time. 🤣)
I like being a foreigner in Germany, i like feeling different and the German society allows that (which, I think, is quite a compliment). I also reject the dual citizenship that I am entitled to. I want a EU citizenship in which my origin is written down as birthplace - nothing else! But that is of course because I am already citizen of a EU state. I don't share all the administrative restrictions of non-EU citizens.
Good luck with learning german, it is about time. My wife and I went to an american church for some time and we were astonished how long it took the american people to learn the language and the german way of living, even if they were not from the military. We spend three years in London and we spoke english fluent after this time although not without accent and mistakes. My advise: Meet with friends on a regular basis and speak german only. If you master the small talk without thinking about it, then you are on the right track.
The major problem is it's very easy to live with only English. This does bring plenty of stressful and uncomfortable moments, but we've realized you just end up living in your own bubble. Both of us have taken plenty of classes off and on but it was never enough. Now is our time. :)
For many American, Canadians, you should look into seeing if you quilify for any EU citizenship. You can then live in Germany or any EU country, and even vote locally
Hi, I love the contents of your videos. I plan to move and study in German in six years. I start to learning the language. I'm a musician. Right now, I have two more years in university. I plan to do my master or doctor degree there, and stay there if I have the opportunity. I'm a Brazilian student, and I know I have a long road until reach my dream to study German. But I think I'm gonna achieved that. My best wishes for all three of you.
That is fantastic!!! I can whole heartedly say that moving to Germany has enriched our lives so much and we really love it here. And it's awesome that you can do the planning and invest now in learning the language. Moving to Germany was kind of a last minute development for Jonathan and I, so we had to do our learning while we were already here. If you can get your language certificates ahead of time, you will be in great shape.
@@TypeAshton Thanks for reply! I almost forgotten to tell with I want to live and study in Freiburg. My first teacher of piano study there in 1957-1958, and always tell me how wonderful this place is and how changed her life. Since then, I've been dreaming and start planning. Let's see what's gonna happen. If you still live in Freiburg when in I reached Germany, I hope I can visit you there. Ps: I need to improved my English skills a lot. laugh
One correction: our son (born in Germany, father German) was a German Citizen. After moving to the US and having lived there for 12 years, he joined the US Army, was deployed to Afghanistan and twice to South Korea - all, while being a German Citizen. Only recently (after around 10 years in the US Army), he changed to US citizenship.
As always a very good and informative video! Wish you all the best for 2022 and your house construction! It would be great seeing you with german citizenship 🙂
Thank you so much! We hope the house will get started again, it was paused for a month due to a COVID outbreak. :( We will keep you updated on how this progresses. Fingers crossed.
I'm an American in BW who has lived here for 6 years now. For some reason, I was under the impression that you couldn't renounce American citizenship, but it is interesting to know that it would probably be required. I have run into issues with some banks and banking processes that wouldn't do business with me due to taxes in the US. I hate having to file taxes in the US every year, even though I have no desire to go back and have never worked there! But you do make good points about having the freedom to care for family if necessary.
You can, but the US makes it costly and aims to “punish” you for being “unpatriotic” (I suggest reviewing the comments made by legislators on the topic). Hilariously, and in true American cliche, the name of the 2008 bill that hiked the cost up by 422% is called the “H.E.A.R.T” Bill. There is a flat out fee of $2350 that you have to pay, and then an exit tax based on your income for the last five years, plus your assets. In 2021, if the accumulated income over the last five years equals more than $172,000 - you are subject to the exit tax (so, anyone who made at least $34,400 annually). The amount of tax you’d owe is based on the highest net capital gains rate of 23.8%, and is due within 90 days of your renunciation. Oh, and you have to make an appointment where you “publicly” renounce, and your name is added to a “shame” list. The process and cost is ultimately worth it, from my view - since the US imposes a double tax (even if your income doesn’t meet the threshold, your pension and savings are subject to it as well). It’s ridiculous but wholly expected from a country where you sole purpose is to exist as a labor asset.
The US charges an "exit tax" on people who renounce American citizenship, amounting to thousands of euros, and essentially make it difficult or impossible for ordinary people to afford. They should be considered one of countries that essentially restricts the ability of citizens to renounce. In any case, the primary reason for renouncing American citizenship is to avoid their insane double taxation, and as I've discovered the issues with banks (which I'm having right now) are based on your place of birth. Your place of birth is never going to change, so they condemn you to have these problems for life, regardless of your citizenship.
@@LaLa-ck9zp Well that's an eye opener! What a crock of shit to deal with. I have been here 32 years and I guess I will not be becoming a German anytime soon. They need to change the U.S laws on renouncing
@@Flumm06 It really is a terrible and burdensome requirement. It’s all fairly recent, so far as legislation goes (HEART was 2008, FATCHA 2010)too, so not something I imagine will be modified anytime in the foreseeable future. You have to also consider that there is no one who represents the interests of Americans abroad, or brings the issues Americans living abroad face to congress. There should be.
Super interesting! We're Americans living abroad in Spain and are hoping to live here long-term-in Europe at least...We'll keep this in mind when deciding where our next move takes us!
Oh how dreamy! We are trying to decide currently whether to do a small vacation this spring to either Spain or Morocco (covid numbers/measures depending, of course). If we go to Spain, do you have any recommendations for places off-the-beaten path? Perhaps a good place to see Moorish architecture?
Well, let's hope that those new regulations will come soon so you will be eligible for German citizenship as well. My son has both citizenships (American and German) and it has so many advantages. We would definitely welcome you.
Thank you so much. ❤️❤️ We think having dual citizenship would be SUCH an asset and would really love to be a more permanent part of Germany in this regard.
I recently read that the US has a huge backlog of unprocessed citizenship renunciations. I have also read that there are some ways to retain US citizenship -- it's not completely endorsed. This might be worth exploring. Overall, keep your options open.
Seit vielen Jahren rede ich das Wort für eine Möglichkeit der „doppelten Staatsbürgerschaft“ unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen. Hier steht für mich die Frage nach nationaler Identität an untergeordneter Stelle. Vielmehr sehe ich die positive Identifizierung mit den Werten der Gesellschaft in der ich leben und wohnen möchte, an erster Stelle. Dort, wo ich gern zu Hause bin; dort, wo ich ein sicheres Gefühl bei der Wahl der Stelle habe, wo ich meine Kinder aufwachsen sehen möchte; dort sollte ich aus ebendiesen Gründen nicht gezwungen werden, meine Wurzeln zu verleugnen.
I’m quickly approaching the time when I can naturalize to German citizenship, and even if it were offered, I’m not going to stick with my American citizenship. There’s so much crap with investing and taxes that the USA has made having their citizenship a paperwork nightmare. I tried to visit the page for my previous landlord so that I could get their contact information, and there was a popup that said that I wasn’t allowed to access their webpage as a US person. 😭
sad to see the US citizen view badly about the us passports. things have really changed! in the 60s it used to be the germans who were giving up their passports to come to america! now there is no benefit in having the us citizenship unless you plan to be super rich and work in the usa vs having a European worklife balance. unless you plan on being rich the usa is a big no no
@@Willxdiana Eh… like, being a US citizen in the USA is still significantly better than any other citizenship. But the tax law that applies to all US citizens regardless of where they live has been a frustrating thing for many people around the world, who surprisingly find out that because of some quirk of law, they’re a US person. A lot of the things of living in the USA without being rich can be frustrating: no mandatory leave, specific amounts of sick leave, at-will employment, lack of universal or affordable healthcare… but it’s also a very hard pothole to get out of. Most of the world is not averse to immigrants from the USA, but it’s also not automatic or free. So, my point is: the US citizenship really only becomes a burden when you are living abroad, and it’s really only because of specific tax laws restricting your financial opportunities.
@@Willxdiana I mean, Germans still often want to go to the USA. At least, for an experience, if not to stay long-term. It’s just that if a US citizen leaves the USA, their lives are made significantly more difficult than other immigrants. But yes, the numbers are equalizing out as of late, with fewer Germans going to the USA than before. But per capita, it is still more Germans going to the USA than vice versa.
I clicked on this video so fast I researched about 2 years ago and I read that you can't be a dual citizen with the US if you want to be a German citizen but I swear if this video tells me I can that brings my hope back up because I've been talking to this guy for 2 years from Germany but he has no plans to leave Germany and I'm not particularly attached to the US but I also don't want to really wish my citizenship just in case I ever need to run back home I can't and I don't want to be stuck in Germany with absolutely nothing, I also don't want to live anywhere where I can't have citizenship because I don't want to be treated like a second class citizen I've seen the way that US treats non-citizens and I've seen the way other countries treat people they deem as foreigners I definitely want to be a citizen of wherever I'm living. After finishing the video I'm definitely subscribing because I need to know the guy I'm talking to I think he has no desire to leave Germany especially not for America and I have no desire to live in Germany without my American citizenship That's like you guys said for any reason you may need to come back whether it be temporarily or permanently not just don't want to have to jump through hoops to be able to do that. I really hope they allow dual citizenship with the USA or maybe if me and this guy really do fall for each other we can consider another European country to move to together.
The conflict of interest thing regarding military service was dear to the conservatives who repealed the very briefly valid legislation introduced by the SPD/Green government. The real reason is that people with foreign citizenship living in Germany will mostly tend towards Greens, Linke and SPD, since they are mostly working in lower paid jobs. By getting dual citizenship they would qualify to vote in German general elections. Forcing them to renounce their previous citizenship is a deterrent to get German citizenship. At the same time, German-only Conservative voters that cannot get a second citizenship feel that allowing dual citizenship gives a kind of privilege that they have no access to themselves, so they don’t like it. They don’t take into account the they might as well decide to live abroad one day. Given the number of people from other countries and their contributions to Germany’s society and economy, it seems fair that they should have a say to political decisions. My wife is born in Germany, has raised three children, and has never had a vote in the general elections, because she would have to forsake her Italian citizenship. Italy has no qualms about letting her get German nationality, but contrary to what you state at the beginning, EU citizens living in Germany cannot have dual citizenship right now. Obviously, we’re happy about the announcement made by the new government.
Ah that is interesting, we had read that EU citizens did have the exemption to apply for dual citizenship from this article: www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/new-german-government-to-permit-dual-nationality/ But we really appreciate hearing first-hand experience. There are often conflicting information/articles out there so we try to go with the one that seems the most authoritative but sometimes we aren't so lucky.
EU citizens can for sure get German citizens. Case in point all of the Brits in Germany rushed to get German citizenship before Brexit. Post Brexit they need to give it up (well as of now). Your wife can get German citizenship and keep her Italian one.
People oppose dual citizenship because of a range of reasons. Which countries allegiance you do when they laws are in conflict. The next is voting why would the person be eligible to yield power in two countries, especially problematic when voting the same parliament like in the EU where not every vote is weighted equally because of minority protection of lesser populated members. But to then on top have two votes it is just absurd. Sure these things can be solved when both party agree, but why have so much diplomatic effort put into these things if you just let people decide for one citizenship. Don't make it a crime if you wanna loose a citizenship and even harder to regain it, is my preferred solutions. It should be easier for people to just get the citizenship in the country they live in and get visas like anybody else for other countries they want to visit. It should be easier for people with two or more heritages as they speak the language have connections and so on.
@@TypeAshton My experience living in Germany was that local officials tended to have a lot of discretion in how they interpreted and implemented the rules, things were a lot less clear cut than all the regulations might suggest. Also, governments in Europe have a nasty habit of simply not putting processes in place to implement EU directives. Here in Ireland, you can't apply to renew your residence permit more than 30 days in advance, but it currently takes 9-10 weeks to process the renewal. What do you do in the meantime, with no permission to work or even to be in the country? Nobody knows, nobody answers emails, and there is no number you can call. It was my experience that there was more consistency and accountability in the US system - 20+ years ago - than in most EU countries today.
@@emilwandel what cases can you name where different national laws would pose a problem for dual citizenship? I can tell you at least one where the exclusion of dual citizenship is a problem. My wife can’t bear my name for the Italian State, yet for the German State she bears it. Her bank card, her residence, everywhere she has our family name since we are married. But her Italian passport is to her maiden name, since by Italian law she will officially keep that all her life. Every time she has to provide proof of her identity, she has to point to a minuscule remark on page three of her passport, well outside all main items of that document, to prove she’s Mrs. Albrecht, and I can tell you it’s a pain in the arse, since very few people understand it without a lot of palaver. The voting issue is perfectly doable: for the EU parliament you have to decide what nation state you vote for already. It’s illegal to vote for both. It’s the same for local elections if you have more than one residency in Germany. If there’s not yet provision for administrative procedures within the EU to apply the same principle for national general elections, this is probably due to vested interest of political parties and to some inertia on behalf of national administrations, but this is a matter for further improvement and one that can easily be resolved. Besides, I disagree with your questioning the legitimacy of voting in both your country of origin and your country of residence. You can be affected by political decisions of both, so you should have a democratic right to participate in the vote. British citizens who had been living abroad in the EU for long enough without going back, for instance, had no vote in the Brexit referendum, even if they were directly affected by it much more than UK residents. In the case of EU nationals it may be fair to limit their voting rights to their countries of residence, probably after five years of residence in the new country: before, they might still be more familiar with the political news of the country they lived in previously. But the EU makes sure that if your nation state does you wrong by legislation or jurisdiction, you can take them to the ECJ, which isn’t the case if you’re from a country that the ECJ has no jurisdiction over. So a dual voting right should be in order, and I cannot see this being to the detriment of the new country or its inhabitants.
GB is one of the countries for which Germany allows dual citizenship. But it is being interpreted more strictly now. For people whose parents or grandparents had German citizenship but gave it back, now the grandchildren can easily get their German citizenship back. For Germans who have emigrated to Russia, it will be more difficult to get back to German citizenship. Why not apply for dual citizenship for Jack? Nobody would ask him to take a language test. Famous Charlie Chaplin was an Englishman in the US. One day he was unable to enter the US from a trip. Political reasons. He had to sell all of his property in the US and go back to Europe. After that he never made a film again.
Yes we probably should go ahead with Jack's paperwork to get dual citizenship. We haven't done it as of late because it is just more work than it's worth. We will probably always travel with the US passport (for now) because it is what the entire family has. However there are definite benefits to holding dual citizenship.
If you acquire the German citizenship in addition to the American citizenship, this would have the additional advantage that the EU citizenship goes along with the German citizenship. This would mean that you would be allowed to live in all other EU countries without having to apply for a visa beforehand.
for some additions: germans are also welcome to settle in switzerland. :D unfortunately the dual citizenship with USA would mean you are somewhat stranded: swiss banks outright deny you an account, because they dont want to file anything related to FATCA.
150 years ago the journey would mostly be in the other direction. A decision to emigrate would mean to say good bye to your parents and to know to probably never see them again. There would be usually no reason to keep the old passport, since you head to a place, where the grass is greener.
Very nice news for the Expat communities in Germany, hopefully such changes will enter into force soon, though. And hopefully, they may also allow German expats to naturalize in other (non-EU) countries without hurdles.
Amongst most EU countries that is not an issue at all. Germany currently offers dual citizenship to every citizen of other EU citizens living here. However, not every EU country allows dual citizenship.
I hope our government sorts out this thing to your satisfaction, so you can benefit from the best of both countries. I totally support dual citizenship, and hope everything works out for you!
I would get dual citizenship as soon as you can. Most importantly for your son as he will effectively grow up as a German. Should you end up leaving Germany, i think he would appreciate the option of being able to easily return there at some point in the future especially if he wants to study there etc. Another point that you did not mention in the video is that if you get dual german citizenship, you will have the right to live, work and retire in any EU country, not just in Germany. That is the huge benefit of EU membership (one that has been taken away from me via brexit, but i digress)! Lastly and maybe a bit controversial, but due to the deteriorating politcal situation in the USA and the potential rise of Authoritarianism, it makes a lot of sense to have citizenship of another country should the situation deteriorate further. So all in all it is a no brainer to get dual citizenship, something I think you aready realised!
Jack is our motivation now to do all of this. Become B2-C1 in German and also potentially get a passport that can get him/us back here in the future if we ever went back to the United States. The freedom to move around the European Union is a hugeee opportunity. Both for working and also for retirement. With my Niederlassungserlaubnis we are not free to leave Germany.
@@TypeAshton a bit like me in Switzerland, I can’t live elsewhere in the EU until I get Swiss citizenship. There are worse places in the world to be stuck though😆
Another benefit of getting german citizenship is that you become a citizen of the european union aswell. A happy and healthy new year to you all. It is an honour to have you in germany.
Oh absolutely. From what we understand, having German citizenship would also mean that we could retire anywhere in the EU. What an amazing opportunity!
Karlheinz vanSteen I am in your exact situation, BUT I found it easy to get my German Passport. I was born in Germany (1951) both my parents were German but I was given up for adoption and adopted by Americans. We came to US when I was 3-4 years old and my American military father filed for me US Naturalization. I went into the US Navy at 18 and spent 20 years in uniform (US Navy Radioman which included having a Top Secret security clearance). After leaving the military I chanced on the idea of regaining my German citizenship and went to the German Consulate in New York City with copies of my original birth certificate (In German with my original name) and copies of adoption paperwork as well as my US Naturalization certificate. To my surprise about 30 minutes later I got called to the office and asked what name I wanted on my new German Passport? My birth name or my adopted name? I choose my adopted name as everything else I have is in that name. Apparently I never lost my German Citizenship because I was Naturalized as a minor. Unless the laws were changed later you should be in the same situation as me and possibly never lost your original citizenship by birth.
I have been living in Germany too since 2013. My husband is German and our daughter has a duel citizenship. I would be happy to become a duel citizen too but as a Native American (as in tribal) person I will never ever do this because my ethnic and cultural ties with North America are too strong to consider it.
The guy who writes the travel blog 'One Mile At a Time', Benjamin Schlappig who travelled a lot especially before covid always described where he would use his German or US passport. It didn't seem like a big thing.
As for me, i'd grant you german citizenship right away ! In the comments i read some interesting pros and cons to the dual citizenship. I'm curious how your thoughts will evolve and i'm looking forward to the next video on the topic !
I really hope that this change goes through successfully and that it does soon, you three would certainly be a great gain for Germany and Germany would be a great gain for you :)
Interesting story, which is not valid for your case, but it's kind of funny. I have a collegue from Bosnia, he has been in Germany for a long time, he speaks perfect German etc. So he would qualify for the German citizenship by giving up the Bosnian citizenship. His wife is French, so he applied for the French citizenship without giving up the Bosnian one. The French citizenship is nearly as good as the German one, because it's an EU country ;)
That's a very interesting story and a great way to work around the current system. We really look forward to the possibility of having all of the EU available to us in the future. A lot of options for retirement. :)
I enjoyed this video very much, been pushing my Einbürgerungstest forward for quite some time. Life always seems to come in between. I'm Estonian, therefore from the EU and can luckily apply for the German citizenship after 8 years (although I'm married to a German as well). Maybe I'll pull myself together this year and finally do it 💪🏻 got a small boost of energy from this video! As for the local elections - why can't you participate? I've been in Germany since 2010 and have been able to vote locally every time. As far as I know, you don't need to be a citizen for that (mayoral votings and such). All the best!
sounds great guys! go and try getting the dual citizenship! hope you guys become Germans at heart, the longer you live here. (I technically have the right for a second citizenship in Chile. Chile regards me as citizen, no matter what Germany says, because of my parents being both from Chile)
I really hope they follow through! My husband is a German citizen living in the states & he wants to get US citizenship. Right now, to do so, he has to file for a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung and prove hardship. We also want to move to Germany in a few years and I would love to get dual citizenship as well. Our daughter is the only one who easily got dual citizenship since she qualified for both just by being born!
That is so interesting! I hope you are able to make the move and have a great transition. There are so many families that this regulation would be able to help. ❤️
Getting out of american citizenship (especially right now) is such a pain in the butt. Dual citizenship is going to make life so much easier for a lot of people. If only the US would drop their tax rules for US citizens (and their spouses) not living in the US.
@@europamale I am so sorry they are putting you through this. There are no valid reasons to justify the requirements and the whole process. Viel Glück! Ich drücke Dir die Daumen!
I would renounce before the US government if I could afford it and it would stop me from having nothing but problems with banks, but neither of those is true. The exit tax is way too much for me and I would still have the same problems because all the problems are due to my place of birth, not my citizenship. It's just totally shameless what they do. They say it's because of tax evaders. Who the hell lives in Spain to escape taxes!? We pay more taxes here! If I wanted to evade taxes I would open an American bank account! People in tax havens can afford this "exit tax" no problem and just pay their managers to sort out their bank issues, it's us ordinary working people trying to save up for retirement who have all the problems.
I don't think the US will ever drop that. They have such a hard time taxing their people that they are always looking for roundabout ways to get income, which means they won't ever withdraw a tax once they have a foot in the door on it. Expats are easy targets and can't fight back.
I applied for dual citizenship to Germany 2 years ago. I was actually born in Germany(Ansbach) to a German citizen mother, who has passed. I was adopted in Germany and became a naturalized American as a child. I have German family that lives in Bavaria. Dual citizenship would give me a relationship with my German family while, maintaining my family ties in America. Thank you for providing the information! The process is not easy to navigate, and your perspective and insight is beneficial.
I am in your exact situation, BUT I found it easy to get my German Passport. I was born in Germany (1951) both my parents were German but I was given up for adoption and adopted by Americans. We came to US when I was 3-4 years old and my American military father filed for me US Naturalization. I went into the US Navy at 18 and spent 20 years in uniform (US Navy Radioman which included having a Top Secret security clearance). After leaving the military I chanced on the idea of regaining my German citizenship and went to the German Consulate in New York City with copies of my original birth certificate (In German with my original name) and copies of adoption paperwork as well as my US Naturalization certificate. To my surprise about 30 minutes later I got called to the office and asked what name I wanted on my new German Passport? My birth name or my adopted name? I choose my adopted name as everything else I have is in that name. Apparently I never lost my German Citizenship because I was Naturalized as a minor. Unless the laws were changed later you should be in the same situation as me and possibly never lost your original citizenship by birth.
You forgot to mention that along with citizenship in Germany you automatically get citizenship of the European Union with all the rights and freedoms that come with it. 🇩🇪🇪🇺
I've always felt it wrong that German law does not generally allow dual citizenship. You made some great points as to why dual citizenship would be important for you. In the past, I've rather thought about it from the point of view of people like your son, the offspring of immigrants. Having been born and raised here they surely would feel german. They know the culture, the habits, the language, etc. But through their parents they of course also get a great deal of their "original" culture, habits, language, so obviously they'll also feel (insert other nationality here) to a large extent. Doesn't having to choose one nationality feel like having to give up a huge part of who you are? And doesn't that in turn maybe make you decide against Germany since it's Germany that's teeling you that you can't have both? And what does it do to people who don't come from the US but e.g. from Turkey? And how does that affect integration of immigrants into our society? I'd be happy if dual citizenship was no lopnger an exemption but rather the norm. But those are just my two cents.
You're right, it is very likely that Jack will probably identify as German, given this is where he is born, raised, and has ties with friends. We also often have conversations about this idea of what nationality means to each of us, and we are often conflicted. We love the idea of dual citizenship because our family is will be spread across both countries now, and this would give us such amazing opportunities fo the future.
11:18 There is another exemption to get dual citizenship: If renouncing your other citizenship would put an exceptional hardship on you, you may be allower to keep it. A typical example would be severe disadvantage in matters of inheritance. Another one is if you can't pay the fee required to relinquish your citizenship. One friend of mine, who is a US citizen, managed to gain German citizenship without giving up her US passport because she simply could not afford the thousands of dollars the US government would have charged her to relinquish her US citizenship. I am however afraid that if you are currently in the process of building a house, chances are they wouldn't buy that you cannot afford this fee either; so I am afraid you would not qualify like she did. (I should add that she would actually have _liked_ to give up US citizenship as it would have spared her the hassle of declaring taxes to TWO entities, the US being one of very few countries to charge income taxes from citizens living abroad)
Yes all great points. In our blog post we talk a bit about the disadvantages to dual citizenship (versus just renouncing American citizenship and becoming German) - the biggest thing is ALWAYS being required to file taxes and follow up with both the IRS and the Finanzamt. It's in part why we always invest in a good tax consultant to help us with our German and American taxes.
My wife was successful in keeping her German citizenship and becomming an Australian by using this exception. In Australia non-citizens are charged higher fees for tertiary education. She used that as a reason. One thing to keep in mind though, you have to give reasons for both sides...I.e. why would you experience hardship by giving up your foreign citizenship and why would you have hardship by not getting the German citizenship. Generally the latter is more difficult.
I have done the opposite thing (I became a US citizen and lost my German citizenship). In order to keep my German citizenship, I would have needed a waiver ("Beibehaltungsgenehmigung") - but how do you ask for such a waiver and then do the Oath of Allegiance (declaring that you give up loyalty to previous nations?) Anyway....good luck and I hope that things are working out for you!
Thats nice to know, that its now potentially more easy in the future to become a german citizen. I know people that would want that and are already living here and are terrified to go back to the US and dont want to. Considering they are transsexual, they really are frightended because of the development in the US and they really appreciate by now the german system more than the US in general - which I can totally understand as you pointed out the reasons in previous videos more than enough. :) A story from her that blew my mind was, that the has bad teeth and said fixing that in the US would have cost her 70.000 dollars, and she accepted it to have to live with it when you dont have that kind of money. When she then visited a german dentist, and he told her it would cost 2000 euros, without even taking insurance into account, her mind was blown and she only thought:"America! what the fuck!?". And without a question, having two citizenships, can only be an advantage. As you said, you have more options in general. I think Jack will grow up in germany and will naturally identify as a german when he is older and it will be normal for him, like it is for so many kids here. And I really envy him to grow up with such great parents like you and that he grows up with learning 2 languages and even having dual citizenship potentially. He could go live in the US if he wanted, since he then will speak english fluent and he can stay here as he speaks german fluent then. Thats so great. I wish I could do that.
Yes to all of your points! We also agree that it is likely Jack will identify as German, even though he does hold an American passport because of where he grew up. We just love the opportunities that growing up abroad affords him.... the exposure to foreign languages, multiple cultures, education, healthcare, etc. We can't wait to see him grow up and use these gifts in his lifetime. We can only see the future as being very bright for our little guy. ❤️ As always thank you for sharing such a great comment. We always look forward to hearing from you.
Ich erkläre hiermit feierlich und offiziell: Ihr habt euch vollumfänglich für das schwäbische Superoberspießerdeutschtum qualifiziert. Herzlichen Glückwunsch. Und noch viel Spaß beim schaffe schaffe Häusle baue.
Guys, I love your videos! You're doing an awesome job in your research, super informative and nicely done on the presentation side. Very much appreciated!
I hope the law also applies to Germans wanting to gain another citizenship. I live in the US and have a green card and will soon be eligible to apply for US citizenship. However, in order to keep my German citizenship, I need to apply for a BBG. From my research, this has gotten harder to get so I am hoping that the new laws make it easier again for Germans to get another citizenship.
This is the situation my wife has as a German green card holder. The justification/reasoning/proof to hold her German citizenship has been the hurdle/deal breaker equal to my apprehension to renounce my US citizenship upon attempting dual citizenship on my end.
Would be nice if Germans living abroad would be able to keep their citizenship as well, considering that those expats potentially play valuable roles in promoting German products and culture internationally.
@@markmagiera6115, with a proper argumentation and honest reasons other than convenience the BBG can still be obtained, but it takes pretty much 2 years of waiting for a decision.
I am really surprised by the brightness of this American-German family residing near Black Forrest. As a former immigrant from Eastern Europe to Italy, I have already experienced the thoughts Ashton has described. I would add that becoming German citizen would have a more psichological and mental effect on your couple than an effective one. By getting German citizen and participating in the democratic process You would feel more at home and will be more connected to Germany. But this should not and shold never be at cost of giving up your native citizenship where your parents live.
It is a privilege to hold both countries, whos got the combination of best Health Care, Education, and job opportunities in the world. My spouse is German and we will be moving there in the summer of 2022 hopefully. We are Canadians and will have access Europe free high quality education systems for our children. Having dual Citizenship would definitely facilitate the paperwork, one day if my children ever to get a more rewarding career in either USA or Canada , I could come back and live with them.
I find this attitude very strange. Just immigrate to another country to take advantage of their social system and free education facilities.When I choose a country, I choose to live in that country with all the rights and responsibilities, to accept the culture and its way of life. And not to take advantage of a cheap education system. Please do not misunderstand, I am happy about every immigrant with honest motives.
@@Gebuesch69 lol my parents came from east asia. I wish I caould go back and make east asia better and ride with the growth right now. ITs not about health care, education and work for me. but culture. I loved germany before it became perfect... But at least ben is looking out for himself
Gebuesch69 it’s not that simple Americans cant just move to be Canadians. Why do Hostie. I thought you said when you immigrate it’s not to take advantage of the host system 😂. I Give you a like but it looks like you are just right wing ahahha. Exposed
Native US citizen here, and only seriously did not consider German citizenship because of the rule to renounce the US passport. But in 2016, the price to renounce went from ca. $400 to ca. $2,450 and heard that could be considered a unreasonable burden and ... I tried it. And it was accepted. Since 2017, I'm a dual citizen and even volunteer to work as an election official once a year. Biggest benefit: never having to go to the Immigration Office again.
We had heard that as well! Did they base the financial burden though on your income or ask to see bank statements? We were curious how much we would have to show of our finances to prove that the cost would be a significant burden.
Germany here: I have some friends who got both citizenships (US and German)... they told me they always travel with both BUT use the German only due to many problems. The US-American is for emergencies only. 😉
@@fjellyo3261 As a foreigner from Germany I do not need any visa to enter the US... 😉 At least I do not need to apply if I want to enter due to touristic reasons.
@@fjellyo3261 The last time I travelled to the US in 2008/9 I cannot remember about getting a visa at all. Maybe I applied for it online.... ESTA? I cannot remember.
Awesome video guys. Well researched and well said! I can 100% echo everything you’re saying, and the whole citizenship topic has been on our mind for the past few years. We’re also Americans going on 9 years here and I would hate to lose everything we’ve built here if we had to go back to the US to take care of family or the like. Also the democratic process point is something we’d love to be able to participate in. Fingers crossed that things change in the near future. We’ll be right behind you in applying as soon as the law changes!
Thank you so much. I think this will be a development that will benefit so many families. We would very much welcome the opportunity to apply if this goes through.
Ah really interesting! It will be interesting to see which citizenship Jack chooses in the future (if he needs to choose). Nice to meet someone from Italy! Thanks for watching and Cheers from the Black Forest!
A friend of mine had a similar problem. He chose to serve in the Turkish army. That way he only had to go for 2 months and could buy a "get me out of here" card for the rest of the time. And keep on working in Germany earning a lot more than he had to pay. Seemed like a very smart decision to me (•‿•)
So, als kleine Deutschübung, schreibe ich euch zunächst (fast) alles auf deutsch und danach in Englisch. Hoffentlich ist mein Englisch auch gut genug dafür, aber für manche Formulierungen muss ich einfach den Übersetzer nehmen, da mir dazu der Wortschatz fehlt. Dafür lerne ich wiederum etwas dazu 😁 Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob ich es bereits in einem Kommentar eurer anderen Videos zum Ausdruck gebracht habe, aber als Deutscher kann ich nur sagen: Ihr seid hier in Deutschland wirklich sehr herzlich willkommen! 🤗 Ich hoffe, ihr fühlt euch hier wohl, aber soweit ich es in all euren anderen Videos verstanden habe, habt ihr wirklich eine zweite Heimat gefunden, in der ihr euch auch zu Hause fühlt. Das ist besonders für eine junge Familie wichtig, die mit so vielen anderen Schwierigkeiten zurechtkommen muss, wie z.B. die neue Sprache lernen, den gesamten Tagesablauf mit eurem Kleinen planen, alles im Zusamenhang mit dem Hausbau verstehen, vielleicht auch manchmal finanzielle Engpässe, neue Gesetze, das typische 'Beamtendeutsch', eine Sprache, die kein Mensch versteht, nicht einmal die Beamten selbst 🙄- und so vieles mehr. Das ist alles zusammen eine große Herausforderung, aber ich denke, ihr schlagt euch sehr gut. 😉 Daher wünsche ich euch weiterhin alles Gute und hoffe, dass das Gesetz zur doppelten Staatsbürgerschaft wirklich vereinfacht und angepasst wird , so dass ihr beide bekommen/behalten könnt. Denn soweit ich weiß (und ich bin absolut kein Fachmann) ist es momentan offiziell nicht möglich, aber wird abzeptiert, wenn bestimmte Ausnahmen vorliegen. I'm not sure if I have already expressed it explicitly in a comment of your other vídeos but as a German I can only say: You are really very welcome here in Germany! 🤗 I hope you feel comfortable here, but as far as I understood from all your other videos you have really found a second home where you also feel at home. This is especially important for a young family who has to deal with so many other difficulties, e.g. learn the new language, schedule your entire daily routine with your little one, everything related to building your new home, maybe sometimes financial bottlenecks, new laws, the typical 'officialese' - a language that nobody understands, even not the officials 🙄 - and so much more. That's a big challenge for you, but I think you're doing well. 😉 So all the best for you and I hope the law about dual citizenship will be simplified and adapted, so you are able to get/keep both. Because as far as I know (and I'm absolutely not an expert) currently it isn't officially possible but is tolerated due to certain exceptions.
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If my mom and my family came to America from Germany in the 70s but had to renounce their German citizenship would I still qualify for citizenship by descent?
Fun fact: a few years ago a friend of mine applied for and changed his citizenship from American to German after having lived in Germany for I think more than 50 years. The next time he entered the US, the border agent looked at his German passport and said "hey, you were born in Texas, you could apply for American citizenship" 🙂
But then he will lose his German citizenship automaticaly.
Indeed, and if he did and didn’t tell Germany about it, no one would give an eff.
@@Ophomox correct because he should've renounced to the-then US citizenship he had upon acquiring the German one.
@@Ophomox not so ... with this new law, hopefully coming soon.
@@BlissLovePeace I'm rather sceptical - they will have to wait and see.
I went through the naturalization process 7 1/2 years ago. I did not have to take either the language test or the citizenship test because I had studied law in Germany for 3 1/2 years, and the certificates I had earned at that time more than proved I met these requirements. I had no qualms about renouncing the American citizenship. I came to Germany right after graduation from university (with a degree in German 😄) and have lived essentially all of my adult life in this country, and I‘ve now lived here for more than 47 years. It is my home.
What a great story! Really cool, we are happy to be joining you here.
very very funny...germany is a defeated country, to this day US troups occupying germany..only due to the US Marshall plan is germany doing well today .in general there is an anti amercian sentiment in germany..
@@inka87871 You confuse a few things there, if not all of it. 😄
The troops are welcomed for the most part, even if many critizise the operations the US has conducted in recent history: The locals are happy for the company and economic boost this arangement brings. Not to mention the laziness having a big brother in the house keeping the "bad guys" out. The so called "anti americanism" is mostly for the US government and business practices, not so much for its citizen. A decently smart human being recognizes the difference between a country, its politics and its citizen, especially germans with their history.
The Marschall plan... lol
Germany got the smallest bit of it, by far. Interestingly the money is still actively used today. Insteat to be spent, it was put into an investment fond which to this day still exist and is being used to boost upcoming companies.
The actual reason for germany's quick recovery was that the war did not destroy the industrial foundationm which was one of the strongest in the world back in the day. The bombing was targeted primarily against civilian targets. Germany did not need the money from the Marshall plan to recover, it needed workers for the factories, which were not provided by the then occupying forces.
@@madrooky1398 you may want to google what cities where the most heavily bombarded ones during ww2. My hometown of Schweinfurt in particular. Ball bearing factories to this day. the biggest losses the allies had in the air were over schweinfurt. So, both civilian targets like hamburg or Dresden, but also the manufacturing were very heavily bombarded. The russians dismantled entire factories and moved them to russia. you could make the argument that is the reason why germany did so well. Everything was new, where russia kept building pre-war BMW motorcycles (look up URAL motorcycles).
@@uliwehner Allright, i hear you. But lets make a comparison for perspective.
Which is more likely, a post war Germany recovering from a war in some decades, or a post war Afghanistan become democratic and build an entire industry from scratch in the same time?
The german industry wasnt completely gone after ww2. Both the allies and the russian took what they seemed to find usefull for them. And of course many factories have been destroyed. But that is not the very base of an industry that has been moved out of the country. Steel production, coal mines, basic manufacturing... The russians surely did take some machinery, maybe even moved entire factories. But that does not mean everything is gone, does not mean the knowledge to build a machine has been lost. The war took so much more industrial effort than a country needs in peacetime. And the industrial base of a country is not only a building with machines in it. And as you have pointet out, sometimes its worth to rebuild completely, which is hard if you have no incentives. A destruction is a very good incentive, and knowing how to do it certainly makes it much easier.
There is also a psychological aspect that helped in the process. Many expect a defeated country to be crumbled and depressed. But it wasnt Germany's long dream to conquer the world. The war did not start out of a healthy situation. If youre not totally ignorant to the interwar condition you know that the events that lead to the rise of the NSDAP wasnt inevitable. As much as the defeat of Germany meant a liberation for other countries, as much was Germany libertated and relieved from an elite that wasnt good for itself. Perhaps the thing i would point out as most usefull for the recovery was the chance to rebuild in the first place. You should know that some forces in Britain and France were not happy to see Germany recover. For example the Iron Lady herself left some distinctive remarks about the germans. If not for some reasonable voices in the alliance the british might even have prevented the reunification.
You are such a likeable, open-minded and purposeful family. It would be a great gain for Germany if you become German citizens.
Thank you so much. We would be so humbled and happy to be able to join the German community by becoming citizens. ❤️
why would it be? What would Germany get in return? Especially if they remain dual citizens. Germany has no single reason to implement dual citizenship. It is just agenda of small parties to gain more votes, nothing else.
@@lidijalincender461 Germany already has a lot of benefits from Ashton and Jonathan living in Germany. They are part of the economy and will probably have most of their consumer spending here in Germany. They build a house here and hire other craftsmen/small businesses, they work here and pay taxes of all kinds.
If they have their center of life in Germany for years, work and pay taxes here, are well integrated and share our values, why shouldn't they be able to become equal citizens and participate in the democratic processes here in this country, even if they still have U.S. citizenship at the same time? I think it is beneficial for our country if someone who has lived here for many years can also participate fully here. Especially people as open and interested as Ashton and Jonathan would probably identify even more with our country and get involved here.
I believe that immigrants should be able to become German citizens under defined conditions, without having to give up their roots and property in their country of origin. The two have already mentioned reasons why it is difficult to give up all citizenship rights in your home country if you still have your whole family there.
@@schaumamoi9916 you look like nice neighbors! I was born in black forest region. Welcome! :)
@@lidijalincender461 because of Germany's low birth rates, allowing dual citizenship especially when it comes to higher educated immigrants or higher skilled immigrants allows those immigrants better to integrate into the German way of life without having to in a way even though not truly gave up their ancestral land. Realistically though, their next generation and specially the generation after that we'll have no tie to the Homeland and will be fully German. It's what's the US has done successfully for centuries and now has a humongous population along with the huge economy without the negative dampening effect that having no children have especially a reversed dependency ratio. It's a smart policy if you ask me specially if the requirement are stringent but at the same time easy to acquire for people who meet them
One additional perk of having German citizenship: You're also an EU citizen and can vote in EU elections. Also the travel- and work regulations for EU citizens apply.
Also great points. I think it would be an amazing opportunity to have dual citizenship. ❤️
This. So much this!
Not only EU. As a EU citizen you also allow to work and live in the EFTA countries Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Island.
Only when you don't want pay taxes for the USA anymore it is a good idea to become german. Than you have to give up the US citizenship.
Otherwise for example Texas, Florida and SouthDakota are "havens of liberty" with wise Governors. Would I be American I would think to go into this states, and not becoming a german citizen.
@@BadboyMax1986 Upps, Da habe ich etwas neues von Dir gelernt. Danke!
Viel Erfolg auf dem Weg zur deutschen Staatsbürgerschaft. 🍀 Das Land kann sich glücklich schätzen solche netten Leute begrüßen zu dürfen. 💝
Ehrfurcht vielen Dank. Das ist so nett von Ihnen.❤️❤️❤️
Wirtschaftsflüchtlinge. Sind sofort weg wenns kein Geld mehr gibt. Absolut abartig irgend welchen Leuten den Deutschen Pass zu geben nur weil sie hier leben. Ich schäme mich für mein Land.
I have lived in Germany since 1974, worked in schools for over 44 years, am a German language teacher (echt), paid German income taxes for 48 years, have retired on a German social security pension, but I never became a German citizen because I could not bear to give up my US citizenship, a right many of my ancestors fought wars to establish and maintain. Your watching these developments has alerted me to the fact that things could finally be changing. Thank you.
We are happy you have brought this up, thank you.
For the same reasons we have the same internal conflict of that ever happening. We do not have much desire of giving up our American passports and are very excited about this new possibility.
Have you filed taxes in the US this whole time??
@@fightthechaos781 I began filing again about 20 years ago, when there was a kind of amnesty offer of three-years-back-declaration-and-you're-clear. I did that and have filed ever since.
@@k.schmidt2740 I've been here since 2006 and have never filed 😬
@@fightthechaos781 lol
As long as you keep US citizenship, you are still subject to having to file US taxes, and pay US taxes, which, in some cases, are a real problem! The USA is one of only 2 or 3 countries that have taxation based on citizenship, instead of residence!
Yes, so that is a downside to keeping our US citizenship. We are required to file, but not necessarily pay taxes in both countries. For the past 8+ years, we've used the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion to only be required to pay German taxes. However, the obligation to file in both countries and follow up with the IRS and Finanzamt simultaneously is a considerable hurdle. We are VERY thankful to have a good tax consultant to help us each year.
@@TypeAshton Thats interesting. I heard of that. So you really have to pay us taxes even if you live somewhere else? But that would probably mean you would pay double taxes? How is that even sustainable? And why dont you have to pay taxes? Whats this foreign earned income exclusion?
Yes, so it's complicated. The Foreign Earned Income Tax Exclusion basically means that we can avoid double taxation. We show that we live full-time in Germany and pay taxes in Germany so therefore we re not asked to pay again in the US (but we still have to file paperwork each year). However, there are some loopholes and exceptions to this rule. I think if we were quite wealthy there is a cap to the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and we might be doubly taxed on income over a certain threshold, but I am not 100% certain on this.
@@TypeAshton
why would you try to avoid taxes? they pay for nurses and teachers...
@@TheMntnG they DO pay taxes in Germany where teachers and most nurses are on state payroll and avoid paying taxes where they do not use hospitals or schools which are mostly not on a state payroll anyway
My wife has dual citizenship (German and US) and as a German born it was important to her to have both. She too wanted to participate in the democratic process here in the US. It was a challenging but not impossible effort and being in academia was a big help to achieving it.
I lived as a British citizen in Germany for 48 years, always in the belief that I couldn't have dual citizenship. I heard repeatedly that it wasn't possible. I had also heard that it was very expensive, so I just never followed up on it. That is, until Brexit. That was when I found out that as a member of the EU, I was eligible and it wasn't anywhere near as expensive as I had previously been told! I got dual citizenship therefore in 2018, before Britain's final exit. I didn't need to take the German test or submit any proof that I have knowledge of the language (I never took a German course or went to a German school, so I didn't have any documentation), because they figured with my job I had to be able to speak fluently. So they were happy with just a certificate of employment.
Ah cool! I am so happy that you were able to get dual citizenship. Really interesting also to hear that you didn't need to take the exam or show proof of language. I will be curious what they ultimately ask of us to do to get dual citizenship (if the legislation goes through, of course). Thanks for watching! ❤️
@@TypeAshton Thank you for sharing your experiences. I always look forward to your videos.
That law was only passed in 2007 so before you would have been right that dual wasn't allowed
Same for me, except I did have to take the Citizenship and Language tests
@@greatpoochini1 I also had to take the citizenship test, which was really easy. I think everyone has to take that. I just didn’t have to take the language test, because they knew that I wouldn’t have been able to do my job as Assistant to the General Manager in a German company if I couldn’t speak the language. The people I spoke to, of course, could hear that my German is fluent and accent free, they just needed the certificate of employment for the main office in Berlin who process all applications.
I'm so happy that as a Dutch citizen I'm able to enjoy the four freedoms all EU citizens have:
-Free movement of goods
-Free movement of capital
-Freedom to establish and provide services
-Free movement of persons
Good luck.
It will definitely be such a wonderful asset to have.
That's an aspect of the EU that in my opinion does not receive enough recognition. I actually feel more European than German after spending years in different European countries. I lived a decade France working in Switzerland and Germany commuting daily. One day they removed the border check points, a place where people fought wars in order to cross a river. That felt really good. The EU is so much more than just the stupid economy. A country that is no country, where people can be different, speak different languages and still mix and match the way they want. Love it...
@@michaelutech4786 When my British colleagues ask me what I was first, Dutch or European, my answer was; European. They sort of expected that answer, but started rolling their eyes towards one another anyway. The UK is also a Union of some countries so I returned the question.
I can't imagine what my life would look like without the EU, with all its contradictions and diversities.
@@CrownRider "asked me what I was first" - That's actually one of the most important aspects of why I love the EU so much. Being a European does not require me to define what I am or at least the definition is so much broader than what Germanitude would have to be. When I grew up there were still a lot of resentments between Germans and their neighbours. Once I started living in these neighbour countries, I did not feel any of them, I was just another guy with an obvious German accent. Calling someone a French guy does not have any particular meaning if you lived their kind of live yourself. Nationalities (as well as patriotism) are in my view very overrated unless they are abused to manipulate people. When I feel proud to be a European, I'm proud of actual achievements and shared values that actually mean something, not some obscure coincidence of birth.
People tend to make fun of the EU bureaucracy, f.e. that every piece of paper is translated into every language. I perceive that as admirable dedication, putting money where the mouth is. This is embracing diversity even if you have to work for it, not just by making a fancy speech. The EU is considered to be inefficient and economically weak. I know of no other "country" that could have transformed Eastern European economies from post Cold War ruins into what these countries are now. And this is not derogative, because these countries participated in the process just as much as their western neighbours.
In recent years I had a few proud-to-be-German moments. In retrospect that were moments when Germans acted compatible with the spirit of the EU (when Merkel accepted refugees despite the political capital this "wasted" in the eyes of many "patriots"). I'm proud to be European because the French blonde did not win her election with a popular vote that allowed Trump to win. Funny that I consider(ed) both Merkel and Macron as political opponents and still feel like clapping their shoulders every now and then. I hate the political landscape in Poland, but even such a horrible government plays by the rules in a European context. Without it, the relations would not be as good as they are. The EU needs better PR.
Thank you for the information. I have lived in Germany since July 2018, and I am married to a German citizen who has US permanent residency. We have discussed my options to gain German citizenship, but the requirement to give up my US citizenship was a barrier. All of my family; children and grandchildren live in the US. Germany is home, but I would like to retain my US citizenship and gain German citizenship. I am taking a B1 German course currently. My goal is to successfully pass my B1 test by the end of this year. Good luck with your classes and congratulations on finishing your PhD. I sadly abandoned mine at the end of my exams in the US before moving to Germany. I am considering beginning again here in Germany in 2023.
I concur with your concerns, my wife is from Niedersachsen & has been a green card holder in the US for 15 years. We've gotten the dual for our kids completed a couple years ago, starting the process after my Dad passed & have only stayed US side for my Mother (who passed away in late 2020). So, we're actively downsizing here in the US with the goal of transitioning over to Germany by 2024.
Would I be able to hold my properties in the US & would my wife & I be able to procure a property in Germany to be able to have (2) homes? Kinda like the snowbirds who go from Canada to Florida OR New England to Costa Rica... I would envision being a "snowbird" from New England to Germany.
Dual citizenship sounds like it would be such an asset for both of our families. ❤️❤️ And good luck with your PhD. It is such a mountain to climb and I hope that this summer when I defend, I will have finally accomplished it. ❤️
@@markmagiera6115, Mike and I own a home in the US and a home here in Lower Saxony. My son pays the mortgage, utilities, and taxes for the US home. We retained ownership in name only. We have not had any issues. That is an excellent question for one of the Expat Facebook groups.
Thanks for this! As an American who's been married to a German citizen for 24 years I've always thought about getting my German citizenship. While we live in the US currently, we are planning to move back to Germany permanently here soon, and it only makes sense for me to become a citizen. However, I receive disability from the VA so I can't really give up my US citizenship or I'll lose that. It's nice to know that Germany is considering changing their policy on this.
I was born here in 1957 (son of a German woman and an American soldier. Have been living here since 1977 and working for a German employer ince 1978. Being able to acquire dual citizenship would mean a lot to me as I consider myself both a German and a American. If it should become üpossible, I hope to be among the first to do it. Was raised with both languages and even attended a German Kindergarten. I pay German taxes and file US taxes but I qualify for the foreign tax exemption because my earnings are below the limit, so there is no tax due.
The dual citizenship opportunity is really, really interesting!
yo i’m a german and us citizen i was born here in us but speak both, i wanna go to college for free in germany work in america under german employer. i’m 16 rn trying to figure everything out any tips for me?? yk how this would work or if it would work
Thank you for your well-researched video! As Always. I am an American-German dual citizen by birth. The only aspect that affects me regularly is the fact that the US expects a tax declaration from every citizen living abroad. (Besides Eritrea, the US is the only country that does that.) As you mentioned in regard to military personnel, work income is included (up to more than 100k per year). BUT: Income from investments or rent or dividends from companys have a much lower exemption rate! Meaning that you have to pay American taxes on German income from rent or dividens, etc. For your German taxes, you will need to ask for a tax credit to subtract your American taxes from your German taxes on the selfsame income. If you don't do that, this income will be taxed twice. Ultimately, this means having an American CPA for handling your American taxes on your German income - unless you have no "passive income".
Oh this is so complicated and we are so happy to have a great tax advisor to help us on this. We actually didn't realize that was the case, because we aren't earning anything on rent or dividends.
This is such an important piece of the puzzle, that I stopped watching when I realized you hadn't yet reckoned with it...
You three are really an enrichment for Germany.
Thank you so much! We are happy to be here.
I've been a dual German citizen for 40 years I just never informed the German government about my other passport
I was randomly looking for videos about Germany and your video came up. After 13 years living in UK they just told our whole family to pack our bags and leave😢. No one knows better than me my family how that feels with a 4 year young child who was born here. Paid taxes, integrated and know the peoples around us. We got our visa recently and moving to EU specially looking forward to Germany. Your video was interesting 👍
Oh my goodness this would be so difficult! One of our biggest fears for sure and hopefully dual citizenship can help keep us from worrying abotu this. Although, I believe it's pretty uncommon here (until your visa runs out.)
@@TypeAshton but its common in UK when you go through renewal process. Family of 3 application fees will cost you around £10k if you hire a solicitor. good luck to you and god bless.
What was the reason?
Ich bin seit 21 Jahren in Deutschland, meine Tochter ist hier geboren und mittlerweile zieht aus Elternhaus und geht ihr Leben. Ich habe aus ähnlichen Gründen ukrainische Staatsbürgerschaft nicht abgeben wollen, denn Teil meiner Familie mit Eltern in Russland leben. Ein Besuch wäre dermaßen schwierig, so dass ich den ukrainischen Pass immer weiter behalten habe. Mit dieser Regelung wird auch die Sache für mich enorm erleichtert.
Ich danke euch für gute Nachrichten!
Und noch, es gibt Länder von denen die Bürgerschaft man nie verlieren kann (Griechenland), es kann in Heimatländer auf Grund politischer Lage unverschuldet verfolgt wird. Und schließlich es gibt Fälle, wo das Abtreten aus der ursprünglichen Staatsangehörigkeit immense Verluste für das Person bereitet.
Für alle diese Kategorien ist schon heute Annahme deutscher Bürgerschaft unter Doppelstaatsangehörigkeit möglich.
19:20 According to Jacks citizenship. I´m speaking as a immigrant from Hungary to Germany at the age of 11 (1984). I think Jack is gonna associate himself as a German with parents and grandparents from the US. Although he will be able to speak English natively which is a great gift, the Kita, Kindergarten, School and friends will have a bigger influence on him than the past lives of his parents. The most important thing is where you live and grow up and not where your roots are from.
These are great points. We hope to travel quite a lot within Europe and back to the United States so he can also grow up learning about different cultures. To us, that's important too.
It depends on families and how the surroundings perceive him, I suppose? My parents moved within India and but I still consider myself with my parents ethnicity since those around me told me so. People with Turkish and German parents seems to view themselves as belonging to both. Those who had only Turkish parents see themselves as Turks primarily since society tells them so. My daughter is Austrian, since my wife is Austrian. I am not sure how she would perceive herself when she grows up. Will have to wait and see.
As someone whose partner is American and who looks forward having them here, your channel is a revelation.
I just found it, and I am happily going through your clips.
This one was especially helpful to see how it is for Americans to move to Germany.
Thank you for everything!
Wow thank YOU! We are so happy that we could help in some way. We appreciate you watching the video. ❤️
I actually think it’s a major advancement since previously it was a matter of leniency in some areas in order to avoid making clear laws for everyone in order to appease the sceptics in different spectrums.
You definitely would be a great enrichment for germany, particularly because you understand the relevance of local involvement in a federal society and are willing to get involved, also you’re genuinely excited about lifelong learning and life itself.
You can recognize the PhD student in your methodical approach to the topics, I enjoy the methodical madness of life and find it really calming to watch your videos, they‘re exciting and structured.
Thank you so much. We would feel very honored to be able to become dual citizens and really appreciate all of the kind words of support. ❤️❤️
Well done on another informative video. I am always blown away by your research, thoughtfulness, and smarts. How proud your families must be. I think it would be such an amazing decision for Germany to pass this so that people and families like yours could obtain dual citizenship. My daughter holds dual citizenship between Australia and England due to her father being born in England. This has been such an asset to her and allowed her to transition to Germany prior to Brexit to live & work in Germany. I believe she will also with lay down her future family roots in Germany like you. As a parent, I fully support her decision to go where she finds her happiness. Of course I miss her as your families miss you, but we are as strongly connected as ever, because of the internet and because of our special bond. Ageing parents is always going to be something that is ion your mind when you live on the other side of the world or even if you are just down the road. That’s life! I would never feel let down if my children couldn’t care for me. I have worked hard all my life to ensure I can afford the care I need in my time of need as part of My life plan. I take comfort knowing my children are living their best lives as you and Jonathan appear to be doing also. Love your work! 😘😘
Thank you for such a nice message. We usually connect with our parents every weekend using Facebook Portal, which lets us use our TVs with a video camera covering the entire room. It really makes the conversations a lot better and keeps us well connected, especially our son Jack.
Fortunately it's still relatively easy to travel home whenever we need to. We are lucky people.
Danke, liebe Ausländerin, für Deine so klare, deutliche und verständliche englische Aussprache! Auch Deine so wunderbare Handgestik ist sehr aussagekräftig und faszinierend zu beobachten.
Ich danke dir sehr! Wir freuen uns sehr, dass Ihnen das Anschauen des Videos gefallen hat.
Great video and excellent production as always.
I became a German citizen in 2013, giving up my American Citizenship in the process. In my case it was threw the legal mechanism of revocation instead of renunciation, by my own choice… but that’s a whole other topic.
I appreciate the benefits that making dual citizenship available to a wider range of people, and you did a great job describing how that relates to your family commitments and priorities. For me however, I don’t regret not having had that option, and I wouldn’t choose it today if I could. I have both philosophical and pragmatic motivations.
Philosophically, when I decided to become a German citizen (which was way beyond the 8 year date of eligibility, also not considering an earlier eligibility through my native German wife) I wanted to enjoy all rights and responsibilities that come with citizenship. And, I wanted my part of the commitment to be complete, without any potential competing alliances. As a member of my adopted home country, I didn’t want to reserve any special privileges for myself that my fellow citizens didn’t have, and I didn’t want to be subject to any restrictions, regulations or obligations that the American side might also put on me.
The pragmatic side has a huge focus on taxes and finances. As you know, all American citizens are required to file an income tax return, regardless of their country of residence or obligations to pay taxes or social contributions in their country of residence. This is particularly true for your son Jack who could potentially grow up without a particularly strong emotional, cultural or social connection to the USA, but will still be bound by these obligations.
Years before I became a citizen, I got a notice from my bank that I would no longer be able to purchase certain securities as they decided that evolving American laws meant that it was no longer practical for them to continue to offer these products to me. I was lucky. At the time, other banks gave their American customers just two weeks’ notice to transfer or liquidate their holdings; I was able to keep the holdings that I already had and maintain (but not change) currently active standing monthly orders. I also had a wife whom I was able to nudge to open her first trading account. Also, as you know, as US citizens, you need to sign a release allowing you bank to file tax reports of your holdings to the IRS, or be subject to to a burdensome withholding tax. Despite the fact that there are foreign earned income exclusions and deductions, you can still be subject to American taxes, particularly if your total wealth passes a certain threshold. As expatriates don’t have an effective lobby, this all felt increasingly precarious for me as an American permanent resident in Germany. And, as we have seen over time, the regulations and fees have become worse. If you want a good, quick introduction to this, Evan Edinger does an excellent deep dive on his UA-cam channel.
I’m fascinated to learn more about your evolving decision making process. Also, it would be lovely to get together for a chat over a cup of tea. Do drop me a line if you happen to be traveling in the Nürnberg area. My wife and I also have thoroughly enjoyed our travels to the Black Forest. And, my favorite German band Äl Jawala is from Freiburg im Breisgau.
I lived in Germany for 3 years during my early teen years. I have often considered moving back to Germany. If the American political climate keeps deteriorating, I may seriously consider a move to Germany.
This is a really interesting story of how you have adapted to life in Germany and fully became a German citizen. Thank you for sharing. There are a lot of points in here that we have not considered yet.
For Jack, that's very accurate. He will be required to file (but not pay) taxes in America even if he may never live there his entire life. Not a nice add-on for a passport that's not really needed (German passport is often stronger.)
We will certainly keep you updated with how we move along with this new potential regulation. And, thank you for the offer of meeting up over a cup of tee. We will keep you in mind if we head to the Nürnberg area.
When they're in the Nürnberg area, I'd also love to say hi and maybe show them around town. Just because.
@@Stanley-px3bt I hope American political climates does not get worse, but if so, I should like to welcome you in my home country
@@TypeAshton I'm curious why you say that Jack would have to file but not pay taxes. Is that because you're assuming he would either earn below the threshold of paying or the deductions from German taxes (or taxes of whatever country he ends up living in) would always cancel out his American tax obligations? I ask because the law is that US citizens abroad must file and pay taxes (if the math works out that way), not just file taxes (edit: If I understand my own tax obligations correctly!).
Thanks for the video. We have been waiting for this change for a long time, let's hope they implement this law sometime this year. My wife is American and we are looking forward to this game changer. My German nephew is married to an Iranian (she came to Germany when she was 4 y old) and they have 3 kids. She became a German citizen more than 20 years ago but Iranians cannot simply renounce their Iranian citizenship either, so technically she is also an Iranian citizen. More importantly,, according to Iranian law children of Iranian citizens are automatically citizens as well. My Iranian niece was so freaked out about that, that she refused to give her first two children persian names, simply not to be associated with Iran in any way in case her kids would want to travel there at some point in their lives. Their third child is named Kian though, a persian name. I guess the worry wore off .... :)
thank you so much for sharing your story and perspective! We had also read while doing research for this video that there was something interesting happening with renouncing Iranian citizenship but didn't quite understand. We also hope that this law goes through as well. I think it could really be a cool development for both of our families. ❤️
@@TypeAshton fingers crossed! :)
As a German citizen I really appreciate learning what it means to you personally to become a German citizen and to retain your American citizenship at ghe same time. I fully agree with another follower that it would be a great gain for Germany if you became German citizens. However, for some people there might also be a flip side of the coin, I guess, with respect to obligations associated with a citienship; for example, the miltary service, which is still mandatory in some countries.
Thank you so much. We appreciate all of the wonderful comment's we've received welcoming us and supporting us in our pursuit for dual citizenship.
Don’t forget the tax issues
There was a very famous singer, composer and political comedy writer, its name is Georg Kreisler. His family being jewish fled from the nazis to the USA. Coming back to Europe and Vienna his music was a huge success, his german textes were of utmost irony and black humor, he was fully integrated into the intellectual life of Germany and Austria. Till death he never gave up his US-nationality and never applied for the german or austrian citizenship.
der kreisler ist super. ich habe das aber etwas anders gehört, dass österreich ihm (und anderen emigrierten) die österreichische staatsbürgerschaft nicht wiedergeben wollte. also selbst , wenn er es beantragt hätte. ?
I had never heard of him, but I will definitely do so now! Thank you!
Tja...Identität und Heimat sind Fragen denen man sich irgendwann stellt, wenn man permanent (irgendwo) im Ausland lebt. Als Familie lebt man zwar in einer eigenen kleinen Bubble, aber eigentlich möchte man doch (irgendwo) ankommen und dazugehören. Selbst als Weltbürger braucht man Wurzeln. Vielen Dank das Ihr mich so offen an Euren Überlegungen teilhaben lasst.
Vielen Dank. Wir freuen uns darauf, ein größerer Teil Deutschlands zu sein. Wir hoffen, dass diese neue Regelung genehmigt wird.
Most US consular missions around the world have suspended their expatriation services for those wishing to give up US citizenship (‘loss of nationality’ interview appointment during the pandemic), according to the British newspaper "The Guardian" (article headline "Americans seeking to renounce their citizenship are stuck with it for now", 31 December 2021).
There may be as many as 30,000 people among the 9 million US citizens living abroad who would like to begin the renunciation process but can’t.
Fun fact: UK prime minister Boris Johnson, who was born in New York but has not lived in the US since he was five, renounced his US citizenship in 2017.
Wow that is really interesting! I know we had a really hard time getting an appointment last January for to register Jack with the American consulate. We had to get a special exemption as a "report of a citizen birth abroad" and even then it took weeks and weeks for them to get back to us.
Wow! I was just researching yesterday that Germany usually does not allow dual citizenship with some exceptions, so that’s amazing! I wish you the best when you apply!
Ah cool! Glad we could help with your own researching! A really exciting development for expats and immigrats, for sure!
I appreciate your thoughts about being able to care about your parents. Being a parent myself I have started wondering where my kids will later be ( both have partners with a background in a different (but European) country). My parents took their parents, my grandparents, into our house (500 kilometers from where their parents lived) when they needed support. But here the grandma's had to find new friends. That is not easy once you are over seventy or eighty years old.
It is hard, there's no way around it. We do feel a certain amount of guilt, because if our parents needed care it would either fall unfairly upon our siblings back home or for them to pay out of pocket. We want to do what we can to help. Family is family. ❤️
My son has 2 citizenships (German and US) because we have lived in the US in the 1990's and he is born in New Mexico - so he is American citizen by birth and we (his mom and dad) are German ....so he is German too. He has an american passport and a social security number. He doesn't have to choose a citizenship.
That is cool...until he starts working and he has to pay tax in the USA and Germany... ;))) The USA looks for USA citizens abroad to pay tax.
That is so great! dual passports open up so many doors for anyone who is lucky enough to have them.
It turns out that electing this unusual traffic light coalition to government has some happy unintended side effects! 🤩🥳
I'm very happy for you and aaaall the other immigrants in Germany to (hopefully) get such a relief in their lives. Germany has to make itself honest finally and admit that we have been an immigration country for a long time already. Now it is time to adapt our legal system to this fact and to embrace the cultural, social and intellectual diversity you all brought with you (and take advantage of it, hehe!)
Ich freue mich schon auf die ganzen Sozialfälle und Islamisten, die das nutzen! ;-)
That's a super bourgeois kind of thinking. It's anti social and it is fascist, but no wonder with a chancellor who is per definitionem a fascist.
@@BaluDerBaer933 & @Schmul Krieger Ich wette, ihr seid beide umgeimpft.
Immigration is not the problem, citizenship not either. We are talking about the specifics of double citizenship. Being married to my American wife, we are very much hoping for this new change concerning double citizenship. Also, do not forget though that all citizens of 26 other EU countries already have the right to live, work and become German citizens while keeping their other EU citizenship. This is already a reality now and legally possible without a problem and for everyone else too that legally lives and works here, it just takes a little longer than for EU citizens.
@@BlissLovePeace it is an issue, believe me. That's why the EU is fractured into blocks.
And the other thing is that it does lower the standards. If one product is allowed to have a low standard of quality is automatically is allowed in any other EU member state. That's why you see so often lorries/trucks with more than one foreign car registration plates to overgo the German TÜV which does lower the German standards on German Autobahn.
As a Guatemalan citizen, let me clear up the situation regarding our citizenship: if I were to acquire the German (or any other) citizenship, I would indeed have to renounce my Guatemalan one in the process. However, our constitution establishes the Guatemalan citizenship can’t be denied to any natural born citizen so, even after renouncing it, you can re-acquire it, thus becoming a double citizen.
Ah okay!! That makes sense! Thank you for clarifying. All of the intricacies of immigration and citizenship law are so fascinating.
You hit the nail on the head. I can’t see the future, so I want to keep both nationalities. I have German citizenship and it’s fantastic to be able to vote and enjoy all the benefits of still (!) being in the EU. Keine Ahnung how it will all go with the Brexit, on top of everything…! I hope I can keep both and don’t have to choose.
We totally agree - being able to keep every door open possible is nearly always going to be an asset in the end. We don't know what our futures hold, so being able to have dual citizenship would be wonderful.
Hi black forest family, I became a naturalized German citizen without the "German Basic Test". I got my German B1 language certificate and my postgraduate certificate from a University with 7 years living in Germany. I had the "unbefristete Aufenthaltserlaubnis". My spouse is German.
The idea of dual citizenship was not new. I was informed by the Residence Amt Hamburg in 2020 that I can apply for the dual citizenship to regain citizenship status of my country of birth I previously renounced in order to get the German citizenship.
Ah cool! Since I (Ashton) will also be graduating with a PhD from a German University, we wondered if I would also be able to skip the exam. However, the information we found on it was conflicting. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Your understanding of the law is very impressive. Many Germans, in particular German journalists after doing their "research", completely fail in this topic. You instead developed a great understanding, not only of the general rules but also of very special cases, like foreign soldiers.
One (currently theoretical) issue of German citizenship is the Wehrpflicht for males younger than age 46. That was one of the reasons why dual citizenship was handled restrictively in the past. Let's hope it will stay a theoretical thing.
Thank you so much. We try to provide as much factual information as possible. Of course, we do make mistakes from time to time, but we enjoy the research aspect of it. Making these videos has been super helpful for our own understanding as well. We are just so thrilled that other's enjoy them.
I've applied for a determination of German citizenship (Antrag zur Feststellung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit) using the first exemption you mention (born a dual citizen). But in my case, I'm not basing this on my parents, but rather on my great-grandfather who was born in the US before his parents naturalized. He was born a dual citizen because he was born in the USA (birthright citizenship), and his parents were still German citizens at the time of his birth. He passed the dual citizenship on to my grandfather, who passed it on to my father, who passed it on to me.
I learned about this from a friend who works at the German consulate. Germany will recognize you as a person born with dual citizenship if a male ancestor was born a German citizen and neither he nor your other male ancestors (or female ancestor born after 1974) in that line naturalized or volunteered for military service with a non-German military unit. An ancestor who was drafted (a conscript) is not disqualified.
It's a great way to do it if you qualify because you don't have to meet any of the requirements for naturalization and you don't have to give up your American (or other nationality) citizenship. The application process is a bit complicated, and it can take up to 2 years to get your certificate, but it's something you can pass down to future generations. Once you have the certificate, you can get a German passport.
Since you've covered this topic a couple of times on your Channel and in your blog, I thought you might find this interesting.
Very cool! Thank you so much for this detailed information. All of this was not known to us, so we are very grateful for your help.
Thanks for touching this subject, I wasn't aware of it being discussed. As a Romanian citizen that's been living and working here since 2013, this is of great interest. It is particularly so because my family still has some property back in Romania and same as you, my mother is getting old in age and being able to work through Romanian bureaucracy is much easier as a Romanian citizen. I've been wanting to do my citizenship for quite a while now (had my B1 certificate and my Integrationskurs certificate done 5 yeras ago) but i would definitely wait now and see if this law passes and apply for dual citizenship. I feel my values and my sentiments allign me more to Germany than Romania and funnily enough the reason for dual citizenship is also one of those (being more efficient with paperwork back home). Great video as always, thanks!
But Romania is in the EU so according to the rules listed you should be able to get dual citizenship now
As mentioned in the video, dual nationality within the EU underlies different laws, it is an EU requirement that member countries allow multiple nationality between members of EU States. This is why many UK Nationals scrambled to gain citzenship of a further EU country before Brexit was implemented, this way they did not have to give up their UK citizenship.
Romania is an EU country. You don't need to renounce your romanian citizenship to get the german one!
Thanks for the answers guys, I'll schedule an appointment with the Ausländeramt and verify as well that I am able to do so and then apply. LG
@@Andrei2patrU Viel Glück!
Ooooo, sounds cool! I could only dream... But I'm so glad you get to live your dreams! 💪
Thank you so much, we feel really fortunate to have this opportunity. ❤️❤️
Very, very interesting. There are so many aspects. You can decide from the ❤️ heart. You have to think about your future. Jack's future. You want to consider your loved ones in the States. You would have to abide by the laws and rules of both states. Woah, not an easy task. 🤔 I'll keep my fingers crossed that you find the best for you. 👍👍 Hope you give Germany a yes. People like you we wish and need for the future. 🙋♂️
Thank you so much. If we have the opportunity to have dual citizenship we would definitely go for it. It would be such an amazing asset to have. We really appreciate all of your support and kind words. Comments like yours make us really feel at home.
+1 points for including a Hoff-Reference
hahahah we thought someone would appreciate that. 😂😂
With regard to the test...
a former british co-worker of mine applied for german citizenship (Brexit 😑). His 'test' was a quick chat with a person in his local Amt that went something like 'You've lived here a while, haven't you?' 'Er... yeah, a while.' 'Congrats! You can pick up your german passport in a few weeks'.
Advantage of living in a very small Gemeinde.
Woah! That is super interesting! It sounds kind of similar to how Jonathan got his Permanent Residence Permit. Rather than showing a B1 language certificate, he just had a conversation with the person at the Auslanderbehorde. Apparently he could carry on well enough that he passed and they sent him on his way.
@@TypeAshton 😄 glad to hear that person used their Ermessensspielraum wisely!
Have triple citizenship, British, Irish, German, now retired. Here since 1974. Never thought back then would still be here 48 years later.
definitely following along! I’ve been living in Germany for almost 15 years and would really love to become a German citizen without renouncing my current citizenship.
We will for sure be making more content about this as things move along. Fingers crossed.
This long overdue. I hold German and since 1995 US citizenship. The main issue was not to become a "naturalized American citizen" but to obtain the "Beibehaltungsgenehmigungsurkunde" (Ha, say that 3 times real fast: the document that permits someone to retain something (in this case the German citizenship). It required a (Canadian) lawyer because American attorneys did not know how to handle it. Cost me almost 10 G (that was real money in 95) and took about 1year.
And "Neiderlassung" is spelled incorrectly, should be Niederlassung... funny thoug because "Neid" means envy, so one could translate Neiderlassung into to forgive envy. German language is so much fun.
You are correct, I totally messed up the spelling 😬😬 haha but I'm glad you found the humor. Also - for a fun story. When I first enrolled at my German University they sent me a mountain of paperwork to fill out. On page 1 was a word that was 28 letters long... that is more characters than the ENTIRE english alphabet. I was stunned, so secretly I kind of enjoy super long words like this. It is always fun to try my best at pronouncing it (and probably failing 90% of the time. 🤣)
I like being a foreigner in Germany, i like feeling different and the German society allows that (which, I think, is quite a compliment).
I also reject the dual citizenship that I am entitled to.
I want a EU citizenship in which my origin is written down as birthplace - nothing else!
But that is of course because I am already citizen of a EU state. I don't share all the administrative restrictions of non-EU citizens.
Good luck with learning german, it is about time.
My wife and I went to an american church for some time and we were astonished how long it took the american people to learn the language and the german way of living, even if they were not from the military. We spend three years in London and we spoke english fluent after this time although not without accent and mistakes.
My advise: Meet with friends on a regular basis and speak german only. If you master the small talk without thinking about it, then you are on the right track.
The major problem is it's very easy to live with only English. This does bring plenty of stressful and uncomfortable moments, but we've realized you just end up living in your own bubble.
Both of us have taken plenty of classes off and on but it was never enough. Now is our time. :)
Your German skills are impressive.💪 I respect your effort. Nice to have you here!😊✌ Greetings from Starnberg
Thank you! We are working on improving, there is still a long way to go for us.
For many American, Canadians, you should look into seeing if you quilify for any EU citizenship. You can then live in Germany or any EU country, and even vote locally
Hi, I love the contents of your videos. I plan to move and study in German in six years. I start to learning the language. I'm a musician. Right now, I have two more years in university. I plan to do my master or doctor degree there, and stay there if I have the opportunity. I'm a Brazilian student, and I know I have a long road until reach my dream to study German. But I think I'm gonna achieved that. My best wishes for all three of you.
That is fantastic!!! I can whole heartedly say that moving to Germany has enriched our lives so much and we really love it here.
And it's awesome that you can do the planning and invest now in learning the language. Moving to Germany was kind of a last minute development for Jonathan and I, so we had to do our learning while we were already here. If you can get your language certificates ahead of time, you will be in great shape.
@@TypeAshton Thanks for reply! I almost forgotten to tell with I want to live and study in Freiburg. My first teacher of piano study there in 1957-1958, and always tell me how wonderful this place is and how changed her life. Since then, I've been dreaming and start planning. Let's see what's gonna happen. If you still live in Freiburg when in I reached Germany, I hope I can visit you there. Ps: I need to improved my English skills a lot. laugh
One correction: our son (born in Germany, father German) was a German Citizen. After moving to the US and having lived there for 12 years, he joined the US Army, was deployed to Afghanistan and twice to South Korea - all, while being a German Citizen. Only recently (after around 10 years in the US Army), he changed to US citizenship.
As always a very good and informative video! Wish you all the best for 2022 and your house construction! It would be great seeing you with german citizenship 🙂
Thank you so much! We hope the house will get started again, it was paused for a month due to a COVID outbreak. :(
We will keep you updated on how this progresses. Fingers crossed.
Once again a super video! Good luck for your further plans. Germany would be happy to welcome you as new citizens!
Thank you so much. We would be honored to join in with German citizenry. ❤️
I'm an American in BW who has lived here for 6 years now. For some reason, I was under the impression that you couldn't renounce American citizenship, but it is interesting to know that it would probably be required.
I have run into issues with some banks and banking processes that wouldn't do business with me due to taxes in the US. I hate having to file taxes in the US every year, even though I have no desire to go back and have never worked there! But you do make good points about having the freedom to care for family if necessary.
You can, but the US makes it costly and aims to “punish” you for being “unpatriotic” (I suggest reviewing the comments made by legislators on the topic). Hilariously, and in true American cliche, the name of the 2008 bill that hiked the cost up by 422% is called the “H.E.A.R.T” Bill.
There is a flat out fee of $2350 that you have to pay, and then an exit tax based on your income for the last five years, plus your assets. In 2021, if the accumulated income over the last five years equals more than $172,000 - you are subject to the exit tax (so, anyone who made at least $34,400 annually).
The amount of tax you’d owe is based on the highest net capital gains rate of 23.8%, and is due within 90 days of your renunciation.
Oh, and you have to make an appointment where you “publicly” renounce, and your name is added to a “shame” list.
The process and cost is ultimately worth it, from my view - since the US imposes a double tax (even if your income doesn’t meet the threshold, your pension and savings are subject to it as well).
It’s ridiculous but wholly expected from a country where you sole purpose is to exist as a labor asset.
The US charges an "exit tax" on people who renounce American citizenship, amounting to thousands of euros, and essentially make it difficult or impossible for ordinary people to afford. They should be considered one of countries that essentially restricts the ability of citizens to renounce. In any case, the primary reason for renouncing American citizenship is to avoid their insane double taxation, and as I've discovered the issues with banks (which I'm having right now) are based on your place of birth. Your place of birth is never going to change, so they condemn you to have these problems for life, regardless of your citizenship.
@@LaLa-ck9zp Well that's an eye opener! What a crock of shit to deal with. I have been here 32 years and I guess I will not be becoming a German anytime soon. They need to change the U.S laws on renouncing
@@Flumm06 It really is a terrible and burdensome requirement. It’s all fairly recent, so far as legislation goes (HEART was 2008, FATCHA 2010)too, so not something I imagine will be modified anytime in the foreseeable future.
You have to also consider that there is no one who represents the interests of Americans abroad, or brings the issues Americans living abroad face to congress. There should be.
Super interesting! We're Americans living abroad in Spain and are hoping to live here long-term-in Europe at least...We'll keep this in mind when deciding where our next move takes us!
Oh how dreamy! We are trying to decide currently whether to do a small vacation this spring to either Spain or Morocco (covid numbers/measures depending, of course). If we go to Spain, do you have any recommendations for places off-the-beaten path? Perhaps a good place to see Moorish architecture?
Cool. I'm an American-Spanish citizen.
Well, let's hope that those new regulations will come soon so you will be eligible for German citizenship as well. My son has both citizenships (American and German) and it has so many advantages. We would definitely welcome you.
Thank you so much. ❤️❤️ We think having dual citizenship would be SUCH an asset and would really love to be a more permanent part of Germany in this regard.
I'm Egyptian living in Germany, I found your video content is very informative and nice structured. Thanks 😊
Thank you for watching!
I recently read that the US has a huge backlog of unprocessed citizenship renunciations. I have also read that there are some ways to retain US citizenship -- it's not completely endorsed. This might be worth exploring. Overall, keep your options open.
Seit vielen Jahren rede ich das Wort für eine Möglichkeit der „doppelten Staatsbürgerschaft“ unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen. Hier steht für mich die Frage nach nationaler Identität an untergeordneter Stelle. Vielmehr sehe ich die positive Identifizierung mit den Werten der Gesellschaft in der ich leben und wohnen möchte, an erster Stelle. Dort, wo ich gern zu Hause bin; dort, wo ich ein sicheres Gefühl bei der Wahl der Stelle habe, wo ich meine Kinder aufwachsen sehen möchte; dort sollte ich aus ebendiesen Gründen nicht gezwungen werden, meine Wurzeln zu verleugnen.
Wir denken, dass es auch so viele positive Dinge gibt. ❤️❤️
I’m quickly approaching the time when I can naturalize to German citizenship, and even if it were offered, I’m not going to stick with my American citizenship. There’s so much crap with investing and taxes that the USA has made having their citizenship a paperwork nightmare. I tried to visit the page for my previous landlord so that I could get their contact information, and there was a popup that said that I wasn’t allowed to access their webpage as a US person. 😭
There are quite a few downsides to keeping dual citizenship and just going for German citizenship only - and the ones you pointed out are big ones.
sad to see the US citizen view badly about the us passports. things have really changed! in the 60s it used to be the germans who were giving up their passports to come to america! now there is no benefit in having the us citizenship unless you plan to be super rich and work in the usa vs having a European worklife balance. unless you plan on being rich the usa is a big no no
@@Willxdiana Eh… like, being a US citizen in the USA is still significantly better than any other citizenship. But the tax law that applies to all US citizens regardless of where they live has been a frustrating thing for many people around the world, who surprisingly find out that because of some quirk of law, they’re a US person.
A lot of the things of living in the USA without being rich can be frustrating: no mandatory leave, specific amounts of sick leave, at-will employment, lack of universal or affordable healthcare… but it’s also a very hard pothole to get out of. Most of the world is not averse to immigrants from the USA, but it’s also not automatic or free.
So, my point is: the US citizenship really only becomes a burden when you are living abroad, and it’s really only because of specific tax laws restricting your financial opportunities.
puellanivis you just confirmed… how the situations reversed Germans used to want to come to USA lol
@@Willxdiana I mean, Germans still often want to go to the USA. At least, for an experience, if not to stay long-term. It’s just that if a US citizen leaves the USA, their lives are made significantly more difficult than other immigrants. But yes, the numbers are equalizing out as of late, with fewer Germans going to the USA than before. But per capita, it is still more Germans going to the USA than vice versa.
I clicked on this video so fast I researched about 2 years ago and I read that you can't be a dual citizen with the US if you want to be a German citizen but I swear if this video tells me I can that brings my hope back up because I've been talking to this guy for 2 years from Germany but he has no plans to leave Germany and I'm not particularly attached to the US but I also don't want to really wish my citizenship just in case I ever need to run back home I can't and I don't want to be stuck in Germany with absolutely nothing, I also don't want to live anywhere where I can't have citizenship because I don't want to be treated like a second class citizen I've seen the way that US treats non-citizens and I've seen the way other countries treat people they deem as foreigners I definitely want to be a citizen of wherever I'm living.
After finishing the video I'm definitely subscribing because I need to know the guy I'm talking to I think he has no desire to leave Germany especially not for America and I have no desire to live in Germany without my American citizenship That's like you guys said for any reason you may need to come back whether it be temporarily or permanently not just don't want to have to jump through hoops to be able to do that. I really hope they allow dual citizenship with the USA or maybe if me and this guy really do fall for each other we can consider another European country to move to together.
The conflict of interest thing regarding military service was dear to the conservatives who repealed the very briefly valid legislation introduced by the SPD/Green government. The real reason is that people with foreign citizenship living in Germany will mostly tend towards Greens, Linke and SPD, since they are mostly working in lower paid jobs. By getting dual citizenship they would qualify to vote in German general elections. Forcing them to renounce their previous citizenship is a deterrent to get German citizenship.
At the same time, German-only Conservative voters that cannot get a second citizenship feel that allowing dual citizenship gives a kind of privilege that they have no access to themselves, so they don’t like it. They don’t take into account the they might as well decide to live abroad one day.
Given the number of people from other countries and their contributions to Germany’s society and economy, it seems fair that they should have a say to political decisions. My wife is born in Germany, has raised three children, and has never had a vote in the general elections, because she would have to forsake her Italian citizenship. Italy has no qualms about letting her get German nationality, but contrary to what you state at the beginning, EU citizens living in Germany cannot have dual citizenship right now. Obviously, we’re happy about the announcement made by the new government.
Ah that is interesting, we had read that EU citizens did have the exemption to apply for dual citizenship from this article:
www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/new-german-government-to-permit-dual-nationality/
But we really appreciate hearing first-hand experience. There are often conflicting information/articles out there so we try to go with the one that seems the most authoritative but sometimes we aren't so lucky.
EU citizens can for sure get German citizens. Case in point all of the Brits in Germany rushed to get German citizenship before Brexit. Post Brexit they need to give it up (well as of now). Your wife can get German citizenship and keep her Italian one.
People oppose dual citizenship because of a range of reasons. Which countries allegiance you do when they laws are in conflict. The next is voting why would the person be eligible to yield power in two countries, especially problematic when voting the same parliament like in the EU where not every vote is weighted equally because of minority protection of lesser populated members. But to then on top have two votes it is just absurd. Sure these things can be solved when both party agree, but why have so much diplomatic effort put into these things if you just let people decide for one citizenship.
Don't make it a crime if you wanna loose a citizenship and even harder to regain it, is my preferred solutions. It should be easier for people to just get the citizenship in the country they live in and get visas like anybody else for other countries they want to visit. It should be easier for people with two or more heritages as they speak the language have connections and so on.
@@TypeAshton My experience living in Germany was that local officials tended to have a lot of discretion in how they interpreted and implemented the rules, things were a lot less clear cut than all the regulations might suggest.
Also, governments in Europe have a nasty habit of simply not putting processes in place to implement EU directives. Here in Ireland, you can't apply to renew your residence permit more than 30 days in advance, but it currently takes 9-10 weeks to process the renewal. What do you do in the meantime, with no permission to work or even to be in the country? Nobody knows, nobody answers emails, and there is no number you can call.
It was my experience that there was more consistency and accountability in the US system - 20+ years ago - than in most EU countries today.
@@emilwandel what cases can you name where different national laws would pose a problem for dual citizenship? I can tell you at least one where the exclusion of dual citizenship is a problem. My wife can’t bear my name for the Italian State, yet for the German State she bears it. Her bank card, her residence, everywhere she has our family name since we are married. But her Italian passport is to her maiden name, since by Italian law she will officially keep that all her life. Every time she has to provide proof of her identity, she has to point to a minuscule remark on page three of her passport, well outside all main items of that document, to prove she’s Mrs. Albrecht, and I can tell you it’s a pain in the arse, since very few people understand it without a lot of palaver.
The voting issue is perfectly doable: for the EU parliament you have to decide what nation state you vote for already. It’s illegal to vote for both. It’s the same for local elections if you have more than one residency in Germany. If there’s not yet provision for administrative procedures within the EU to apply the same principle for national general elections, this is probably due to vested interest of political parties and to some inertia on behalf of national administrations, but this is a matter for further improvement and one that can easily be resolved.
Besides, I disagree with your questioning the legitimacy of voting in both your country of origin and your country of residence. You can be affected by political decisions of both, so you should have a democratic right to participate in the vote. British citizens who had been living abroad in the EU for long enough without going back, for instance, had no vote in the Brexit referendum, even if they were directly affected by it much more than UK residents.
In the case of EU nationals it may be fair to limit their voting rights to their countries of residence, probably after five years of residence in the new country: before, they might still be more familiar with the political news of the country they lived in previously. But the EU makes sure that if your nation state does you wrong by legislation or jurisdiction, you can take them to the ECJ, which isn’t the case if you’re from a country that the ECJ has no jurisdiction over. So a dual voting right should be in order, and I cannot see this being to the detriment of the new country or its inhabitants.
GB is one of the countries for which Germany allows dual citizenship. But it is being interpreted more strictly now.
For people whose parents or grandparents had German citizenship but gave it back, now the grandchildren can easily get their German citizenship back.
For Germans who have emigrated to Russia, it will be more difficult to get back to German citizenship.
Why not apply for dual citizenship for Jack? Nobody would ask him to take a language test.
Famous Charlie Chaplin was an Englishman in the US. One day he was unable to enter the US from a trip.
Political reasons.
He had to sell all of his property in the US and go back to Europe. After that he never made a film again.
Yes we probably should go ahead with Jack's paperwork to get dual citizenship. We haven't done it as of late because it is just more work than it's worth. We will probably always travel with the US passport (for now) because it is what the entire family has. However there are definite benefits to holding dual citizenship.
If you acquire the German citizenship in addition to the American citizenship, this would have the additional advantage that the EU citizenship goes along with the German citizenship. This would mean that you would be allowed to live in all other EU countries without having to apply for a visa beforehand.
That is great!! That sounds like such an amazing opportunity. 😍😍
for some additions: germans are also welcome to settle in switzerland. :D
unfortunately the dual citizenship with USA would mean you are somewhat stranded: swiss banks outright deny you an account, because they dont want to file anything related to FATCA.
150 years ago the journey would mostly be in the other direction. A decision to emigrate would mean to say good bye to your parents and to know to probably never see them again. There would be usually no reason to keep the old passport, since you head to a place, where the grass is greener.
Very nice news for the Expat communities in Germany, hopefully such changes will enter into force soon, though.
And hopefully, they may also allow German expats to naturalize in other (non-EU) countries without hurdles.
totally agree! I think this is a really exciting development.
Amongst most EU countries that is not an issue at all. Germany currently offers dual citizenship to every citizen of other EU citizens living here. However, not every EU country allows dual citizenship.
I hope our government sorts out this thing to your satisfaction, so you can benefit from the best of both countries. I totally support dual citizenship, and hope everything works out for you!
Thank you so much! We hope this goes through too. ❤️
I would get dual citizenship as soon as you can. Most importantly for your son as he will effectively grow up as a German. Should you end up leaving Germany, i think he would appreciate the option of being able to easily return there at some point in the future especially if he wants to study there etc.
Another point that you did not mention in the video is that if you get dual german citizenship, you will have the right to live, work and retire in any EU country, not just in Germany. That is the huge benefit of EU membership (one that has been taken away from me via brexit, but i digress)!
Lastly and maybe a bit controversial, but due to the deteriorating politcal situation in the USA and the potential rise of Authoritarianism, it makes a lot of sense to have citizenship of another country should the situation deteriorate further.
So all in all it is a no brainer to get dual citizenship, something I think you aready realised!
Jack is our motivation now to do all of this. Become B2-C1 in German and also potentially get a passport that can get him/us back here in the future if we ever went back to the United States.
The freedom to move around the European Union is a hugeee opportunity. Both for working and also for retirement. With my Niederlassungserlaubnis we are not free to leave Germany.
@@TypeAshton a bit like me in Switzerland, I can’t live elsewhere in the EU until I get Swiss citizenship. There are worse places in the world to be stuck though😆
Yes.. Biden is a dictator… and also a brain dead potato
@@uglyewok6715 i’d have thought this channal would be fairly immune to MAGA troll bots. But sadly not it seems.
Another benefit of getting german citizenship is that you become a citizen of the european union aswell.
A happy and healthy new year to you all. It is an honour to have you in germany.
Oh absolutely. From what we understand, having German citizenship would also mean that we could retire anywhere in the EU. What an amazing opportunity!
I would be so proud if you guys would become german citizens 🤗😊👍
Awe, thank you so much. We have received so many positive comments such as this one and it really makes us so happy. ❤️❤️
Karlheinz vanSteen
I am in your exact situation, BUT I found it easy to get my German Passport. I was born in Germany (1951) both my parents were German but I was given up for adoption and adopted by Americans. We came to US when I was 3-4 years old and my American military father filed for me US Naturalization. I went into the US Navy at 18 and spent 20 years in uniform (US Navy Radioman which included having a Top Secret security clearance). After leaving the military I chanced on the idea of regaining my German citizenship and went to the German Consulate in New York City with copies of my original birth certificate (In German with my original name) and copies of adoption paperwork as well as my US Naturalization certificate. To my surprise about 30 minutes later I got called to the office and asked what name I wanted on my new German Passport? My birth name or my adopted name? I choose my adopted name as everything else I have is in that name. Apparently I never lost my German Citizenship because I was Naturalized as a minor. Unless the laws were changed later you should be in the same situation as me and possibly never lost your original citizenship by birth.
I have been living in Germany too since 2013. My husband is German and our daughter has a duel citizenship. I would be happy to become a duel citizen too but as a Native American (as in tribal) person I will never ever do this because my ethnic and cultural ties with North America are too strong to consider it.
The guy who writes the travel blog 'One Mile At a Time', Benjamin Schlappig who travelled a lot especially before covid always described where he would use his German or US passport. It didn't seem like a big thing.
As for me, i'd grant you german citizenship right away !
In the comments i read some interesting pros and cons to the dual citizenship. I'm curious how your thoughts will evolve and i'm looking forward to the next video on the topic !
I really hope that this change goes through successfully and that it does soon, you three would certainly be a great gain for Germany and Germany would be a great gain for you :)
Awe thank you so much. We feel so honored to be welcomed so whole heartedly.
Interesting story, which is not valid for your case, but it's kind of funny.
I have a collegue from Bosnia, he has been in Germany for a long time, he speaks perfect German etc. So he would qualify for the German citizenship by giving up the Bosnian citizenship. His wife is French, so he applied for the French citizenship without giving up the Bosnian one. The French citizenship is nearly as good as the German one, because it's an EU country ;)
That's a very interesting story and a great way to work around the current system. We really look forward to the possibility of having all of the EU available to us in the future. A lot of options for retirement. :)
I enjoyed this video very much, been pushing my Einbürgerungstest forward for quite some time. Life always seems to come in between. I'm Estonian, therefore from the EU and can luckily apply for the German citizenship after 8 years (although I'm married to a German as well). Maybe I'll pull myself together this year and finally do it 💪🏻 got a small boost of energy from this video!
As for the local elections - why can't you participate? I've been in Germany since 2010 and have been able to vote locally every time. As far as I know, you don't need to be a citizen for that (mayoral votings and such).
All the best!
Only EU citizens may vote locally, not all foreigners may do so.
sounds great guys! go and try getting the dual citizenship! hope you guys become Germans at heart, the longer you live here. (I technically have the right for a second citizenship in Chile. Chile regards me as citizen, no matter what Germany says, because of my parents being both from Chile)
Thank you so much! We would LOVE to be truly part of Germany and have citizenship here. We think that would be such an amazing opportunity.
@@TypeAshton don't do that when not giving up the US.
I really hope they follow through! My husband is a German citizen living in the states & he wants to get US citizenship. Right now, to do so, he has to file for a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung and prove hardship. We also want to move to Germany in a few years and I would love to get dual citizenship as well. Our daughter is the only one who easily got dual citizenship since she qualified for both just by being born!
That is so interesting! I hope you are able to make the move and have a great transition. There are so many families that this regulation would be able to help. ❤️
Expats in Germany also have to prove hardship to retain their old citizenship. It is indeed stressful.
Getting out of american citizenship (especially right now) is such a pain in the butt.
Dual citizenship is going to make life so much easier for a lot of people.
If only the US would drop their tax rules for US citizens (and their spouses) not living in the US.
I totally agree with your statement. I'm in the process of renouncing my American citizenship and the process is tedious and extremely costly!
@@europamale I am so sorry they are putting you through this. There are no valid reasons to justify the requirements and the whole process.
Viel Glück! Ich drücke Dir die Daumen!
I would renounce before the US government if I could afford it and it would stop me from having nothing but problems with banks, but neither of those is true. The exit tax is way too much for me and I would still have the same problems because all the problems are due to my place of birth, not my citizenship. It's just totally shameless what they do. They say it's because of tax evaders. Who the hell lives in Spain to escape taxes!? We pay more taxes here! If I wanted to evade taxes I would open an American bank account! People in tax havens can afford this "exit tax" no problem and just pay their managers to sort out their bank issues, it's us ordinary working people trying to save up for retirement who have all the problems.
I don't think the US will ever drop that. They have such a hard time taxing their people that they are always looking for roundabout ways to get income, which means they won't ever withdraw a tax once they have a foot in the door on it. Expats are easy targets and can't fight back.
I applied for dual citizenship to Germany 2 years ago. I was actually born in Germany(Ansbach)
to a German citizen mother, who has passed. I was adopted in Germany and became a naturalized American as a child. I have German family that lives in Bavaria. Dual citizenship would give me a relationship with my German family while, maintaining my family ties in America.
Thank you for providing the information! The process is not easy to navigate, and your perspective and insight is beneficial.
can I have triple nationality??
I am in your exact situation, BUT I found it easy to get my German Passport. I was born in Germany (1951) both my parents were German but I was given up for adoption and adopted by Americans. We came to US when I was 3-4 years old and my American military father filed for me US Naturalization. I went into the US Navy at 18 and spent 20 years in uniform (US Navy Radioman which included having a Top Secret security clearance). After leaving the military I chanced on the idea of regaining my German citizenship and went to the German Consulate in New York City with copies of my original birth certificate (In German with my original name) and copies of adoption paperwork as well as my US Naturalization certificate. To my surprise about 30 minutes later I got called to the office and asked what name I wanted on my new German Passport? My birth name or my adopted name? I choose my adopted name as everything else I have is in that name. Apparently I never lost my German Citizenship because I was Naturalized as a minor. Unless the laws were changed later you should be in the same situation as me and possibly never lost your original citizenship by birth.
You forgot to mention that along with citizenship in Germany you automatically get citizenship of the European Union with all the rights and freedoms that come with it.
🇩🇪🇪🇺
Uh huh :-(
@@caciliawhy5195 Brexit girl ? Blame yourself
@@caciliawhy5195Er... there's a problem with being a EU citizen?
We really look forward to the possible opportunities later on in life. :)
Wie heißt es doch so schön " Haben ist besser als brauchen" Macht das auf jeden Fall und das Beste an der Sache ist, die ganze EU steht Euch offen!
Wir lieben den Gedanken, in den Ruhestand zu gehen, wo immer wir wollen.
I've always felt it wrong that German law does not generally allow dual citizenship. You made some great points as to why dual citizenship would be important for you. In the past, I've rather thought about it from the point of view of people like your son, the offspring of immigrants.
Having been born and raised here they surely would feel german. They know the culture, the habits, the language, etc. But through their parents they of course also get a great deal of their "original" culture, habits, language, so obviously they'll also feel (insert other nationality here) to a large extent.
Doesn't having to choose one nationality feel like having to give up a huge part of who you are? And doesn't that in turn maybe make you decide against Germany since it's Germany that's teeling you that you can't have both? And what does it do to people who don't come from the US but e.g. from Turkey? And how does that affect integration of immigrants into our society?
I'd be happy if dual citizenship was no lopnger an exemption but rather the norm. But those are just my two cents.
You're right, it is very likely that Jack will probably identify as German, given this is where he is born, raised, and has ties with friends. We also often have conversations about this idea of what nationality means to each of us, and we are often conflicted. We love the idea of dual citizenship because our family is will be spread across both countries now, and this would give us such amazing opportunities fo the future.
Im super psyched if this happens! If there is a path to dual-citizenship for Americans in the near future, I will definitely do it.
11:18 There is another exemption to get dual citizenship: If renouncing your other citizenship would put an exceptional hardship on you, you may be allower to keep it.
A typical example would be severe disadvantage in matters of inheritance. Another one is if you can't pay the fee required to relinquish your citizenship.
One friend of mine, who is a US citizen, managed to gain German citizenship without giving up her US passport because she simply could not afford the thousands of dollars the US government would have charged her to relinquish her US citizenship. I am however afraid that if you are currently in the process of building a house, chances are they wouldn't buy that you cannot afford this fee either; so I am afraid you would not qualify like she did.
(I should add that she would actually have _liked_ to give up US citizenship as it would have spared her the hassle of declaring taxes to TWO entities, the US being one of very few countries to charge income taxes from citizens living abroad)
Yes all great points. In our blog post we talk a bit about the disadvantages to dual citizenship (versus just renouncing American citizenship and becoming German) - the biggest thing is ALWAYS being required to file taxes and follow up with both the IRS and the Finanzamt. It's in part why we always invest in a good tax consultant to help us with our German and American taxes.
My wife was successful in keeping her German citizenship and becomming an Australian by using this exception. In Australia non-citizens are charged higher fees for tertiary education. She used that as a reason. One thing to keep in mind though, you have to give reasons for both sides...I.e. why would you experience hardship by giving up your foreign citizenship and why would you have hardship by not getting the German citizenship. Generally the latter is more difficult.
I have done the opposite thing (I became a US citizen and lost my German citizenship).
In order to keep my German citizenship, I would have needed a waiver ("Beibehaltungsgenehmigung") - but how do you ask for such a waiver and then do the Oath of Allegiance (declaring that you give up loyalty to previous nations?)
Anyway....good luck and I hope that things are working out for you!
Ah interesting! There was another viewer who also discussed the same waiver. Would you go for dual citizenship if you could get it?
Thats nice to know, that its now potentially more easy in the future to become a german citizen. I know people that would want that and are already living here and are terrified to go back to the US and dont want to. Considering they are transsexual, they really are frightended because of the development in the US and they really appreciate by now the german system more than the US in general - which I can totally understand as you pointed out the reasons in previous videos more than enough. :)
A story from her that blew my mind was, that the has bad teeth and said fixing that in the US would have cost her 70.000 dollars, and she accepted it to have to live with it when you dont have that kind of money. When she then visited a german dentist, and he told her it would cost 2000 euros, without even taking insurance into account, her mind was blown and she only thought:"America! what the fuck!?".
And without a question, having two citizenships, can only be an advantage. As you said, you have more options in general. I think Jack will grow up in germany and will naturally identify as a german when he is older and it will be normal for him, like it is for so many kids here. And I really envy him to grow up with such great parents like you and that he grows up with learning 2 languages and even having dual citizenship potentially. He could go live in the US if he wanted, since he then will speak english fluent and he can stay here as he speaks german fluent then. Thats so great. I wish I could do that.
Yes to all of your points! We also agree that it is likely Jack will identify as German, even though he does hold an American passport because of where he grew up. We just love the opportunities that growing up abroad affords him.... the exposure to foreign languages, multiple cultures, education, healthcare, etc. We can't wait to see him grow up and use these gifts in his lifetime. We can only see the future as being very bright for our little guy. ❤️
As always thank you for sharing such a great comment. We always look forward to hearing from you.
Ich erkläre hiermit feierlich und offiziell: Ihr habt euch vollumfänglich für das schwäbische Superoberspießerdeutschtum qualifiziert. Herzlichen Glückwunsch. Und noch viel Spaß beim schaffe schaffe Häusle baue.
Schön, dass dir das Video gefallen hat! Vielen Dank fürs Zuschauen!
Guys, I love your videos! You're doing an awesome job in your research, super informative and nicely done on the presentation side. Very much appreciated!
Thank you so, so much. ♥️♥️ We are just thrilled you like it.
I hope the law also applies to Germans wanting to gain another citizenship. I live in the US and have a green card and will soon be eligible to apply for US citizenship. However, in order to keep my German citizenship, I need to apply for a BBG. From my research, this has gotten harder to get so I am hoping that the new laws make it easier again for Germans to get another citizenship.
This is the situation my wife has as a German green card holder. The justification/reasoning/proof to hold her German citizenship has been the hurdle/deal breaker equal to my apprehension to renounce my US citizenship upon attempting dual citizenship on my end.
Yes we hope this does too! Good luck.
Would be nice if Germans living abroad would be able to keep their citizenship as well, considering that those expats potentially play valuable roles in promoting German products and culture internationally.
@@markmagiera6115, with a proper argumentation and honest reasons other than convenience the BBG can still be obtained, but it takes pretty much 2 years of waiting for a decision.
I am really surprised by the brightness of this American-German family residing near Black Forrest. As a former immigrant from Eastern Europe to Italy, I have already experienced the thoughts Ashton has described. I would add that becoming German citizen would have a more psichological and mental effect on your couple than an effective one. By getting German citizen and participating in the democratic process You would feel more at home and will be more connected to Germany. But this should not and shold never be at cost of giving up your native citizenship where your parents live.
It is a privilege to hold both countries, whos got the combination of best Health Care, Education, and job opportunities in the world. My spouse is German and we will be moving there in the summer of 2022 hopefully. We are Canadians and will have access Europe free high quality education systems for our children. Having dual Citizenship would definitely facilitate the paperwork, one day if my children ever to get a more rewarding career in either USA or Canada , I could come back and live with them.
Absolutely! We totally agree that it is a great privilege and asset to have. ❤️❤️
I find this attitude very strange. Just immigrate to another country to take advantage of their social system and free education facilities.When I choose a country, I choose to live in that country with all the rights and responsibilities, to accept the culture and its way of life. And not to take advantage of a cheap education system. Please do not misunderstand, I am happy about every immigrant with honest motives.
@@Gebuesch69 lol my parents came from east asia. I wish I caould go back and make east asia better and ride with the growth right now. ITs not about health care, education and work for me. but culture. I loved germany before it became perfect... But at least ben is looking out for himself
@@Willxdiana So, what is hiding you up to go back again. Are you not allowed to migrate any more?
Gebuesch69 it’s not that simple Americans cant just move to be Canadians. Why do Hostie. I thought you said when you immigrate it’s not to take advantage of the host system 😂. I
Give you a like but it looks like you are just right wing ahahha. Exposed
Native US citizen here, and only seriously did not consider German citizenship because of the rule to renounce the US passport. But in 2016, the price to renounce went from ca. $400 to ca. $2,450 and heard that could be considered a unreasonable burden and ... I tried it. And it was accepted. Since 2017, I'm a dual citizen and even volunteer to work as an election official once a year. Biggest benefit: never having to go to the Immigration Office again.
We had heard that as well! Did they base the financial burden though on your income or ask to see bank statements? We were curious how much we would have to show of our finances to prove that the cost would be a significant burden.
Germany here: I have some friends who got both citizenships (US and German)... they told me they always travel with both BUT use the German only due to many problems. The US-American is for emergencies only. 😉
Well if you travel into the USA you use the American aswell, because it makes things way easier and you don't need any visa 🤣.
@@fjellyo3261 As a foreigner from Germany I do not need any visa to enter the US... 😉 At least I do not need to apply if I want to enter due to touristic reasons.
@@knutritter461 as a German national you need to get a visa, online visas are still visas also for simple touristic reasons.
@@fjellyo3261 The last time I travelled to the US in 2008/9 I cannot remember about getting a visa at all. Maybe I applied for it online.... ESTA? I cannot remember.
@@knutritter461 esta yes, that’s the visa
Awesome video guys. Well researched and well said! I can 100% echo everything you’re saying, and the whole citizenship topic has been on our mind for the past few years. We’re also Americans going on 9 years here and I would hate to lose everything we’ve built here if we had to go back to the US to take care of family or the like. Also the democratic process point is something we’d love to be able to participate in. Fingers crossed that things change in the near future. We’ll be right behind you in applying as soon as the law changes!
Thank you so much. I think this will be a development that will benefit so many families. We would very much welcome the opportunity to apply if this goes through.
Me too ! so keep us online
I had a dual citicenship (Italian and German) but hat to select one for the military service (I choose Italian where i live)
Ah really interesting! It will be interesting to see which citizenship Jack chooses in the future (if he needs to choose). Nice to meet someone from Italy! Thanks for watching and Cheers from the Black Forest!
Since 2011 the mandatory military service in Germany is paused with an open end.
@@seanthiar in Italy too but I was born 1971
A friend of mine had a similar problem. He chose to serve in the Turkish army. That way he only had to go for 2 months and could buy a "get me out of here" card for the rest of the time. And keep on working in Germany earning a lot more than he had to pay. Seemed like a very smart decision to me (•‿•)
So, als kleine Deutschübung, schreibe ich euch zunächst (fast) alles auf deutsch und danach in Englisch. Hoffentlich ist mein Englisch auch gut genug dafür, aber für manche Formulierungen muss ich einfach den Übersetzer nehmen, da mir dazu der Wortschatz fehlt. Dafür lerne ich wiederum etwas dazu 😁
Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob ich es bereits in einem Kommentar eurer anderen Videos zum Ausdruck gebracht habe, aber als Deutscher kann ich nur sagen: Ihr seid hier in Deutschland wirklich sehr herzlich willkommen! 🤗
Ich hoffe, ihr fühlt euch hier wohl, aber soweit ich es in all euren anderen Videos verstanden habe, habt ihr wirklich eine zweite Heimat gefunden, in der ihr euch auch zu Hause fühlt. Das ist besonders für eine junge Familie wichtig, die mit so vielen anderen Schwierigkeiten zurechtkommen muss, wie z.B. die neue Sprache lernen, den gesamten Tagesablauf mit eurem Kleinen planen, alles im Zusamenhang mit dem Hausbau verstehen, vielleicht auch manchmal finanzielle Engpässe, neue Gesetze, das typische 'Beamtendeutsch', eine Sprache, die kein Mensch versteht, nicht einmal die Beamten selbst 🙄- und so vieles mehr. Das ist alles zusammen eine große Herausforderung, aber ich denke, ihr schlagt euch sehr gut. 😉
Daher wünsche ich euch weiterhin alles Gute und hoffe, dass das Gesetz zur doppelten Staatsbürgerschaft wirklich vereinfacht und angepasst wird , so dass ihr beide bekommen/behalten könnt. Denn soweit ich weiß (und ich bin absolut kein Fachmann) ist es momentan offiziell nicht möglich, aber wird abzeptiert, wenn bestimmte Ausnahmen vorliegen.
I'm not sure if I have already expressed it explicitly in a comment of your other vídeos but as a German I can only say: You are really very welcome here in Germany! 🤗
I hope you feel comfortable here, but as far as I understood from all your other videos you have really found a second home where you also feel at home. This is especially important for a young family who has to deal with so many other difficulties, e.g. learn the new language, schedule your entire daily routine with your little one, everything related to building your new home, maybe sometimes financial bottlenecks, new laws, the typical 'officialese' - a language that nobody understands, even not the officials 🙄 - and so much more. That's a big challenge for you, but I think you're doing well. 😉
So all the best for you and I hope the law about dual citizenship will be simplified and adapted, so you are able to get/keep both. Because as far as I know (and I'm absolutely not an expert) currently it isn't officially possible but is tolerated due to certain exceptions.