Obtaining German Citizenship

[olivier]

Hi Nathan,

I just got my German passport from the consulate in Montreal and it took 5 minutes. My grandparents were German and moved to montreal's south shore after the war. This is how easy it is:

1. You walk in, they scan you with a metal detector while you joke with the friendly security guard.
2. You speak to the man behind the bulletproof glass who asks you for one of your grandparent's German passports, (or other proof of German citizenship past or present) Your parent's passport photocopies and the german-descendant's birth certificate, (either mother or father) and your birth certificate and passport.
3. You give all this to him, as well as the filled out request form, two ordinary passport ID photos, (you can get them in 2minutes from CAA) and $42CAD
4. He smiles, you smile.
5. You get a call 4-6 weeks later saying your German passport is waiting at the consulate.

Happy Travels,
Olivier

[CanuckAbroad]

Thats awesome!

My grandparents are German as well, and my parents were born there but no longer have any citizenship with germany..They've been Canadianized.

Are you able to do it just with your grandparents passport / proof of citizenship?

[olivier]

Yeah,

My whole German-descendant family was skeptical, but I said "Forget it, I'll find out for myself." Look what a pretty Reissepass I got for my troubles.

Yes, my grandparents were both born in Germany, they emigrated to Canada in the 1950s and became Canadian. My mother was born here, and I still got my German citizenship. All I had to do was prove the German lineage. Honestly, they seemed very happy that I was interested in dual-citizenship. Despite all the negative advice I got from, well, everyone.

Just ask, what can they do...

Happy Travels,
Olivier
(And try to answer my other post

[CanuckAbroad]

That's crazy. I looked on the German embassy website and it mentions all sorts of stuff about needing to prove your father's citizenship or your mothers, etc. But nothing about Grandparents.

I'll have to ask my Oma if she's got her papers kicking around somewhere

[CanuckAbroad]

It also doesn't help that I just pulled this from the German Foreign Office website:

---
My ancestors were German nationals. Can I get a German passport?

German passports are only issued to German citizens. Having German ancestors is unfortunately not enough to attain German citizenship. Rather, your father and/or mother have to have been German citizens at the time of your birth. If you were born before 1 January 1975 and your parents were married, you only attained German citizenship if your father was German at the time of your birth or if your parents submitted a declaration by 31 December 1977 stating they wanted German citizenship for their child.
---

[CanuckAbroad]

Ok, just talked to the consulate in Vancouver and they basically said I can't get it.

In fact, strangely, they said that I can't get it because my parents were born in Germany but then became Canadian citizens as children. If they were born in Canada though, I'd be able to get citizenship. Makes no sense..They're technically 'more' German, but I can't get the passport because they were born in Germany.

Maybe I'll talk to that lawyer

[olivier]

Yeah that's crazy guys,

I figure you should make a trip out of it: Backpack to Montreal, go out on the town (I love it here) and then pay a visit to the (apparently) only friendly German consulate in Canada and get a German passport.

Problem solved, lol.

Happy Travels,
Olivier

[CanuckAbroad]

I was thinking that - Maybe I should just call the Montreal consulate.

The only thing I can think of is that your grandmother was a German citizen at the time your mom was born..That would make her german, and you german by default. That's the only way I can figure it worked for you.

I talked to that lawyer mentioned on the first page of this post, and they said I would have to go through a long process (up to two years) in the German courts and stuff.

Cost: $6,500

But - They say I have a very good case for the citizenship..My last name is German, I can prove easily my German lineage, and I still have some family living in Germany.

But she said I'd have to be able to speak German..I'd have to brush up a bit. I don't think being able to order a beer qualifies as competent language skills