German citizens acquiring or wishing to acquire British citizenship after Brexit are asked to take note of the following relevant dates and information:

Naturalization in the United Kingdom took place from 1 February 2020 to 31 December 2020
(= during the transition period)

Initially, nothing changed with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. Germans having acquired British citizenship during the transition period until and including 31 Decem-ber 2020 (= handing over of the certificate of naturalization) have not lost their German citi-zenship. They did not need a permission to retain German citizenship. Issuance of such permissions as a precaution was precluded by law.

Naturalization in the United Kingdom taking place as of 1 January 2021
(= after the transition period)

German citizens acquiring British citizenship after 31 December 2020, as a rule, lose their German citizenship.

> However, German citizenship is not lost if the application for the acquisition of British citizenship has been made to the British authorities by 31 December 2020. Legal basis: Section 3 (2) German Transitional Brexit Act (BrexitÜG)

You or your descendants may have to prove later, on the basis of the date of submission of the application, that you have not lost your German citizenship when acquiring British citizenship under the transitional rules. We therefore recommend you to keep all documents related to the application for British citizenship, especially dated documents, carefully and permanently.

> If you apply or have applied for British citizenship as of 1 January 2021, you will need a permission to retain German citizenship in order to prevent its loss. Legal basis: Section 25 (2) German Nationality Act (StAG)

All important information and contact details can be found here:

Beibehaltung beantragen (aufgehoben zum 27.06.2024)

Former Germans re-acquiring or wishing to re-acquire German citizenship after Brexit are asked to take note of the following relevant dates and information:

Naturalization took place from 1 February 2020 to 31 December 2020
(= during the transition period)

Initially, nothing changed for former Germans who are now British citizens with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. Former Germans naturalized during the transition period until and including 31 December 2020 (= handing over of the certificate of naturalization) did not have to renounce their British citizenship. Legal basis: Section 1 German Transitional Brexit Act (BrexitÜG)

Naturalization taking place as of 1 January 2021
(= after the transition period)

After the transition period, former Germans who are now British citizens may, as a rule, be naturalized only if they have renounced their British citizenship beforehand. However, this is not necessary where application for naturalization was made before 1 January 2021 and all other conditions for naturalization were met. Legal basis: Section 3 (1) German Transitional Brexit Act (BrexitÜG).

All important information and contact details can be found here:

Wiedereinbürgerung beantragen

British citizens acquiring or wishing to acquire German citizenship after Brexit are asked to take note of the following relevant dates and information:

Naturalization took place from 1 February 2020 to 31 December 2020
(= during the transition period)

Initially, nothing changed for British citizens with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. British citizens naturalized during the transition period until and including 31 December 2020 (= handing over of the certificate of naturalization) did not have to renounce their British citizenship. Legal basis: Section 1 German Transitional Brexit Act (BrexitÜG)

Naturalization taking place as of 1 January 2021
(= after the transition period)

After the transition period, British citizens may, as a rule, only be naturalized if they have renounced their British citizenship beforehand. However, this is not necessary where application for naturalization was made before 1 January 2021 and all other conditions for naturalisation were met. Legal basis: Section 3 (1) German Transitional Brexit Act (BrexitÜG)

Please note: If you belong to a category of persons who, pursuant to a decree of the Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community, are not required to give up other nationalities they may possess, nothing changes with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU). You do not need to renounce your British citizenship.

All important information and contact details can be found here:

Einbürgerung beantragen

For British citizens, nothing has changed with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU.

Naturalizations in the context of restoration of German citizenship pursuant to Article 116 (2) GG are continued to be carried out, even if this means multiple nationality. You do not need to renounce your British citizenship.

All important information and contact details can be found here:

Anspruchseinbürgerung beantragen

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU does not affect procedures to establish German citizenship.

Should you need to prove in the future that you are a German citizen, a procedure to establish German citizenship can be performed. However, you do not need to initiate such a procedure unless a public authority has expressly asked you to produce an up-to-date certificate of nationality.

All important information and contact details can be found here:

Fest­stel­lung beantra­gen

Germans acquiring or wishing to acquire British citizenship after Brexit are asked to take note of the information provided on our ‘retention procedure’ web page with respect to permanently keeping naturalization documents.