Converting from Australian citizenship to German

Hey guys, how are ya all?

First off, i will explain my current situation and details. (Sorry in advance if this post is long and i understand if you dont want to read the wall of text - im fairly new with this and reading sites and other threads i didnt understand, so i came here for some help) Thx in advance aswell!!

I live in Australia/Perth since i was 3 years old, i am now 19 turning 20 this year.

I have come to the stage that i want to change my life around and make the hardest decisions for a young man. Basically, i was born in Germany/Braunschweig, 1987. My parents, mother and father were both German citizen's (born in Germany aswell), married and when i was born i lived in Germany for 3 years, we then moved to Australia where my parents became Australian citizen's, now because i was 3 i was on my mothers passport, when i was 7 i became an Australian citizen.

I am now to a point where i have travelled to Germany numerous of times to see reletives (the whole family is situated in Germany) and i have decided that Germany is where i would want to be to settle down, atmosphere, the culture and the life style suites me and that is why i am wanting the move.

Basically, how hard is it to get a German citizenship? I have read numerous threads, sites ect and it seems to be one of the harder citizenships to get? What does one have to do in order to become a citizen of Germany?

I was born in german, but didnt have a choice to be German or Australian because i was 3. Both parents were both born in Germany, and have had citizenship in Germany untill we all moved to Australia.

For me, i can understand all german with not much trouble at all, my speaking is getting better by the weeks (doing personal teaching at the current time) but i always knew how to speak basic/intermidiate german for a while now - it just came to me, it was like it was there all the time (probly something with age). Well, i can read abit of German, but writing is probly something i really have to learn! I don't know if thats one of the things they test you on or not?

All my reletives (except mother and father) live in Germany. Is all that information enough to become a German citizen? Because i want to make my choice now to become German, seeing that i didnt have the chance before, now that im old enough and i can now make own decisions, will they take all that into conciderations from my point of view?

Now, with duel citizenship its apparently very hard to achieve if you wanted a German/Australian citizenship? Have they changed the laws to make it easier to achive? It's not a huge thing, but would be a good thing to have a duel seeing i will be leaving my parents here, but coming back for holidays shouldnt be a problems ect.

In processes of obtaining citizenship, if they accept me as a German citizenship. Providing they didnt grant me duel, is there a time frame where i have to move from Australia to Germany (seeing i would of had to given up my Australian citizenship) i wouldnt be able to live here, correct?

I think that is all i wanted to find out, i thank you all in advance for your time in reading and or replying. Sorry for being a pain with all these questions. Thx again guys/girls .

Regards, Torsten J

your best bet is to as at the German embassy in Australia. Since you were born in Germany to German parents, you are entitled to German citizenship (irrelevant of whether you live in Germany or not). The whole issue of dual citizenship is very complicated, so best speak to the embassy first.

I can imagine that, since you haven't actually renounced your German citizenship, you still officially have it, making you a de facto German / Australian dual citizen. In this case it would simply be a case of applying for a passport at the embassy, which would mean you might be able to hang on to your Australian passport as well.

Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz

http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/rustag/i...13BJNE000601315

Not expert advice here- just a few things to consider. Your situation might fall under the 1975 update to the citizenship law. While you were definitely born a German citizen, you and your parents may have had to give it up under German law (not sure about Australian) when you became naturalized as Australians. This could be the case whether or not there was a formal administrative procedure to give up the German citizenship, or it may be an ex post facto situation.
For Germans, normally special permission to take on a second citizenship must be requested and received before getting naturalized in the second nationality. It used to be that you could get a residence permit in Germany if you had a German grandparent, but I don't recall seeing that in the recent updates to the law. They have definitely tightened things up here.
Try the nearest German embassy, but do not be afraid to have your grandparents check for you as well since people sometimes get told different things by different Amter.

When you do get an answer, post it so that others who have a similar question in the future will benefit. Good luck...

Thx guys for the help so far, its enlighting me alot more.

Also, going to the embassy would be a good idea (didnt think of that..lol).

But yeah, i will go on my day off from work on tuesday after i make an appointment and i will bring a list of questions aswell.

Afterwards for sure i will post what i have gotten info about so others will benefit aswell regarding different questions.

Thx again so far!

Regards, Torsten J

keep in mind that - apart from lawmaking - ctizenship matters are not for federal authorities to decide in Germany ... so it might help to apply for your German citizenship in your parents´ hometown (perhaps with the support of your local relatives)

besides:

It might be a good idea to bring your German birth certificate to your appointment with the German embassy ... which would probably both save your time and the officer in charge a lot of work

As far as I know, until you are 23, German law allows you to hold dual citizenship in all cases where you are eligible for German citizenship. Afterwards, it depends on your circumstances - under what circumstances you gained Aussie citizenship, etc. as to whether you can keep both.

You probably stand a pretty good chance of holding dual, as you were born a German citizen and then were not in a position to renounce this.

You won't be forced to move anywhere to retain/regain your German citizenship, if you qualify. I would, however, be a little careful of moving to Germany on a German passport at your age, because there's every chance of you getting drafted into compulsary military service...

What is military service nowadays? 3 months? If you don't have any moral reasons not to do it, it might be a way to get some contacts and improve your German. I bet your swearing vocabulary would just shoot up, if nothing else.

Conscription in Germany

although she did this in Canada, my girlfriend just went to the embassy with her birth certificate and her mums and was issued a passport without having to give up her Canadian one. She too was born in Germany as was her mother. The important thing, i believe, was that her mother was still a German citizen and only had landed immigrant status. You might find the situation is similar to yours.

Ahh yes, have just come home after several decent Maisel's, seen that the scheiß mail has still not arrived, so Bundeswehr is the right topic for me. (Can't resist to read the countless topics like coping with the damn unfiendly krauts and so on. You know what I mean.)

Military service is still 9 months. I had to do 10 and was in Koblenz for basic training, 2 months, afterwards in Rennerod, Westerwald (unbelievably cold and rainy), for the rest.
Basic training was fun, although getting up at 5 after 5 hours sleep, geeting yelled at every five minutes because some asshole said zwei instead of zwo, digging holes, assembling and disassembling the gun and so on. Ok, afterwards I did my truck driving license, which took 6 weeks and did a sanitary course because my unit ws a Sanitätsregiment.
But then the hard times began. So boring. The highlight of the day was Verbotene Liebe. Yees, we watched it every day like some little fags. And got drunk at least 2 times per week. Nothing else to do in Rennerod.
What I wanted to say actually was that joining the BW for making contacts is no good idea at all. everybody is just too bored and drunk. They will forget your name anyway. At least in such boring units like sanitätseinheiten or instandsetzer. If you want to have fun you have to service with the paratroopers or tanks.
My brother in law is captain with the paratroopers. He had way more fun than me.
So don't join if you don't have a passion for the military and don't want to service with such a unit. Otheriwse you will be ending up in some shelter watching your shoes molder. This is not worth the time.
And practice push-ups in case. Otherwise... "Seid ihr Soldaten oder ein Mädchenpensionat? Das ist ja abartig."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IStabdMkSYw