How to get German Citizenship and retain (dual) US Citizenship

[BeatriceRSmith 0]

Hi, does anyone know what ist the maximum Bruttogehalt you can safely have beeing married (and only one works)?

[mako1 864]

you have to ask.

I am guessing total household Bruttogehalt / 2. The rules are not very clear and the Beamte interpret them as they wish. 

The wish in Munich is that you assimilate and give up the old citizenship, based on my experience.

 

Unfortunately asking likely means one trip to the office to wait in line.

Stay on their good side and you might be more lucky than me.

[Marone 9]

@BeatriceRSmith To make the financial hardship argument, your gross (Brutto) family income must be less than the fee. (But enough to make you ineligible for Bürgergeld.)

 

On 5/3/2018, 3:39:07, mako1 said:

The story in München:

If you are married then your income is your joint income.

...

So if you try to say the cost of renunciation is unzumutbar it has to be in relation to your combined income. Apparently the Bavarians have, as far as the lady at the KVR stated, allowed one American to get the exception in living memory.

 

On 11/9/2021, 9:45:25, Berlinexpatnine said:

I must give up US citizenship because I earn the money for the family, making the renunciation fee not a hardship for me. They also are counting my entire income as belonging entirely to me and not acknowledging that I have legal obligations to my dependents that would reduce the amount of my disposable income to under the dual citizenship limit.

 

[Berlinexpatnine 28]

On 16.1.2023, 16:54:09, Marone said:

@BeatriceRSmith To make the financial hardship argument, your gross (Brutto) family income must be less than the fee. (But enough to make you ineligible for Bürgergeld.)

 

 

 

There is a conflict between the two statements (one from Berlin, one from Bavaria). The German states decide this issue differently. Your income may be assigned to the family unit as a whole or to the individual earner. In Berlin, your income is assigned to the individual earner, and you can be denied dual citizenship as the sole earner while your family members who make no money are permitted dual citizenship. In Bavaria, the income is spread across the family unit and/or your income as the sole earner is reduced by the cost of providing basic funding to your family members. 

This issue really needs to be sorted out by a higher court, but likely dual citizenship will be permitted for everyone soon anyway and this loophole won't matter. Or the US will be closing the loophole soon anyway by reducing the cost of renunciation.

[mako1 864]

1 hour ago, Berlinexpatnine said:

This issue really needs to be sorted out by a higher court, but likely dual citizenship will be permitted for everyone soon anyway and this loophole won't matter. Or the US will be closing the loophole soon anyway by reducing the cost of renunciation.

 

The loophole will be redundant if Germany eases the rules for dual citizenship.

If the US lowers the renunciation fee, the hardhsip exception (loophole) will be denied by the German rule due to the minimum income requirement.

But the US and Germany coordinate on immigration about as much as the Bavarians and the Prussians.