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Obtaining German Citizenship

After 3 years and 4 months of waiting, I am finally a citizen of Germany. Since the naturalization process now takes so long (at least in Saarbrücken, where I applied), I’d like to share my personal experience in this post.

My background

I’m Malaysian and I came to Germany in 2014. I’ve since completed both my bachelor’s and master’s. I began paying taxes and into the retirement pension scheme in December 2021.

The full timeline

Here is the full timeline from the day I began preparing documents for the citizenship application to the day I receive my naturalization certificate. I’ve also recorded any communications with the citizens’ office.

March, 2023 - Month 0

I apply for the citizenship test in the Volkshochschule.

April, 2023 - Month 1

I take and pass the citizenship test. I then request an appointment to submit my citizenship application.

April, 2024 - Month 13

A year later, I receive an appointment to submit the application at the citizens’ office.

July, 2024 - Month 16

I submit my application. 2 weeks later, they request for more documents, which I send via email.

August, 2024 - Month 17

I receive an official confirmation of my application.

September, 2024 - Month 18

The citizens’ office notifies me that my application has been forwarded to the Ministry of the Interior, Building and Sport.¹

February, 2026 - Month 35

More than 16 months later, I email the citizens’ office inquiring about the status of my application. I receive a reply the next day. Unfortunately, the citizens’ office is not able to provide any updates and tells me to keep waiting.

2 weeks later, I receive a letter from the Ministry of the Interior notifying me that my application can proceed once I pay the application processing fee and send a few more documents to cover the gap of the last 2 years.

March, 2026 - Month 36

I pay the fee by bank transfer and mail the remaining documents.

July, 2026 - Month 40

I receive a letter from the Ministry of the Interior notifying me that my application is successful. A few weeks later, I receive an email from the citizens’ office informing me when I will receive my naturalization certificate.

August, 2026 - Month 41

I receive my naturalization certificate in a naturalization ceremony.

The naturalization ceremony

The ceremony of the handing out of the naturalization certificate varies from city to city. In Saarbrücken, it takes place in the town hall ballroom (Festsaal Rathaus) and is officiated by the mayor of Saarbrücken.

About 40 to 60 people receive their naturalization certificate in a single ceremony. The ceremony starts with a musical performance on the piano and is followed by the mayor’s speech. After the speech, there is another musical performance and the handing out of certificates begin one by one. At the end, the national anthem is sung and everyone who received their certificates are invited to take a photo with the mayor at the steps of the town hall. Anyone who wishes to can stay around for a drink.

Since my partner and I were famished after the ceremony, we immediately took off on our bicycles to our next destination: a Korean restaurant.

Why the German citizenship application takes so long

In her speech, Barbara Meyer, the mayor of Saarbrücken at the time of my naturalization, explained why the naturalization process took so long. She pointed out that the citizenship law reforms² which took effect in June 2024 had a major impact on the number of applications being submitted. With the reforms allowing dual citizenship and reducing the required time of living in order to be eligible, there was an immense surge in number of applicants.

She also pointed out that the citizens’ office’s department of migration is small and that they were in the process of increasing its capacity. Still, working as fast as they could, it took some time before the application could move from the citizens’ office to the Ministry of the Interior. Once at the Ministry of the Interior, it took longer still before the application could begin to be processed at all.

What it costs to obtain the German citizenship

For completeness, here’s a breakdown of what I spent for the whole process.

Since Malaysia is not a member of the Hague Convention, I had to have my Malaysian documents (only the birth certificate) legalized by the German Embassy in Malaysia. I am lucky to have a friend in Kuala Lumpur who could do it for me.

I spent a total of €420 over a period of 3 years.

I’m now German, what next?

There’s a couple of things that needs to be done after naturalization. Like many Malaysians, my name is encoded in the German system as a name chain, or Namenskette in German. My first name, followed by my family name and then my Chinese name is considered a single name. It needs to be normalized according to German naming law (Namensrecht). After the normalization (Angleichung) of my name, I can apply for my new identity documents.

Why I decided to get the German citizenship

Obtaining the citizenship was something I knew I wanted to do very early on into my residency in Germany. Having been born a Malaysian in Brunei and being excluded from a Bruneian citizenship, I have always felt somewhat out of place. In Malaysia, I’m not truly Malaysian. In Brunei, I’m also not truly Bruneian. This sense of unbelonging was a driving factor in my decision.