Migration law / Aliens law

At the Retention permit is about retaining German citizenship. If Germans are naturalized in another state, it is usually the case that they would also lose their German citizenship. However, it is possible for a person to have multiple citizenship. This makes it feasible to retain German citizenship with a permit.

Mostly, these are cases in which one has left Germany and wants to live or work in one's new host country for a certain or indefinite period of time. Thus, one acquires the new citizenship of the host country, but would like to keep the German citizenship for various reasons. The reasons for this can be quite different, but dual citizenship has many advantages. From the general closeness and love for the mother country, the professional advancement in the host country, the promotion of scientific work in the host country, which can be difficult without the new citizenship, to pension benefits from the mother country, which want to be maintained in the host country.

The problem here is that in the normal case the acceptance of the foreign citizenship has the consequence that one would automatically lose the German citizenship. This follows from §25 StAG. There it says:

§25 StAG - Nationality Act

(1) A German loses his or her nationality on acquiring a foreign nationality if this acquisition is made at his or her request or at the request of the legal representative, but the represented person loses his or her nationality only if the conditions exist under which dismissal could be applied for in accordance with Section 19. The loss pursuant to sentence 1 shall not occur if a German acquires the citizenship of another member state of the European Union, Switzerland or another state with which the Federal Republic of Germany has concluded an international treaty pursuant to Section 12 (3).

(2) A person shall not lose citizenship if, prior to acquiring foreign citizenship, he or she has received written permission from the competent authority to retain his or her citizenship upon his or her application. [...]

Paragraph 1 of Section 25 StAG stipulates that a German automatically loses his or her citizenship if he or she accepts a foreign citizenship upon application. This loss is the legal consequence of the acceptance of the new citizenship without an application or declaration. The loss of German citizenship is ultimately voluntary. The consequences of the loss are as far-reaching as the actual reasons for wanting to retain German citizenship. The consequences can be in the Inheritance law, in the Right to vote or even to the right to Return extend to Germany. For this reason, the said retention permit exists. This option should be used if the loss of German citizenship has far-reaching negative consequences.

The Beibehaltungsgenehmigung is in itself a purely administrative act by which the German authority confirms to the citizen that he may retain his German citizenship. Only when he has this retention permit in hand does it make sense to apply for the new citizenship.