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Retention Permit to keep German citizenship when naturalizing in the US / “Dual citizenship”
Important note:
The Act on the Modernization of the Citizenship Law (StARModG) came into force on June 27, 2024. Since then, a retention permit is no longer required to avoid the automatic loss of German citizenship when accepting US or other citizenship upon application. There is also no need to inform German authorities about a planned naturalization.
Please note: This only applies since the regulation came into force on June 27, 2024.
Until then, the previous regulation continued to apply: avoidance of loss of German citizenship only with a retention permit. The StARModG does not apply retroactively. A loss of German citizenship under the old regulation therefore remains in force.
Important note: Anyone who has acquired US citizenship by birth in the USA and German citizenship by descent from a German parent automatically has both citizenships.