Germany introduces law to combat fraudulent citizenship applications
A new law in Germany will impose a 10-year ban on reapplying for citizenship for anyone found to have submitted fraudulent information in their naturalisation process.
10-year reapplication ban for fraudulent applicants
The Bundestag has approved a CDU/CSU–SPD proposal to amend the German Nationality Act. Under the amendment, individuals who falsify details in their citizenship applications will be prohibited from reapplying for ten years.
“We are introducing a 10-year naturalisation ban for anyone who commits fraud. This applies especially to those attempting to obtain German citizenship using forged language certificates,” CDU/CSU representative Alexander Thom told Bild.
Ordinarily, applicants for German citizenship must have lived in the country for at least five years and must demonstrate German language skills at the B1 level or higher.
Section 35 of the German Nationality Act already allows authorities to revoke citizenship in cases involving fraudulent information. If a naturalised citizen is later found to have provided falsified documents, their citizenship can be withdrawn as long as it was granted within the last ten years.
Stern/RTL investigation triggered legislative changes
In addition to a broader shift toward stricter immigration and citizenship rules, the government’s amendment was influenced by an investigative report by Stern and RTL.
The investigation revealed that criminal networks were offering forged German language certificates—primarily via TikTok—for around €1,500 each. Although the report claimed that “thousands of language certificates have been falsified,” it also noted that there are no official statistics confirming that fraudulent citizenship applications are widespread.
The Federal Administrative Office has revoked the citizenship of 1,009 people over the past five years, including 270 in 2025. However, according to Stern, “it is not recorded whether the revocation of naturalisation was due to forged certificates.”
Even assuming all 1,009 cases involved falsified documents, this would still represent only a very small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of applications that are processed and approved each year in accordance with legal requirements.