ARCHIVE & Co.
Good news, {Name}! 🎉
Based on your answers, your family line looks unbroken! § 4 is the path to claim it.
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Do It Yourself
What Happens Next?
Knowing you are eligible is only the beginning. To successfully claim your citizenship, the German Federal Office of Administration (BVA) requires undeniable, documented proof of your entire family history. Here is exactly what that entails:
01
Trace Your Lineage
You must map an unbroken legal chain back to your German ancestor, often requiring proof of their status in Germany prior to 1914. This demands exact dates, historical border knowledge, and precise naturalization records to ensure no legal breaks occurred.
02
Gather your records
Track down certified birth, marriage, and death records, often buried in fragmented, un-digitized German municipal archives that only respond by post, in German. Then comes the apostilles and certified translations, each with its own authority and rules.
03
Create your application
You must flawlessly complete the German-language BVA application forms (Antrag F and Anlage V). Every spelling and date must cross-reference perfectly with your paper trail. The BVA has zero tolerance for errors—a single inconsistency can cause severe delays.
04
Claim your citizenship
Your physical file is submitted to the BVA in Cologne. During the processing time, you must handle any formal requests for additional evidence in administrative German before finally receiving your Certificate of Citizenship and ordering your EU passport.
Prefer to leave it to experts?
We've walked this exact path many times. Instead of teaching yourself German archival law over months, hand the heavy lifting to a team that already knows every step — we build your complete, submission-ready case. You file it, and claim what's yours.
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14,000+ Students
The hard part, handled.
You don't decode old German script, chase registries, or wrestle with bureaucracy — that's ours to carry. And you hear from a real person as your case develops, so you're never left wondering where things stand.
Why families trust us with this.
Done for you
From the first record to the finished dossier, the hard work stays on our side, while you stay informed by a real person who knows your case, never left wondering where things stand.
Fluent in both worlds
Our team lives in both languages and cultures — fluent with German officials and archives, and just as at home with the American families we guide.
One thing, done right
Our whole practice is built around one thing: helping Americans document German citizenship by descent — so we know this path's every provision, pitfall, and shortcut.
Based in Germany
Based in Bavaria, we work from inside the very system your claim depends on — reaching the German registries and archives that hold your records in person and in German, with access no overseas service can match.
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Munich, Germany
Sarah M.
Washington, DC · German Embassy in Washington, D.C.
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