Gruelling 22 Months to German Citizenship

After 22 months of waiting, I am finally a German citizen.

Timeline in Germany

• 2020 August: Moved to Germany for a full-time IT job
• 2020 October: Got my Blue Card (BC)
• 2020 December: Passed Goethe A1
• 2021 February: Passed Goethe A2
• 2021 September: Passed Living in Germany and telc B1
• 2022 September: Passed telc B2
• 2023 May: BC was supposed to expire in 2023 August, so applied for permanent residency aka Niederlassungserlaubnis (NE)
• 2023 October: Passed telc C1
• 2023 December: Received the NE, which was already exciting for the employment and residential flexibility it provides
• 2024 June: Applied for fast-track citizenship under the then new law as a highly integrated immigrant with C1 German and a German-speaking job. Got the application number aka Kundennummer from the case worker on the very next day, who said that the processing would take up to 18 months.
• 2024 October: Sent the three latest payslips to the case worker
• 2024 November: The case worker responded, telling me not to send additional documents unless specifically asked for
• 2025 June: Emailed the case worker for an update after one year of the application, only to get an automatic response that she had quit her position three months earlier. No idea who the new case worker was.
• 2025 July: Contacted the citizenship office through the website contact form and the service telephone number, and got to know only the last name of the new case worker
• 2025 August: The new case worker sent an email saying she had taken over my case and asked me to let her know if there is a legitimate reason (e.g. application over 18 months old, potential job as a civil servant) for prioritising my case
• 2025 September: Sent an email and a physical letter to the case worker, asking how the application will be processed in the remaining three months, given that I never even filled the Loyalitätserklärung (LE), and if she could prioritise it
• 2025 October: Received an email from the case worker to fill the LE. Sent it back the same day. The case worker said that the security check had been initiated, which would take at least 12 weeks.
• 2026 January: Asked the case worker for an update on the process, as the communicated processing time of 18 months by the city of Munich had already passed. Copied the Bürgerbeauftragter and Rathaus on the same email.
• 2026 January: The case worker responded that not all authorities have responded to the security check request and that she has sent a second request as a reminder, but she has no influence over the processing time of other authorities. She asked me to refrain from further enquiries about the application.
• 2026 March: Received a physical letter that my citizenship certificate is ready for pick-up (MAY LORD HAVE MERCY!)
• 2026 April: Picked up the citizenship certificate

For more context, I have had no employment gaps in Germany. Although my first job was in English and did not need any German whatsoever, I was determined to improve my German and would self-study almost every day after work, eventually taking the exams from A1 to C1 without any language courses.

I knew that learning German would open up avenues, both personally and professionally, and that is how I landed my current fully remote German-speaking job in 2022, which has been life-changing for me.

Although initially eligible under the three-year rule, I was not panicking about the law getting scrapped, as the five-year rule would make me eligible anyway. However, it was disheartening to see the three-year law getting revoked, thereby deincentivising immigrants like me, who do/did their best to integrate into the society despite a full-time job.

Anyway, considering the uncertain wait-times and the lack of transparency during the whole process, I am more relieved than happy that this is finally over.

I am now looking for ways to make use of the privilege that is the German passport. Long-term, I will vote. Short-term, I will probably visit a country, which I would have previously required a visa for. I am also open to hearing any suggestions from this community.

Although 22 months is a long time, I know that people have it worse in Leipzig, Darmstadt, etc. For anyone that is stuck in the citizenship process and is seeing no signs of progress, hang tight. Patience is absolutely key. I hope you all hear some positive news soon.