Citizenship by marriage: where the spouse route is fastest

Marriage is one of the classic routes to a second passport, and one of the cheapest: no investment, just time, language and paperwork. Every residence-based route is set out in the overview Naturalisation abroad. If you also have ancestors from another country, check citizenship by descent at the same time, because sometimes your family gets you to a passport faster than your wedding.

Citizenship by marriage: what marriage really gives you

In none of the countries Germans ask about most often does the wedding itself confer citizenship. What it gives you is a discount on the waiting time. Where other foreigners have to live in the country for four, five or ten years, spouses often need only one to three.

Three things decide how much that discount is worth.

First: do you have to live in the country? Most states count only the years you actually live there. A few also count the years of marriage while you live abroad. That is the real lever for couples who do not want to move.

Second: what does the country require besides the marriage? Almost everywhere there is a language requirement, often a test on the country and its constitution, and always a clean criminal record.

Third: may you keep your current passport? For Germans, the German side of that question is settled. The other side is not settled everywhere.

The countries compared: waiting times for spouses

The table shows the pattern. If you are prepared to live in Brazil or Spain for a year, you get there fast. If you want to stay in Germany, you end up with Italy or Luxembourg. And if you are moving to the US or the UK anyway, marriage becomes a shortcut on a road you would be travelling regardless.

Italian citizenship by marriage

Italy is the marriage route with the best ratio of effort to result. The citizenship law, Legge 91 of 1992, gives the foreign spouse of an Italian citizen two options in Article 5.

With residence in Italy: two years

If you live legally in Italy after the wedding, you can apply after two years of residence. What life in Italy means for your taxes is worked out in the German-language country report on Italy.

Without moving: three years of marriage

If you live abroad, in Germany for example, what counts is not residence but the marriage itself. Three years after the wedding you can apply for naturalisation without ever having lived in Italy. For couples who do not want to uproot their lives, this is one of the rare routes on which time works for you all by itself.

With children: half the time

If you have children together, born or adopted, both periods are halved. That means one year of residence in Italy after the wedding, or a year and a half of marriage if you live abroad. It is one of the shortest marriage routes to an EU passport.

Language, fee and processing time

Article 9.1 requires Italian at level B1 or higher of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, so build the language certificate into your plans from day one. The application carries a government contribution of 250 euros. The authority has 24 months from submission to decide, extendable to a maximum of 36 months.

The marriage itself is what matters: until the naturalisation decree is issued, it may not be dissolved or annulled, and the two of you may not live apart.

If you have Italian ancestors, check first whether your family could get you to the passport faster than your marriage: Italian citizenship by descent.

Luxembourg citizenship by marriage

For spouses, Luxembourg does not use naturalisation in the classic sense but an option: a declaration before the civil registrar through which you acquire citizenship. The procedure itself is free of charge.

If you live in Luxembourg, there is no minimum length of marriage. If you live abroad, you need three years of marriage immediately before the declaration. In both cases two conditions apply: a passed exam in Luxembourgish, and the course "Vivre ensemble au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg" or the exam on its content.

Here the language is the real hurdle. Hardly anyone picks up Luxembourgish on the side. Master it, though, and you get an EU passport on a route that works without moving.

Brazilian citizenship by marriage: one year of residence

In this comparison Brazil is the fastest marriage route outside Europe, and one of the most sought after. The 2017 Migration Law requires four years of residence in the country for ordinary naturalisation, Portuguese, and no criminal conviction unless you have been rehabilitated. Article 66 cuts those four years to a minimum of one year if you have a Brazilian spouse or partner.

The condition is written into the law itself: at the moment of naturalisation you may not be separated, either legally or in fact. The law treats marriage and a stable partnership alike, so a marriage certificate is not the only door.

The same reduction applies to parents of a Brazilian child, by the way. If you become a father or mother in Brazil, you too can apply after one year at the earliest. How life and naturalisation work there day to day is described in the article on Brazilian citizenship. The residence route without marriage is covered in Brazil: citizenship by naturalisation.

Spain: one year, but with a declaration of renunciation

On paper Spain is just as fast as Brazil. The Código Civil generally requires ten years of residence for naturalisation; for the spouse of a Spanish citizen one year is enough, provided you have been married for one year when you apply and do not live apart.

The catch is in Article 23: anyone who is naturalised declares that they renounce their previous citizenship. The only exemptions are for citizens of Latin American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, and for people of Sephardic origin. Germans are not among them. So find out what this declaration means for your German passport before you apply, not afterwards. The details of the Spanish route are in Spain: naturalisation for Germans.

Marrying an American or a Briton: the route runs through permanent residence

If you marry an American or a Briton, you do not get the passport through the marriage alone but through permanent residence. The marriage only makes the road shorter.

USA: three years with a Green Card instead of five

As the spouse of a US citizen, you can apply for naturalisation after three years as a Green Card holder. During those three years you must have lived in marital union with your spouse and been physically present in the US for at least 18 months. The marriage must also continue throughout the procedure. How the application on Form N-400, the interview and the civics test work is explained on the page on US citizenship and naturalisation.

United Kingdom: three years and Indefinite Leave to Remain

The UK requires the spouse of a British citizen to have three years of residence in the country and permanent residence, meaning Indefinite Leave to Remain or Settled Status. Over those three years you may have spent no more than 270 days outside the country, and no more than 90 days in the last twelve months. On top of that come the Life in the UK Test and proof of English. The whole application, step by step, is set out in the German-language article on applying for British citizenship.

Swiss and Austrian citizenship by marriage

Switzerland: five years, three of them married

Switzerland offers spouses facilitated naturalisation under Article 21 of the Swiss Citizenship Act (Bürgerrechtsgesetz, BüG). You need three years in a genuine, stable marital union with your Swiss spouse and five years of residence in Switzerland in total, including the last year immediately before the application. If you live in Switzerland anyway, you collect these years along the way.

Austria: a swap, not a second passport

Spouses of Austrian citizens can be naturalised after six years of legal, uninterrupted residence if the marriage has lasted five years and you share a household. German at level B1 is also required.

For Germans, though, the decisive point lies elsewhere: Austria generally requires you to give up your previous citizenship, unless that is legally impossible or cannot reasonably be expected of you. Anyone who becomes Austrian this way usually hands in their German passport. That is a swap, not a second passport. For couples who really want two passports, the answer usually lies somewhere else.

Canadian citizenship by marriage: no shortcut

Canada says it explicitly: marrying a Canadian does not automatically make you Canadian, and as the spouse of a Canadian you meet the same requirements as everyone else. That means permanent residence, at least 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada within five years, at least 730 of them as a Permanent Resident, and, if you are between 18 and 54, proof of English or French.

In Canada, then, marriage helps you towards permanent residence, not towards citizenship. If you want to cover yourself for the years until then, think about a second passport that comes sooner.

What the authorities check: a marriage that is really lived

Every country on the list requires a marriage that is genuinely lived. The wording differs; the core is the same.

• Italy: no divorce, annulment or separation until the naturalisation decree.
• Brazil: no legal or factual separation at the moment of naturalisation.
• USA: marital union throughout the three years and during the procedure.
• Switzerland: a genuine, stable marital union, not one that exists only on paper.

For you this means one thing above all: the clock only starts with the wedding, and it only keeps running while you are together. If you already know you want to take the marriage route, plan your language certificate, documents and residence early, so that everything is ready on the day it counts.

Do you keep your German passport?

On the German side, the question has been answered since 27 June 2024. Since the Act to Modernise Nationality Law (Staatsangehörigkeitsmodernisierungsgesetz) came into force, acquiring a foreign citizenship by application no longer costs you your German one. You no longer need a retention permit (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung). Everything else about holding two citizenships is in Dual citizenship for Germans.

The question is only still open on the other side, with the country whose passport you want. Austria generally requires you to give up your citizenship, Spain requires the declaration of renunciation. So check your target country's rule before you apply. That is why the fastest route on paper is not always the best one for you.

A passport is a right, not a permission. A residence permit that comes from a marriage can end with the marriage; citizenship cannot. That is exactly why it pays to follow the road all the way to the passport.

The route without the wait: your spouse in the CBI application

Naturalisation by marriage requires no investment, but it costs years. And it assumes that one of you already holds the passport the other one wants. If you are both German, there is no marriage route, and the question changes: how do you both get a second passport at the same time?

The answer is citizenship by investment. Here marriage is not a reason to wait but a door opener: your spouse joins the same application and receives the passport at the same time as you.

• Sierra Leone: On the Fast Track, a spouse costs an additional 10,000 USD, for up to two spouses under Sierra Leonean law. For unmarried partners there is the Plus One for 30,000 USD, with no marriage and no proof of the relationship. From a complete application to the passport usually takes 90-120 days, with no trip to Sierra Leone.
• São Tomé and Príncipe: The donation of 95,000 USD covers a family of two to four people, spouse or partner included. If a spouse is added only after approval, including them later costs 10,000 USD.

Which programmes include spouses, children and parents, and on what terms, is shown on the Family page; all programmes side by side are in the comparison.

One does not rule out the other. Naturalisation through residence or marriage is the free route and often the stronger passport in the end, but it takes years. CBI buys you exactly those years. Why combining the two is the smartest strategy is explained in CBI and naturalisation.

Frequently asked questions