Dual citizenship in wartime: which country can call you up

Since 27 June 2024, as a German you can take on a second citizenship without losing your German one, and you no longer need a retention permit (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung). That makes two passports in German families anything but unusual. And with every second passport, the same question comes up sooner or later: what happens if things get serious?

Dual citizenship in wartime: two states, two sets of military service laws

The principle is simple. Every state governs military service for its own citizens, and it does not ask which other passports you keep in the drawer. For Germany, that means the Compulsory Military Service Act (Wehrpflichtgesetz, WPflG) hinges in Section 1 on one thing: being German. A German with a Turkish, Caribbean or African second passport is, as far as the Bundeswehr is concerned, a German like any other. The reverse is just as true: to the other state, you are its citizen, with every duty its law provides for.

So dual citizenship in wartime does not mean that two obligations cancel each other out. They exist side by side. What matters is a second question that is overlooked far more often: which state can actually reach you?

A call-up notice works wherever the state has access to you. In its own territory, at its own border, through its own passport. This is precisely where a second citizenship earns its value. It does not make you invisible to Germany, but it gives you the permanent right to live somewhere else. And German military service law itself is tied to where your life is based.

That is why three rules decide how you fare as a dual citizen when it counts:

For an overview of all the rights and duties that come with two passports, see dual citizenship for Germans.

Conscription with dual citizenship: what German law requires

Under Section 1(1) WPflG, every man from his 18th birthday who is German within the meaning of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) is liable for military service. That applies to men whose permanent residence is in Germany. But it also applies to Germans living permanently abroad if they used to live in Germany, hold a German passport or a certificate of citizenship, or have placed themselves under German protection in some other way. A second citizenship does not appear anywhere in that list. It does not exempt you.

What matters is which of these rules are actually applied today. Section 2 WPflG separates two worlds:

• Outside a state of tension or a state of defence, only selected provisions apply, among them Section 3 with the permit requirement for long stays abroad (suspended since 17 April 2026 by a general administrative order), registration, the declaration of willingness to serve (Bereitschaftserklärung) and the medical screening (Sections 8a to 20b). The call-up under Section 21 is not one of them.
• In a state of tension or a state of defence, Sections 3 to 52 apply in full, including the call-up and the recall of men who have already served.

In between sits Section 2a WPflG: the Bundestag can introduce conscription by statute whenever the defence situation or the armed forces' staffing requires it. If there are not enough volunteers, it takes no war to draw on conscripts, only a federal act.

For young men born in 2008 or later, the declaration of willingness to serve under Section 15a WPflG already applies today. It asks explicitly about further citizenships and about service in foreign armed forces. So the Bundeswehr learns about a second passport. If you are thinking about a second passport in a family with adult or nearly adult sons, you should know this.

How long the obligation lasts

In an emergency, then, conscription concerns not just sons but fathers too.

State of tension and state of defence: what applies in an emergency

Conscription in wartime is anchored in the Basic Law. Art. 12a allows men to be required to serve in the armed forces from their 18th birthday. Anyone who refuses armed service on grounds of conscience can be required to do alternative service instead. And in a state of defence, men who are not called up can be required by statute to perform civilian services for defence purposes.

These rules are triggered by one of two decisions:

• The state of tension (Spannungsfall) under Art. 80a of the Basic Law. The Bundestag declares it with a two-thirds majority of the votes cast. Certain emergency provisions can also be applied on the basis of a decision by an international body within the framework of an alliance treaty, with the approval of the federal government.
• The state of defence (Verteidigungsfall) under Art. 115a of the Basic Law. It exists when federal territory is attacked by armed force or such an attack is imminent. The Bundestag declares it with the consent of the Bundesrat, on a motion by the federal government, with two thirds of the votes cast and at least a majority of its members.

Once either decision is taken, the Compulsory Military Service Act applies in its full breadth, and the obligation runs to the age of 60.

Leaving the country becomes a matter of permission

Section 3(2) WPflG requires men over 17 to obtain a permit from the Bundeswehr careers centre (Karrierecenter) if they want to leave Germany for more than three months and their life is not yet based abroad. Since 17 April 2026, the Ministry of Defence has exempted everyone concerned from this requirement by general administrative order, so for now you do not need to apply. But the exemption can be lifted at any time with a single order, without the Bundestag, and then the statute applies again: the permit must be granted for the period in which you are not due to be called up. Beyond that, it is only granted if a refusal would cause particular hardship, and in a state of readiness, tension or defence only if the hardship would be unreasonable. The Passport Act (Passgesetz, PassG) backs this rule up: under Section 7(1) no. 7 PassG, a passport must be refused if a man liable for service from an age group whose registration has begun wants to leave for more than three months without the required permit. As long as the exemption applies, no permit is required. If refusal would be disproportionate, it is not applied, for example where it is enough to restrict the passport's territorial scope or period of validity (Section 7(2) PassG). What this means for families and for the timing of a departure is set out in detail in conscription.

A second passport is not a way around such a permit. If you need a permit to leave, you need it with two passports as well. The value of the second passport lies elsewhere: it gives you a country where you already have a right of residence, if you make the decision in good time and through the proper channels.

Conscription while living abroad: when the German obligation is suspended

This is the rule that counts most for dual citizens. Under Section 1(2) WPflG, the obligation is suspended for as long as your permanent residence and your livelihood are outside Germany and the facts suggest that you intend to keep your permanent residence abroad.

So two things have to come together: you live abroad, and you earn your living abroad. A mailing address will not do. A home, a job, a company, a school for the children, a daily life in the new country: those are the facts the law looks at.

Section 1(3) WPflG names three cases in which the obligation is not suspended even so:

1. You move your permanent residence abroad while you are doing military service.
2. You move it without the permit required under Section 3(2).
3. The move happens without you actually leaving Germany.

That leads to the single most important sentence for your planning: moving abroad only counts if it is done through the proper channels. If you leave without breaching a permit requirement in force and genuinely live abroad, German conscription is suspended for you. As long as the general administrative order of April 2026 applies, no application to the careers centre is needed for that. Leaving in secret gains you nothing.

And this is where the second passport comes in. A visa for a third country can be refused or revoked. A citizenship gives you the permanent right to live and work in that country. For the life abroad that Section 1(2) is concerned with, there is no firmer foundation.

Which countries suit such a move, and who would be called up in Germany in wartime, is covered in the guide Germany at war: who is called up and who can still leave (in German).

Bundeswehr and dual citizenship: serving in your other country's army

The second big worry runs the other way. What if your second country calls you up? Do you then lose your German passport?

Section 17(1) of the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG) lists three grounds for loss: renunciation, joining foreign armed forces or taking part in combat operations of a terrorist organisation abroad, and the withdrawal of an unlawful administrative act. For military service, Section 28 StAG is decisive. You lose German citizenship if you voluntarily enlist in the armed forces or a comparable armed unit of a foreign state whose citizenship you hold, and you have no consent from the Federal Ministry of Defence or the body it designates.

The loss does not occur

• if you would otherwise become stateless,
• if you are still a minor when you enlist,
• if an international treaty entitles you to join those armed forces.

The key word is voluntarily. If you are drafted as a conscript in the other country, you are not enlisting voluntarily.

For a state of tension or a state of defence, in which Section 8 WPflG applies, the Compulsory Military Service Act adds to this rule. Men liable for service may then only commit to military service outside the Bundeswehr with the consent of the Ministry of Defence. No consent is needed if the service is required by law in the country where you live. Service outside the Bundeswehr can be credited against German military service, and service under a legal obligation is meant to be credited. Applications go to the Bundeswehr careers centre.

The Passport Act adds to this: under Section 7(1) no. 6 PassG, a passport must be refused if the facts suggest that you intend to enlist for military service outside the Bundeswehr without authorisation. So if you want to serve your second country voluntarily, get the consent first.

Military service in Türkiye with dual citizenship

With Türkiye, military service is one of the first questions, because the country has general conscription. Under Art. 2, the Turkish Military Service Act No. 7179 applies to every male Turkish citizen. Under Art. 3, the age of liability runs from 1 January of the year in which a man turns 20 to 1 January of the year in which he turns 41.

For naturalised citizens, and so for investors and their families too, Art. 43 applies:

In the event of mobilisation (seferberlik), Art. 43 reserves the right to call up naturalised citizens as needed. That belongs in any honest wartime calculation.

For sons naturalised as children, the rules for Turks abroad help. Under Art. 38, anyone who holds several citizenships and lives abroad can have all military service matters deferred through the Turkish consulate until the end of the year in which he turns 35. Under Art. 39(2), dual and multiple citizens who have actually lived abroad for at least three years can opt for paid military service in foreign currency (dövizle askerlik), with no work permit required. Paying counts as having served. Art. 45 also provides for international agreements on crediting military service.

How a Turkish passport is obtained through property, and what it means for families, is explained in Turkish citizenship by buying property.

Which second passport really helps you when it counts

A second passport is not an exemption certificate. It is something more valuable: a right that nobody can take away from you when the situation changes. A visa is a permission. A citizenship is a right. If you want to stay able to act in wartime, you need three things at the right time.

The right timing

Since 17 April 2026, the permit requirement under Section 3(2) WPflG has only been suspended, not abolished: the Ministry of Defence can bring it back overnight with a single order, and in a state of tension it becomes stricter. A citizenship by investment programme takes months, because certificates, legalisation and due diligence all need time. If you only act once the Bundestag declares a state of tension, that time is gone. What a second passport achieves when it really matters is shown in Plan B for an emergency.

A programme that takes your sons along

In wartime, families worry most about sons between 18 and 30. And it is for this very age group that the programmes differ most:

If you have two sons over 18, these rules add up differently than for a family with young children. All the family rules side by side are under family, and the programmes compared under comparison.

A country where you can really live

The passport opens the door; where you build your life decides the rest. German conscription is only suspended once your permanent residence and your livelihood are abroad. A second passport makes that step independent of visas and renewals. How families plan protection from war and conscription as a whole is shown in the overview protection from war and conscription (in German).

Giving up German citizenship: what applies if you are liable for service

Some families follow the thought through to the end: once the second passport is there, why not give up the German one? The law allows renunciation under Section 26 StAG if you hold more than one citizenship. It is declared in writing, needs the approval of the nationality authority and only takes effect when the certificate of renunciation is handed over.

For men liable for military service, there is a hurdle first. Approval is refused until the Federal Ministry of Defence or the body it designates has declared that it has no objection to the renunciation. The hurdle falls away in two cases:

• You have had your habitual residence abroad for at least ten years.
• You have done military service in one of the countries whose citizenship you hold.

For most families, renunciation is not the plan anyway. The German passport remains a piece of home, and since 27 June 2024 you no longer have to sacrifice it for a second one. The smarter solution is almost always to keep both and choose deliberately where you build your life. How renunciation works in practice, should it still be an option for you, is described in giving up German citizenship. What a second citizenship means for reservists in particular is covered in a second citizenship as protection from call-up (in German).

Two passports in wartime: the whole picture at a glance

Two passports do not take any obligation off your shoulders. They give you a choice. And in an emergency, a choice is exactly what most people no longer have.

Frequently asked questions