On 4 March 2026, Germany's Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) ruled that when German citizenship is lost by operation of law and that loss also takes away EU citizenship, it is subject to an individual proportionality review under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The case number is BVerwG 1 C 4.25, and the court's press release is number 14/2026.
This covers anyone who holds no other citizenship of an EU member state. For them, losing German citizenship also means losing EU citizenship and every right that comes with it.
Background
The old law: loss on acquiring a foreign citizenship
Until 26 June 2024, a German lost their citizenship automatically on acquiring a foreign one at their own request. That was the rule in section 25 of the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG) as it stood from 1 January 2000. The only way to prevent the loss was a retention permit (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung), and it had to be granted before the foreign citizenship was acquired.
Before 1 January 2000 there was an exception known as the domestic residence clause (Inlandsklausel): anyone whose residence or permanent stay was in Germany did not lose German citizenship when acquiring a foreign one. The 1999 reform abolished this clause.
Since 27 June 2024, the Act to Modernise Nationality Law has been in force. Acquiring a foreign citizenship at your own request no longer costs you German citizenship, the retention permit has been abolished and section 25 StAG has been repealed. According to the Federal Foreign Office, the act contains no retroactive rules for events before 27 June 2024. If you lost your citizenship before that date, the old law still applies to you.
The Court of Justice of the European Union
The Court of Justice of the European Union paved the way with joined cases C-684/22 to C-686/22 of 25 April 2024, referred by the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf. Member states remain in charge of their own nationality law, but they must respect EU law when applying it, above all the principle of proportionality. Anyone who loses EU citizenship along with their national citizenship is entitled to have the consequences for them examined individually.
The case behind the ruling
The claimants, a married couple, were naturalised in June 1999 and gave up their Turkish citizenship to do so. Immediately afterwards they applied to reacquire Turkish citizenship, without a retention permit. According to the Administrative Court's findings, they only received it after 1 January 2000, once the domestic residence clause had gone.
In July 2018 the authority first confirmed that they were German citizens and issued certificates of citizenship in August 2018. Then, in decisions dated 12 February 2021, it determined on its own initiative that the two were no longer German and revoked the certificates. Following the judgment of the Court of Justice, the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf set those decisions aside. The authority appealed directly to the Federal Administrative Court on points of law (a leapfrog appeal).
What has changed
If the review comes out in the person's favour, meaning the loss is disproportionate, then in the court's words they must be allowed not merely to recover German citizenship retroactively, but to keep it in the first place, and with it their status as an EU citizen. They are not sent off to apply for renaturalisation: they simply remain German. That difference is measured in years, fees and eligibility requirements.
The court made a second point as well. Section 30(1), sentence 4 StAG only permits a finding that someone is not German, where the loss also ends EU citizenship, if that loss is proportionate. Sentence 5 excludes cases where no application to prevent the loss was made. That exclusion does not apply where the person had no effective access to a review or, as here, neither the authority nor the court ever carried one out. In that situation the review must now be carried out, even without a prior application.
That does not mean the claimants have won yet. The Federal Administrative Court overturned the Düsseldorf judgment because the Administrative Court had treated section 25 StAG as inapplicable without that being established in this specific case. The claimants, the court found, had enough time to apply for a retention permit, and publication of the law was sufficient notice. What is missing is the review of whether losing EU citizenship is proportionate for the two of them. The case therefore goes back to the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf, which now has to carry out that review.
What this means for Germans, Austrians and the Swiss
Germans
The ruling matters most for cases between 1 January 2000 and 26 June 2024: people who acquired another citizenship on application during that period, without a retention permit, and who hold no other EU citizenship. For them, an authority may only establish the loss if it has examined the consequences for the individual. Where that never happened, the review is still open.
If you acquire another citizenship today, you have nothing to worry about: since 27 June 2024, a further citizenship no longer costs you your German one. You can read more under dual citizenship for Germans and, for the history of the old rule, under retention permit.
If you lost your citizenship under the old law and live abroad, there is also a second route: under section 13 StAG, a former German whose habitual residence is abroad can be renaturalised on application. That decision is at the authority's discretion, however, not a legal entitlement.
Austrians
The ruling interprets German law. In Austria, citizenship is still lost by operation of law when someone deliberately acquires a foreign citizenship, unless retention was applied for and approved before the acquisition. The duty to review proportionality, however, comes from EU law, and the Federal Administrative Court relies on case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union that applies to every member state. If you are Austrian and lost your citizenship this way, have your case reviewed under Austrian law. How Austrians can acquire another citizenship today without losing their own is explained under second citizenship for Austrians.
The Swiss
Switzerland is not an EU member state, so Swiss citizenship carries no EU citizenship with it. Since 1 January 1992, Swiss law has allowed multiple citizenship without restriction. Swiss families abroad need to watch a different rule: a child born abroad who holds another citizenship forfeits Swiss citizenship at 25 if, by then, they have not been reported to a Swiss authority, have not registered themselves and have not declared in writing that they wish to keep it. Read more under Swiss dual citizens.
What you can do now
- Pin down the dates. When were you naturalised or born German, and on what exact day did you actually acquire the other citizenship? Before 1 January 2000, between 1 January 2000 and 26 June 2024, or later: this decides which law applies to you.
- Gather your documents. Your naturalisation certificate, the document confirming acquisition of the other citizenship with its date and reference number, earlier passports and ID cards, a certificate of German citizenship if you have one, and all correspondence with the authorities.
- Check whether a review ever took place. Did you apply for a retention permit? Did any authority weigh up the consequences for you as an EU citizen in your case? If not, that is exactly where the ruling comes in.
- Write down your reasons. The balancing exercise looks at your circumstances: family in the European Union, work, residence, ties. The more of them you can back up with documents, the stronger your case.
- Choose your route. The options are an application to establish citizenship under section 30 StAG, a review as part of a passport or ID card application or, if you live abroad, renaturalisation under section 13 StAG. What giving up a citizenship means in general is covered under giving up citizenship.
- Plan ahead. If you are German and want another citizenship today, you can acquire it without putting your German one at risk. The programmes show which countries grant citizenship through investment, and CBI and naturalisation explains how investment and naturalisation through residence complement each other.
How the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf will decide the review for the two claimants remains open. Since 4 March 2026, one thing is settled: the review has to take place.