How to Apply for German Citizenship From Israel?

Key Takeaways

• You apply for German citizenship using a different form depending on your legal basis. Article 116(2) GG uses Antrag A or Antrag AK. § 15 StAG uses Antrag E15 or Antrag E15_K.
• You can file your citizenship application at the German embassy in Tel Aviv or send it directly to BVA in Cologne.
• The citizenship application itself is free of charge under § 38 StAG, though document and translation costs are not.
• BVA does not publish an official processing time for citizenship applications. Independent estimates range from about 18 months to 2 to 3 years. According to Germany’s Interior Ministry, 17,689 citizenship applications under Art. 116(2) GG were still pending as of April 1, 2026.
• If BVA does not respond to your citizenship application within three months and has no good reason for the delay, you may have grounds to sue for a decision.

This is how you do it

1. Confirm your citizenship route. Check whether Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG applies to you.
2. File the matching form. Use Antrag A or AK for Art. 116(2) GG, or Antrag E15 or E15_K for § 15 StAG.
3. Attach your ancestor annex. Add one annex per generation in your family line.
4. Attach your documents. Include proof of your ancestor’s citizenship, their persecution, and your family connection to them.
5. Submit your citizenship application. File through the embassy in Tel Aviv or send it directly to BVA in Cologne.

How to apply for German Citizenship Restoration from Israel?

Follow these five steps to submit your citizenship application to BVA:

1. Confirm your citizenship route. Check whether Article 116(2) of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz, GG) or Section 15 of the Nationality Act (StAG) applies to your case. Our guide to German citizenship for Israelis by Jewish descent covers the eligibility rules for both routes in full.
2. File the matching form.
   • Use Antrag A if you are 16 or older, or Antrag AK if you are under 16, for Art. 116(2) GG.
   • Use Antrag E15 if you are 16 or older, or Antrag E15_K if you are under 16, for § 15 StAG.
3. Attach your ancestor annex.
   • Add one Anlage Vorfahren per generation for an Art. 116(2) GG claim.
   • Add one Anlage_AV per generation for a § 15 StAG claim.
   • Attach an additional copy of the matching annex for any extra ancestor you need to document within one generation.
4. Attach your documents. Include proof of your ancestor’s German citizenship, their persecution, and your family connection to them.
5. Submit your citizenship application. File through the German embassy in Tel Aviv or send it directly to BVA in Cologne.

Where do you file your German Citizenship application from Israel?

You have two ways to file your citizenship application from Israel. Both routes reach BVA, the only decision-maker on your application.

• The German embassy in Tel Aviv. The embassy checks that your file is complete, then forwards it to BVA. The embassy does not decide your case itself.
• BVA directly, by mail. Send your application to BVA, Barbarastraße 1, 50735 Köln, Deutschland.

Filing directly by mail saves you an embassy appointment. This shortcut also means no one in Israel checks your documents before BVA receives them.

A missing certificate or an uncertified translation then costs you a full mail cycle to Cologne and back. Filing through the embassy avoids that cycle, since embassy staff can flag a missing document before forwarding your file.

How much does it cost to apply for German Citizenship Restoration from Israel?

Naturalization under Art. 116(2) GG and § 15 StAG costs nothing. § 38 StAG exempts both routes from the standard naturalization fee. BVA cannot charge you to file or decide a citizenship application under either route.

However, that citizenship fee exemption only covers the application itself, not everything around it. BVA’s own guidance confirms that document, translation, and certification costs are not reimbursed either way, whether your application succeeds or is rejected. You still pay for:

• Certified copies of your birth, marriage, and death records
• Sworn translations into German
• Notarizations your civil registry requires
• Genealogical research or professional help tracing your family line, priced by whoever you hire rather than by BVA

How long does a German citizenship application from Israel take?

BVA does not publish an official processing time for citizenship applications under Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG. Independent estimates put a well-prepared application at around 18 months to 3 years, depending on how complex your case is.

BVA confirms only that files are worked on in the order received, with no published target date.

Why is there a backlog in German citizenship applications from Israel?

BVA had 17,689 citizenship applications under Art. 116(2) GG still pending as of April 1, 2026, according to Germany’s Interior Ministry.

This backlog in citizenship applications reflects real demand growth, not just slower processing. Naturalizations of Israeli citizens in Germany rose from 2,485 in 2021 to 4,275 in 2024, per the Interior Ministry. Part of that rise is linked to the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks.

Can you sue for a decision if your German citizenship application is delayed?

Yes, you can sue for a decision if your German citizenship application has sat too long without one. German procedural law lets you file an Untätigkeitsklage (delay complaint under § 75 VwGO) once three conditions are all met:

• Three months have passed since you submitted your citizenship application
• Your citizenship application was complete when you submitted it
• BVA has no good reason for the delay

That “without sufficient reason” qualifier matters. A court can find that BVA’s backlog itself is not automatically a sufficient reason once the three-month mark passes. An active request for missing documents from you generally does count as one.

An Untätigkeitsklage forces BVA to issue a decision. This lawsuit does not force the office to approve your citizenship application. Forcing a decision and forcing an approval are not the same thing.

Confirm that your citizenship application has already sat for three months without a documented reason before you file the lawsuit. The case only works when the delay genuinely has no justification.

What are your options if your German citizenship application is rejected?

A rejection is not the end of your German citizenship case. You have two things to check:

• Can you challenge it in court? Yes. A Verpflichtungsklage, a lawsuit challenging your Ablehnungsbescheid (rejection notice), asks a Verwaltungsgericht (administrative court) to order BVA to grant your citizenship. That is provided the legal requirements under § 113 Abs. 5 VwGO are met.
• Do you need to object first? Follow what your own rejection notice says. Your notice is legally required to state which remedy applies to your case and where to file it, under § 58 VwGO’s notice-of-remedy rule. BVA is a federal authority, so a state’s own rules abolishing the Widerspruch step don’t apply to its decisions.

Either way, the clock usually starts running the day you receive the rejection notice. Check the deadline stated on your own notice rather than assuming a standard length.

If you win your case, § 154 VwGO puts the cost of the proceedings on the losing side. BVA typically reimburses your legal costs when that happens.

Review the stated reason on your rejection notice before you file your appeal. That reason is wrong or incomplete often enough to make the review worth doing.

Can your spouse or children also get German citizenship through your application?

Your spouse or children may also become German citizens through your application. The rule that applies to them depends on their relationship to you and, for children, when they were born.

• Children born after your citizenship is restored. They acquire German citizenship automatically at birth under § 4 StAG, with no application needed for the citizenship itself. A passport for them usually just needs their birth certificate and your own documents. A Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis (citizenship certificate) is required only if the authorities doubt your or the child’s citizenship.
• Children born before your citizenship is restored. They need their own application, tracing back to the same persecuted ancestor you claim through, with their own descent from that ancestor proven independently.
• Your spouse. Marriage to you does not grant German citizenship automatically. Naturalization by marriage is a separate route with its own residence requirement.