There have been a large number of US troops stationed in Germany for decades, since the end of World War II. As happens in these circumstances, a fair number of US servicepeople have started families with their spouse who moved with them from the United States, with children born while stationed in Germany.
Some things which are commonly believed amongst US military families who have been stationed in Germany:
- Children born to US servicepeople on German soil will be dual citizens of the US and Germany.
- At the age of 18 or 21 or 23, those dual citizens will have to choose which citizenship they will keep and forfeit the other.
Unfortunately neither of these is true. German citizenship is not like the US: being born on German soil does not make one a German citizen. One is German if one's parent is German, or if one naturalizes. So a child born to two US citizens stationed in Germany is not German. If the US serviceperson marries a German, then any children could be dual citizens.
Certificate of Citizenship
This story is reinforced because children born in Germany will have either a German birth certificate called a Geburtsurkunde or, less often, they will have paperwork from the US military hospital where they were born. Neither of these are acceptable as proof of US citizenship, which the child needs when they return to the US.
It is quite common for parents to order a Certificate of Citizenship for their children, documenting that the child is a US citizen. This often happens at age 18 when the child registers to vote or finds a job which requires that they prove their right to work. The Certificate of Citizenship contains language forswearing other allegiences, and reinforces the belief that the child had to choose one citizenship or the other at age 18.
In reality the presence of that language on the Certificate of Citizenship has no impact, other countries do not recognize the US document as being binding upon their practices of citizenship. If one actually was born a dual German and US citizen, the issuance of a US Certificate of Citizenship has no impact on their German citizenship. They remain a German citizen.
Impact
The impact of these misconceptions works in both directions:
- People who mistakenly believe they are German citizens, or were German citizens, and try to get that citizenship back.
- Perhaps more tragically, people with a German parent who believe they forfeited their German citizenship at 18 or 21 or 23 and never pursued it further, when in reality they remained citizens throughout their lives.
If you wonder whether you are in this situation, Reddit's /r/GermanCitizenship can help you figure it out. I spend time on that subreddit as well, helping people navigate the processes which we navigated.