Our Plan B

german citizenship

German Citizenship by Descent for those who are eligible to claim a German passport through a parent being a German citizen at the time of your birth. This is classified as a standard route for citizenship compared to other possible routes, making the claim for your German Citizenship by Descent claim fairly easy.

You can do so if the following criteria apply to you:

• You have a parent born in Germany and has German citizenship;

• You have a ancestor who was born in a German Territory before 1914;

• One of your parents is German but born outside of Germany and territories;

• One of your parents Naturalised in Germany before your birth; and

• You are under 23 with a German parent.

German Citizenship by Restoration is a claim based on citizenship being lost by a German ancestor before their child was born. German South West Africa was acquired by Germany in the 1880s. It was governed by Germany as a colony and people migrated from Germany to work in its administration and farms. After the colony was handed to the British after WWI to administer the region, many German citizens lost their citizenship. Residents were offered to become British Subjects by declaration but further lost this citizenship unless they were registered in the Union of South Africa military in 1942. After the Union of South Africa created its citizenship laws in 1949 almost all South West Africans became Union of South African citizens in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles in 1920. Residents then became Namibian citizens in 1990, post independence.

Effectively German citizenship by descent was lost by residents of South West Africa as there were not routine procedures to retain citizenship for future generations. Citizens of South West Africa were forced to give up their German nationality and citizenship.

There are numerous criteria to be met for persons who lived in South West Africa and lost their German citizenship. A claim for German Citizenship by Restoration is complex and often requires legal professional assistance for your individual case:

• You have a German born ancestor who lived in German South West Africa before 1914;

• Your ancestor lost their German citizenship and acquired British nationality and Union of South Africa citizenship;

• Your ancestor remained in South West Africa after the Treaty of Versailles; and

• An ancestor born in South West Africa declared their nationality as German when obtaining British nationality.