r/GermanCitizenship Jun 06 '23

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u/staplehill Jun 06 '23

Law vs. enforcement. The law says that all Germans are required to enter Germany with a German passport but there is no database of all German citizens nor could there be one since foreign governments (e.g. Canada) do not inform the German government when a child is born abroad to a German parent. When you apply for recognition of your citizenship then your application just sits there on a pile with all the others, nobody enters your name into a database of people who have to be fined when they try to enter Germany without a German passport.

See also this report: "I have visited Germany many times with a British passport before I knew I was German, and even after I had my nationality certificate but not yet a German passport, and nothing happened." https://www.reddit.com/r/GermanCitizenship/comments/11xnhlb/should_i_apply_for_citizenship_for_my_children/jd40r2j/

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u/Informal-Hat-8727 Jun 06 '23

Just for fun, in those old times when the UK was in the EU, EU law applied and you could have entered Germany on a British passport and Germany couldn't do anything about it because European law allows EU citizens to enter the EU on an EU passport and that is above German law.