When Barbara W. was five years old, she moved from the United States to Germany with her parents. Today, at 64, she is still waiting for her German passport. She is an American citizen who has lived in Germany for almost six decades, worked here, paid taxes, and raised two children.

She and her husband, Peter W., live in Berlin-Kladow. They have submitted all the required documents to obtain dual citizenship—now for the second time. She sent her first letter to the Spandau district office in spring 2021. “Then you think: Okay, everything will be fine. And then after two years, suddenly: Please submit everything again. Again, no confirmation,” says her husband, who has handled the correspondence from the beginning. Almost five years later, they are still waiting.

Barbara W. does not want to have to choose. She wants German citizenship—without giving up her American one. When she submitted her application, Germany allowed dual citizenship only in exceptional cases—and she had such a reason. Since the reform of the Nationality Act in summer 2024, dual citizenship has become possible for significantly more people. For Barbara W., however, it was never a bureaucratic question, but rather one of family history.

Her father was of Jewish faith and had left Germany during the Second World War—after meeting his wife here, he took her with him to the United States. He wanted his daughter to keep her American citizenship—as an option to leave if she ever needed it. “It was important to him that I could always come to the States.” When he died, his ashes were returned to the United States. He did not want to be buried in German soil. “That’s his story, which I deeply honor,” she says. “I feel bound by that word—and I cannot give up American citizenship. Period.”

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The American passport can have concrete consequences on everyday life. In a letter to the district office, Barbara W. wrote: “As an American citizen, many official procedures are extremely difficult or even impossible.” As a US citizen, she does not belong to the EU—in Spain, she once had to explain herself at the airport. When her father died, his entire estate had to be reported to the American tax authorities due to the double taxation agreement. She fears her children will face the same issues one day. In recent years, Barbara W. has been seriously ill twice. “It is so important to me that my children have no stress,” she says.

Barbara W. recounts how a district office employee called and asked why she didn’t simply apply for German citizenship alone – she should just choose. Her husband explained that this was not possible: his wife wanted to keep both passports, and he had already submitted the reasons in writing. The employee reportedly said she didn’t understand. After this conversation, Barbara W. simply felt “written off” – as if her case were closed.

Her husband describes what followed: The documents had to be uploaded online via a contact form. “There’s just this link – no email, nothing. And then you’re in nirvana.” An acknowledgment of receipt never came. “I have no confirmation, nothing. Then there was silence.” Years later, the Berlin Immigration Office, which had since taken over responsibility, contacted them again with a new request: submit all documents again, this time with updated tax assessments and insurance certificates. The couple submitted everything on time. Since then, nothing has happened.

More than 40,000 pending applications at the Berlin Immigration Office

Since January 1, 2024, the Berlin Immigration Office (LEA) has been responsible for all naturalizations in Berlin. A spokesperson explains the long waits: the office inherited more than 40,000 open cases from the Berlin district offices—the oldest dating back to 2005. At the same time, the reform of the Nationality Act in summer 2024 meant that significantly more people became eligible for naturalization and submitted applications. Numbers show the surge: just over 9,000 naturalizations in 2023; 21,000 in 2024; nearly 39,000 in 2025.

The LEA doesn’t track average wait times statistically. Processing order does not depend solely on waiting time, but also on document completeness and validity—explaining requests for fresh tax assessments or insurance certificates years later. All applications are processed with equal priority. As for what affected individuals can do legally, the LEA remains vague: “Filing an action for failure to act is not recommended”—with “no reason given.

The couple has chronologically arranged their procedure documents—letters, emails, printouts, labeled front and back. Again and again, the same automatic note appeared in the correspondence: incomplete documentation halts processing. A decision is still pending. “This has been going on since the end of 2021,” says Peter W. “And we still don’t know what’s going on.”

This article was originally written and published on the 14th of February in German. It was translated in English with the use of Artificial Intelligence.