I am a US citizen, born to American parents.  However, I was born in
Munich, Germany in 1971 and then raised in Germany.  I have recently
taken a job in Switzerland and it would make my life a lot easier if I
had an EU passport.  However, my recollection is that Germany does not
allow dual citizenship.  My questions is:  Is there any way to get
dual citizenship with Germany since I was born and raised there?  And
what is required to do so?

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Request for Question Clarification by hummer-ga on 16 Jul 2006 19:32 PDT

Hi toad680,

The news isn't good, assuming you were born before 1990.

II. Basic Primer on German Citizenship Law
1. A person can become a German citizen in one of three ways: by
birth, by adoption as a minor, or by naturalization.
2. A person may be born a German citizen by either jus sanguinis,
i.e., through descent from his/her parents, or jus soli, i.e., through
place of birth.
c. "Those born in Germany to non-German parents before February 2,
1990, have no claim to German citizenship under this law."
http://usembassy.state.gov/germany/services/dual_nationality.html

Does this answer your question?
hummer

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Clarification of Question by toad680-ga on 16 Jul 2006 20:26 PDT

Thanks Hummer.  Sadly, yes, that answers it.

Hi toad680,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to post my answer, I'm sorry
it's not what you were hoping for.

United States Diplomatic Mission to Germany
II. Basic Primer on German Citizenship Law
1. A person can become a German citizen in one of three ways: by
birth, by adoption as a minor, or by naturalization.
2. A person may be born a German citizen by either jus sanguinis,
i.e., through descent from his/her parents, or jus soli, i.e., through
place of birth.
c. "Those born in Germany to non-German parents before February 2,
1990, have no claim to German citizenship under this law."
http://usembassy.state.gov/germany/services/dual_nationality.html

Center for Immigration Studies
Germany
"36. "In July 1999, The Citizenship Law Reform Act was published in
the German official gazette. This act entered into force on January 1,
2000. Under the new law, German citizenship has always been and will
continue to be passed on by parents to the children. Any child of a
German national (mother or father, married or not married) will be
considered a German citizen by birth, whether born inside or outside
Germany. The Reform Act introduces an aspect of ?Äûterritorial
acquisition?:  any child born inside Germany to parents of foreign
nationality will acquire German nationality by birth if at least one
parent has been lawfully  resident in Germany for at least eight years
and has for at least three  years been the holder of a certain higher
form of residence permit. This new  provision will apply to most
children of migrant workers who have been living  in Germany for at
least eight years. Those children, however, once they  have grown up
will have to decide between keeping German citizenship and  renouncing
their other citizenship (i.e. that of their parents) or keeping the
foreign nationality and losing the German nationality. Under the
existing German Citizenship Law (which in this respect corresponds to
that of many other countries)  German nationals lose their German
citizenship if and when they acquire a foreign nationality upon their
own application, i.e. by naturalization."
http://www.cis.org/articles/2001/paper20/renshonappendix.html

I was glad to be able to find this for you. If you have any questions,
please post a clarification request and wait for me to respond before
closing/rating my answer.

Thank you,
hummer

Google Search Terms Used: Germany dual citizenship