Passport, birth certificate, language certificate, proof of income, translations and apostilles: what the naturalisation authority asks for.
A naturalisation application rarely fails because of the form. It stalls because documents are missing and the authority has to ask for them. Every such request costs weeks.
This list separates what almost every naturalisation authority wants to see from what is only added in particular circumstances.
Submit copies, not originals — unless the authority explicitly asks for the original, for example your passport for inspection at an appointment. Keep a copy of everything you hand in.
The passport of your country of origin, valid. If you do not have one, your replacement travel document takes its place — for example a travel document for refugees or for stateless persons.
Your electronic residence permit, or the certificate of your right of free movement if you are an EU citizen.
For foreign certificates, usually with a certified translation.
A certificate at level B1, a German school-leaving qualification, or vocational training or a degree completed in Germany.
The certificate confirming you passed the citizenship test or the “Leben in Deutschland” test.
Depending on your situation: payslips for the past few months and your employment contract; if you are self-employed, your most recent tax assessment and a statement of profits; if you are retired, your pension notice.
Along with proof of your health insurance and pension insurance.
For the naturalisation certificate. Your naturalisation authority will tell you how many and in which format.
Documents not issued in German are generally only accepted with a translation by a translator sworn or authorised in Germany. A translation made in your country of origin is often refused.
Some authorities additionally require confirmation that a foreign document is genuine. Which of the two applies depends on the issuing country.
This step can take months in some countries. If it applies to you, start with it rather than leaving it until last — it is the one item on this list you cannot speed up.
If you are married, were in a civil partnership, are divorced or widowed — each with a certified translation if not issued in German.
For every child to be naturalised with you. If the other parent lives separately, their consent or proof of custody is often required as well.
As proof that you live in the area this authority is responsible for.
If someone submits the application on your behalf: the guardian's certificate, the court order, or the power of attorney.
The naturalisation authority queries the Federal Central Criminal Register itself. As a rule you do not need to obtain a certificate of good conduct — and if you apply for one unasked, you pay a fee for nothing.
The documents are one half of the job; the application is the other. It runs to ten pages and asks about previous marriages, all your children, both parents, every place you have lived since birth, and your income in seventeen separate categories.
AmtWerk asks you for these details as plain questions in your own language and enters them, in German, into the official form of your federal state. At present that is North Rhine-Westphalia.
Last updated: 05.09.2026
AmtWerk is a form-filling aid, not legal advice. Which documents are required in your case, and in which form, is decided by the competent naturalisation authority — the lists differ from city to city.