How long does citizenship take in your city?

People who applied have shared 546 cases from 96 cities. The table shows how long those who already got a decision waited on average. Open your city to see every case.

Among cities with at least 10 reports, Berlin is currently the fastest at about 8.7 months and München the slowest at about 20.6 months.

Baden-Württemberg

CityAverage waitReports
Stuttgart364 days (≈ 12 months)16
Karlsruhe400 days (≈ 13.1 months)10
Freiburg im Breisgau468 days (≈ 15.4 months)7
Heidelberg452 days (≈ 14.8 months)5
Konstanz525 days (≈ 17.2 months)5
Landkreis Schwäbisch Hall160 days (≈ 5.3 months)4
Mannheim331 days (≈ 10.9 months)3
Reutlingen802 days (≈ 26.3 months)3
Esslingen am Neckar311 days (≈ 10.2 months)2
Heilbronn61 days (≈ 2 months)2
Aalen327 days (≈ 10.7 months)1
Eppelheim213 days (≈ 7 months)1
Ravensburg548 days (≈ 18 months)1
Tübingen374 days (≈ 12.3 months)1
Ulm305 days (≈ 10 months)1
Villingen-Schwenningen315 days (≈ 10.3 months)1

Bayern

CityAverage waitReports
München626 days (≈ 20.6 months)59
Nürnberg438 days (≈ 14.4 months)11
Ingolstadt104 days (≈ 3.4 months)8
Augsburg507 days (≈ 16.7 months)6
Erlangen376 days (≈ 12.4 months)2
Bad Tölz23 days1
Bamberg215 days (≈ 7.1 months)1
Neu-Ulm457 days (≈ 15 months)1
Passau281 days (≈ 9.2 months)1
Rosenheim397 days (≈ 13 months)1
Würzburg31 days1

Berlin

CityAverage waitReports
Berlin264 days (≈ 8.7 months)141

Brandenburg

CityAverage waitReports
Eberswalde810 days (≈ 26.6 months)2
Brandenburg an der Havel213 days (≈ 7 months)1
Cottbus455 days (≈ 14.9 months)1
Oberspreewald-Lausitz (OSL)147 days (≈ 4.8 months)1
Potsdam801 days (≈ 26.3 months)1

Bremen

CityAverage waitReports
Bremen498 days (≈ 16.4 months)5

Hamburg

CityAverage waitReports
Hamburg570 days (≈ 18.7 months)24

Hessen

CityAverage waitReports
Frankfurt am Main291 days (≈ 9.6 months)12
Wiesbaden335 days (≈ 11 months)7
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe617 days (≈ 20.3 months)5
Darmstadt424 days (≈ 13.9 months)5
Kassel518 days (≈ 17 months)4
Offenbach am Main578 days (≈ 19 months)3
Fulda30 days1
Marburg274 days (≈ 9 months)1
Rüsselsheim am Main552 days (≈ 18.1 months)1

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

CityAverage waitReports
Rostock97 days (≈ 3.2 months)1

Niedersachsen

CityAverage waitReports
Hannover257 days (≈ 8.4 months)8
Wolfsburg548 days (≈ 18 months)3
Braunschweig452 days (≈ 14.8 months)2
Celle48 days (≈ 1.6 months)1
Delmenhorst383 days (≈ 12.6 months)1
Göttingen548 days (≈ 18 months)1
Landkreis Harburg (Winsen/Luhe)140 days (≈ 4.6 months)1
Lingen (Ems)519 days (≈ 17 months)1
Oldenburg178 days (≈ 5.8 months)1
Osnabrück1 days1
Wilhelmshaven355 days (≈ 11.7 months)1

Nordrhein-Westfalen

CityAverage waitReports
Aachen328 days (≈ 10.8 months)34
Köln452 days (≈ 14.8 months)11
Düsseldorf168 days (≈ 5.5 months)9
Bonn130 days (≈ 4.3 months)7
Essen245 days (≈ 8 months)7
Münster1112 days (≈ 36.5 months)7
Bielefeld673 days (≈ 22.1 months)4
Bochum234 days (≈ 7.7 months)4
Hagen244 days (≈ 8 months)4
Mülheim an der Ruhr702 days (≈ 23.1 months)3
Duisburg141 days (≈ 4.6 months)2
Gummersbach274 days (≈ 9 months)2
Viersen221 days (≈ 7.3 months)2
Wuppertal939 days (≈ 30.8 months)2
Bocholt788 days (≈ 25.9 months)1
Dortmund242 days (≈ 8 months)1
Erftstadt164 days (≈ 5.4 months)1
Gelsenkirchen246 days (≈ 8.1 months)1
Hamm98 days (≈ 3.2 months)1
Meerbusch91 days (≈ 3 months)1
Moers304 days (≈ 10 months)1
Oberhausen520 days (≈ 17.1 months)1
Recklinghausen6 days1
Siegen635 days (≈ 20.9 months)1
Steinfurt467 days (≈ 15.3 months)1

Rheinland-Pfalz

CityAverage waitReports
Mainz352 days (≈ 11.6 months)5
Kaiserslautern228 days (≈ 7.5 months)3
Trier648 days (≈ 21.3 months)2

Saarland

CityAverage waitReports
Saarbrücken1019 days (≈ 33.5 months)5

Sachsen

CityAverage waitReports
Leipzig1298 days (≈ 42.6 months)9
Dresden1081 days (≈ 35.5 months)5
Chemnitz659 days (≈ 21.6 months)1

Sachsen-Anhalt

CityAverage waitReports
Magdeburg573 days (≈ 18.8 months)4
Landkreis Börde87 days (≈ 2.9 months)1

Schleswig-Holstein

CityAverage waitReports
Lübeck554 days (≈ 18.2 months)2
Norderstedt211 days (≈ 6.9 months)2
Kiel448 days (≈ 14.7 months)1

Thüringen

CityAverage waitReports
Jena140 days (≈ 4.6 months)3
Erfurt69 days (≈ 2.3 months)1
Weimar867 days (≈ 28.5 months)1

These are voluntary reports from applicants, not official figures. Cities with few reports can change quickly.

FAQ

Quick, practical answers about how the timeline works, what the numbers mean, and how to contribute.

Where does the data come from?▾
The numbers come from anonymized, community-submitted timelines. Each entry is a real user report, so results can vary by case and over time.
What does “Average (Approved)” mean?▾
It’s the average processing time of approved applications only. This avoids mixing in ongoing (“pending”) cases when comparing cities.
How do you calculate time for “pending” applications?▾
If someone selected “pending”, we count days from the application submission date up to today. If the submission date is missing, we can’t compute it.
Fastest / slowest cities: how is that decided?▾
We sort cities by their “Average (Approved)” when enough approved entries exist. Small sample sizes can be noisy, so treat rankings as directional.
What is the “route” (Standard / Marriage / Special)?▾
Route indicates the basis of eligibility (e.g. standard 5 years, marriage 3 years). Different routes can have different timelines, so we show breakdowns.
Berlin has “Referat”. What is that?▾
Berlin processes cases by internal units (“Referat”, often S1–S6). If your letter or emails mention a unit, selecting it helps make the Berlin stats more accurate.
Is my submission private?▾
Yes. Submissions are anonymous and only include what you enter. Don’t share names, case numbers, or sensitive documents in the notes.
Is this official legal advice?▾
No. Citizify is a community tracker, not a government source. Use it as a reference, and confirm details with official channels for your case.
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Citizenship Waiting Times by City, Germany 2026 | Citizify