Originally Posted by BigFlyer
Is there some sort of secret competition going on in this thread to see who can give the most wrong information in the most authoritative sounding way?
From an official page of the German Foreign Office at
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/e...e/faq/kat3/F10:
As well as German nationality, our child has had a second nationality since birth. Does our child have to choose between the two in later life?
No, as far as German law is concerned, if your child automatically had two nationalities at birth, he/she does not have to decide between the two at a later stage. Your child is therefore a permanent holder of dual nationality. In some cases, the law of the other country may however dictate a need to choose.
If there is a prize for "misleading information" then perhaps that prize should go to the German Foreign Office! The above quote is actually quite inaccurate and misleading because it makes it appear as though it is ALWAYS the case that German dual nationals can keep their dual nationality for life - which is not correct.
Under current law (in force since 2000) there are two ways of being born into German nationality - by descent and by birth. Those born into German nationality by descent (i.e., children of German parents) do not have to choose. Those born into German nationality by birth (i.e., children born in Germany to parents who are residents but not citizens) have to choose between German citizenship and their parents' citizenship before age 23.
This is what I found out
so far - but I believe there must be another set of circumstances in which dual nationals lose their German nationality because a friend of mine has recently lost hers (she had a letter from the German Embassy instructing her to return her German passport as she is no longer entitled to it). She was born outside Germany to a German father and non-German mother.