Lose German Citizenship

[Anna C. 4]

Holy Cow that was super quick! Congratz! Though make sure not to take the oath until after you received the BBG in your hands. They put an effective date on there which is the day you pick it up/receive it. Keep putting the oath off until after that. You can have the consulate (if you don't live close) ship it via next day fedex to be really fast.

[karin_brenig 18]

Congratulations!

I've seen this happen before, when you make it understood at the German consulate that this is an "emergency" because you're scheduled for an oath already.

A friend of mine had her BBG in her hands within 6 weeks from the date she filed for it (in person, explaining her situation) at the German consulate and was sworn in as a US citizen 5 days after that.

I'm still not recommending this as the "standard procedure" for getting your dual citizenship German/US, because it's nerve-wrecking - but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do

[soch 2]

SOOOO NERVE-WRECKING! Yes, he was told NOT to take the oath until BBG was in hand because it becomes effective only when in hand. We had written a letter to USCIS asking for a long postponment which went on def ears the first time... lets see this time. Wonder when consulate will tell him to pick up BBG or if it will be mailed and how we can pay for it in Euros.

Again, we can't thank you all enough!

Special thanks to Karin and Brother H!

DANKE! DANKE!

[karin_brenig 18]

SOOOO NERVE-WRECKING! Yes, he was told NOT to take the oath until BBG was in hand because it becomes effective only when in hand. We had written a letter to USCIS asking for a long postponment which went on def ears the first time... lets see this time. Wonder when consulate will tell him to pick up BBG or if it will be mailed and how we can pay for it in Euros.

Again, we can't thank you all enough!

Special thanks to Karin and Brother H!

DANKE! DANKE!

Your husband needs to go to the German consulate personally to pick up his BBG document and sign.

Sending it in the mail takes way too long, because it will have to travel the distance a total of three times before it can be used.

When he goes to pick the BBG up, he needs to provide proof that the 255,- € fee has been paid.

The best way to do this, since his father is in Germany (I believe ?), have his father send an "Überweisung" following the instructions that you will receive from your German consulate on where to send payment.

A scanned copy (or printout from his father's online banking), sent as an email attachment from his father to your husband, of the "Überweisungsbeleg" will be accepted as proof of payment at the German consulate.

Keep us posted

[Anna C. 4]

Depends on your bank - either have a German relative take care of it and pay them back later, or e.g. I have an account with service credit union and hence could make the payment for a $1 fee (that's awesomely cheap). Mail doesn't take that long - e.g. picking up the BBG wasn't feasable for me living 1200 miles from my Consulate... They fedexed it with 2nd day air. I got it, signed the acknowledgement, sent it back and they stamped it double sign whatever and sent it back. If you want them to do the fast fedex fee, just sent a money order for the Fedex fee along and talk to your Consulate contact (your hubbie should have gotten an email from them). The thing is, my BBG was approved on August 19th, and I didn't get it physically until October. You have to be a tad pushy about it... Especially in your case Deutsche Behoerden work slowly.

[Ruffie 22]

Holy Cow that was super quick! Congratz! Though make sure not to take the oath until after you received the BBG in your hands. They put an effective date on there which is the day you pick it up/receive it. Keep putting the oath off until after that. You can have the consulate (if you don't live close) ship it via next day fedex to be really fast.

I don't have an "effective date" on my BBG. There's the date when it was issued (in August 2010) and that's it. I didn't pick it up until January 2011 and there's no mention of that on there anywhere.

[Anna C. 4]

I don't have an "effective date" on my BBG. There's the date when it was issued (in August 2010) and that's it. I didn't pick it up until January 2011 and there's no mention of that on there anywhere.

Yes you do. It is at the bottom left, "ausgehaendigt am" (they enter the date you signed the acknowledgement declaration there). That is your effective date. That's the day that counts! In the attached letter from the Consulate, the date is explained as well as the process (when you first get it, you sign the acknowledgement, then sent the BBG and the signed paper back to the Consulate, who then puts the date on there and how (in person or via Einschreiben) and then they send it back to you.).

Edited February 15, 2012 by Anna C.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

The BBG date is often misunderstood.

Ideally you would pick up the BBG Urkunde in person at the consulate. At that time you show your Green Card as proof that you are not a U.S. citizen yet and then the date will be entered under "ausgehändigt am" bei the consular officer.

If you don't pick it up in person, it's being mailed to you, you sign that you have received it, then mail it back to the consulate, and then they enter the date you received it and again mail it back to you. All of this takes time.

[carpe diem 2]

Supergeil! Looks like all the May filers from NYC will have crossed the finish soon. (Yes, I have kept on eye on you and uham...)

[soch 2]

He would pick it put.... just easier. Now we wait until the consulate contacts him... by mail or email....

[Ruffie 22]

Yes you do. It is at the bottom left, "ausgehaendigt am" (they enter the date you signed the acknowledgement declaration there). That is your effective date. That's the day that counts! In the attached letter from the Consulate, the date is explained as well as the process (when you first get it, you sign the acknowledgement, then sent the BBG and the signed paper back to the Consulate, who then puts the date on there and how (in person or via Einschreiben) and then they send it back to you.).

ya, mine doesn't have that. I picked it up in person (January) five months after it was approved (August) and the date on there says 21 August 2010, nothing else.

[soch 2]

UPDATE... just received an email from USCIS.... saying "On February 16, 2012, we scheduled you for your oath ceremony and sent a notice providing the date, time, and location." (they are either not recieving our postponment letters in time or perhaps ignoring them)

Now how long will the consulate take to receive those papers from Koeln? And contact us to pick it up?

I remember reading that oath rescheduling took months.... This is proof all cases are different.

[karin_brenig 18]

this means they scheduled you for an oath on the 16th - it does not mean your oath ceremony was on the 16th !

You will receive a letter N-445 with the new date for your oath ceremony, which will be at least two weeks after the 16th, maybe even later.

Mail from Köln to your German Consulate can take anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks.

When they have your BBG Urkunde, they will notify you. I received a letter from the Consulate, telling me that my pdocument was ready for pick-up.

In your case, I'd recommend calling your Consulate about 10 days after that email from Köln, telling you that they approved it. Ask, if the Consulate received your paperwork yet, and go there as soon as you can. You'll need to bring proof of your payment of 255,- €, so ask the Consulate for instructions on where to send that money.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

UPDATE!

Last night opened mail box to a letter from USCIS saying: "You were scheduled to appear.... at 8:30am. Our records indicate you failed to appear.... You will be notified by USCIS of the date, place and time of your reschduled Oath..." SO I GUESS WE WAIT FOR A NEW DATE.

Tonight (2 hours ago) husband opened opeend his email to find a letter from koeln saying: "Ihrem Antrag habe ich stattgegeben und eine Beibehaltungsurkunde gefertigt. Die Urkunde habe ich heute an das Generalkonsulat in.... gesandt. Von dort werden Sie weitere Nachricht erhalten."

THERFORE BBG APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS!!!!!!!!?????? So quick! We are so excited! We hope instructions come quick and the next oath ceremony follows.

We can't thank you enough for all your help and support during this process.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats!! Very happy you got this done. VJ wins again

[Anna C. 4]

I couldn't agree more with Karin's advice. That way, it'll be as fast as possible... Hopefully USCIS scheduled the oath in like... hmm April so you won't have to reschedule again!