How LEA Actually Handles a Child's Co-Naturalization in Berlin
A child doesn't need their own residence history to become German alongside a parent under Section 10 StAG, but how that plays out inside Berlin's Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA) system is worth understanding on its own terms. Per LEA's own online service description, a child under 16 is folded directly into the same Online-Antrag a parent is already filing, no separate form, no separate account, just a section within that one roughly-two-hour submission, and the added cost is a confirmed 51 euros on top of the standard 255-euro adult fee. Once a child turns 16, LEA's own wording is explicit: they file an entirely separate application of their own, and since the fee schedule only names a reduced rate for children under 16, the standard 255-euro rate applies to them like it would to any other applicant. If custody is shared, the parent submitting the application also needs the other parent's signed consent, LEA even supplies its own template for that. The detail worth planning around, given everything already documented about Berlin's own naturalization backlog: German law fixes a child's age for the lighter standard at the moment naturalization is actually granted, not the moment you file, and with LEA's own processing running a year or longer by its own admission, a child comfortably under 16 at filing can still cross that line before a decision ever arrives.
The Official Rule
Not every child born to a parent still working toward citizenship becomes German automatically. Where the ius soli rule’s own residence and permit conditions weren’t met at the child’s birth, Section 10 of the Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz opens a second route: a minor child can be naturalized alongside a parent’s own naturalization (Miteinbürgerung), without needing to build up any residence history of their own. The child’s eligibility is entirely derivative of the parent’s, the only real precondition is that the naturalizing parent independently qualifies.
What’s specific to Berlin isn’t that underlying federal mechanism, it’s identical nationwide, it’s how the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA), the single office that has run every naturalization citywide since January 2024, actually built co-naturalization into its own online system. Per Service Berlin’s own Einbürgerung page: “Für Kinder unter 16 Jahren kann die Einbürgerung im Online-Antrag eines sorgeberechtigten Elternteils mitbeantragt werden,” a child under 16 is requested inside the same Online-Antrag a custodial parent is already completing, not through any separate submission. Cross that age line, though, and LEA’s own wording changes entirely: “Ehegatten, Lebenspartner und Kinder ab 16 Jahren müssen einen eigenen Antrag stellen,” spouses, registered partners, and children 16 and older have to file their own independent application. That’s a structural fact worth knowing before you even open the form, not just a substantive one, an older child isn’t only held to a higher bar, LEA’s system genuinely routes them through a different application altogether.
| Age when LEA decides the case | German language standard | How LEA processes it |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 | Age-appropriate German development, no formal certificate or test | Included inside the parent's own Online-Antrag |
| 16 and older | Independent B1-level standard, generally with the Einbürgerungstest | Files as its own separate, independent application |
What LEA Charges to Add a Child
Service Berlin’s own fee schedule is direct about the numbers: 255,00 Euro pro Person for a standard application, and 51,00 Euro für Kinder unter 16 Jahren, die zusammen mit einem sorgeberechtigten Elternteil einen Antrag stellen, 51 euros for a child under 16 riding on a parent’s own file. What the page doesn’t spell out separately, because the wording already implies it, is a rate for a 16- or 17-year-old filing independently: the reduced 51-euro tier is defined explicitly as covering children “unter 16 Jahren,” so an older child filing their own application falls under the same 255-euro per-person rate as any other applicant. Budgeting for a family with one parent and two children, one aged 14 and one aged 17, therefore means 255 plus 51 plus 255, not 255 plus 51 plus 51.
| Applicant | Fee |
|---|---|
| Adult applicant | €255.00 |
| Child under 16, included on a parent's application | €51.00 |
| Child 16 or older, filing their own application | €255.00 (standard rate, no reduced tier past 16) |
If Custody Is Shared, LEA Wants the Other Parent’s Signature
A detail that’s easy to miss until you’re partway through the form: per Service Berlin, “Bei einem gemeinsamen Sorgerecht für ein Kind unter 16 Jahren ist für eine Einbürgerung das Einverständnis beider Elternteile notwendig,” where both parents share custody, naturalizing the child alongside just one of them requires the other parent’s written consent. LEA doesn’t leave this open-ended either, it provides its own document for it, a “Muster: Einverständniserklärung des anderen Sorgeberechtigten,” for the non-applying parent to sign and return. If you and your child’s other parent aren’t on straightforward terms, or that parent lives outside Germany entirely, sort this out well before you’re ready to submit, an incomplete consent document is precisely the kind of gap that stalls a file once it’s in review.
Photo by Marta Branco on Pexels
Why the 16th Birthday Is a Bigger Risk in Berlin Than the Law Alone Suggests
This is where Berlin’s own well-documented naturalization backlog changes the calculation. Section 10, paragraph 4 of the StAG itself fixes the moment that matters: “Bei einem minderjährigen Kind, das im Zeitpunkt der Einbürgerung das 16. Lebensjahr noch nicht vollendet hat, sind die Voraussetzungen des Absatzes 1 Satz 1 Nr. 6 bei einer altersgemäßen Sprachentwicklung erfüllt.” The age that decides which standard applies is the child’s age at the moment naturalization is actually granted, not the age they were on the day the application was filed. That timing rule is federal, it holds the same way in every German city.
What’s genuinely Berlin’s own problem is how wide the gap between those two moments can run. As already documented on this site’s own guide to Berlin’s naturalization process, LEA’s own Willkommenszentrum states that processing “can take a year or longer, sometimes just a few months,” and independent estimates run considerably longer still, up to a 12-to-24-month median by one consultancy’s count, with Berlin singled out as the slowest major-city authority nationally. Put those two facts together and the practical risk becomes obvious: a child who is 14 and a half when you file, comfortably under the lighter standard on paper, can still turn 16 before LEA ever reaches a decision on the case, at which point the independent language-and-test standard applies whether or not that was true on the day you submitted.
There’s no published LEA guidance offering a fix for this specific timing gap, so the sensible response is precaution, not a guaranteed workaround. If your child is within roughly two years of turning 16 when you’re ready to file, treat working toward a B1 certificate and the Einbürgerungstest as a hedge worth starting early, not something to worry about only if the lighter standard turns out not to apply after all. And if your child’s 16th birthday is approaching while your family’s file is still sitting with LEA, don’t assume your original filing date preserved the lighter standard, raise the timing directly with LEA through its official contact channel and ask what it means for your specific case.
Step by Step
- Confirm your child hasn't already acquired German citizenship automatically under the ius soli rule, that's a separate route entirely and wouldn't need any of this.
- Establish your own independent eligibility to naturalize first. Your child's inclusion depends entirely on you clearing that bar, not on any residence history of their own.
- If your child is under 16, plan to add them inside your own Online-Antrag, not as a separate submission, and budget the extra 51 EUR alongside your own 255 EUR.
- If custody is shared, get the other parent's signed consent early using LEA's own Einverständniserklärung template, this is a common place for a file to stall in review.
- If your child is within about two years of turning 16, start B1-level German and Einbürgerungstest preparation now. Given how long LEA's own processing can run, the lighter standard isn't guaranteed to still apply once a decision actually arrives.
- If your child turns 16 while your family's application is still pending, contact LEA directly rather than assuming your original filing date locked in the lighter standard.
- If your child is already 16 or older, plan for their own separate application and the standard 255 EUR fee, not the reduced child rate.
Compliance Note
This page explains how Berlin’s LEA currently handles a minor child’s co-naturalization alongside a parent, based on LEA’s and Service Berlin’s own published wording as of mid-2026. It is not legal advice. Discretionary decisions, custody arrangements, and how LEA handles a child crossing the age-16 line mid-process can vary by individual circumstances. For anything beyond a straightforward case, confirm your specific situation directly with LEA through its official contact channels or with a lawyer specializing in Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht (nationality law).
FAQ & Common Pitfalls
Does our child need their own LEA account or login if they're under 16?
No. Per Service Berlin's own wording, a child under 16 is requested inside the same Online-Antrag the custodial parent is already completing, there's no separate account, login, or submission for them at that age. Once your child turns 16, that changes: LEA's own page is explicit that children 16 and older must file an entirely separate application, which in practice means their own submission within LEA's system, not just a heavier substantive standard applied to the same file.
Our child will turn 16 while we're still waiting for a decision. Does their age at filing time protect them?
No, and this is worth taking seriously given how long Berlin's LEA specifically can take. Section 10, paragraph 4 of the StAG fixes the relevant age at the moment naturalization is actually granted, not the moment the application was filed. Since Berlin's own Willkommenszentrum describes processing as potentially a year or longer, a child who was comfortably under 16 when you submitted the paperwork can still cross that threshold before LEA reaches a decision, at which point the independent adult standard generally applies regardless of the filing date. Raise this directly with LEA if your child's 16th birthday is approaching while your file is still open.
What if our child's other parent won't sign the consent form?
LEA's own rule requires the other parent's signed consent whenever custody is shared and the child is under 16, using LEA's own Einverständniserklärung template. If the other parent is unreachable, uncooperative, or you hold sole custody instead, the requirement changes, and that's exactly the kind of complication worth raising with LEA directly, or with a lawyer specializing in Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht, before you submit rather than leaving the field incomplete and hoping it resolves itself.
Is the 51 EUR child fee on top of our own 255 EUR fee, or instead of it?
On top of it. Each adult applicant pays 255 EUR, and each child under 16 included on that application adds 51 EUR to the total, per Service Berlin's own fee schedule. A parent applying with two children under 16 pays 255 plus 51 plus 51, 357 EUR total. A child aged 16 or older who has to file their own separate application instead falls under the standard 255 EUR per-person rate, since the reduced tier is defined specifically as applying to children under 16.