Miteinbürgerung in Frankfurt Goes Through the Standesamt, Not FIO, and the Backlog Changes the Age-16 Math
A child doesn't need any residence history of their own to become German alongside a parent under Section 10 StAG, the child's eligibility is entirely derivative of the parent's own naturalization. What's genuinely Frankfurt-specific is which office handles it. Unlike Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich, where a dedicated immigration authority processes naturalization alongside residence permits, Frankfurt routes every naturalization case, including a child's, through Standesamt Frankfurt, the city's civil registry office at Berliner Straße 33-35, the same office that already handles a parent's own application on this site's companion guide to Frankfurt naturalization. FIO, the Ausländerbehörde, plays no role in this process at all. For a child under 16, the fee is 51 euros on top of the parent's own 255 euros, and the language standard drops to age-appropriate German development rather than the B1 certificate and Einbürgerungstest an adult needs. A parent or legal representative submits the application on the child's behalf below that age; once a child turns 16, Standesamt Frankfurt's own rule is that they submit their own application instead. The detail worth planning around given everything already documented about Frankfurt's own naturalization wait: Section 10, paragraph 4 of the StAG fixes a child's age at the moment naturalization is actually granted, not the moment the family filed, and with Standesamt Frankfurt's own reported appointment wait running around 12 months and total processing potentially stretching toward 2029 for people filing in late 2025, a child comfortably under 16 at filing can still cross that line before a decision ever arrives.
The Official Rule
Where the ius soli rule’s own residence and permit conditions weren’t met at a 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 genuinely Frankfurt-specific here isn’t that federal mechanism, it’s which office actually runs it. As this site’s companion guide to Frankfurt’s naturalization process already documents, Frankfurt breaks from Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich in a structural way: naturalization, a parent’s own application and a child’s co-naturalization alike, runs through Standesamt Frankfurt, the civil registry office at Berliner Straße 33-35, the same office that handles births, marriages, and name changes. FIO, the Ausländerbehörde that handles every other residence matter in the city, has no role in this process at all, and confusing the two offices is a genuinely common, avoidable mistake given how central FIO is to almost everything else a newcomer deals with in Frankfurt.
| Age when naturalization is decided | Language standard | Who submits the application |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 | Age-appropriate German development, no formal certificate or test | Parent or legal representative, alongside their own application |
| 16 and older | Independent B1-level standard, generally with the Einbürgerungstest | The child submits their own application |
What Standesamt Frankfurt Charges to Add a Child
Standesamt Frankfurt’s own fee schedule, already documented in detail on this site’s Frankfurt naturalization guide, sets 255 euros per adult applicant and 51 euros for a child under 16 included on a parent’s file. A child who has already turned 16 doesn’t fall under that reduced tier at all, since it’s defined specifically for children under that age, so a family with one parent and two children, one aged 12 and one aged 17, budgets 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) |
Photo by Kenneth Surillo on Pexels
Shared Custody: Confirm the Specific Document Directly
A detail worth raising early rather than assuming: Standesamt Frankfurt’s general naturalization materials, checked directly for this page, confirm the fee and language rules for a child’s inclusion but don’t spell out a specific consent form for shared-custody situations the way some other German cities publish a dedicated template for. That doesn’t mean no consent requirement exists, it means the specific document Frankfurt expects isn’t detailed on the general page this article is based on. If you and your child’s other parent share custody, raise this directly with Standesamt Frankfurt (einbuergerung@stadt-frankfurt.de or 069 212-36291, the same contact channels already documented on our companion naturalization guide) before you submit, rather than leaving the question open and hoping it resolves itself at the appointment.
Why the 16th Birthday Is a Bigger Risk in Frankfurt Than the Law Alone Suggests
This is where Frankfurt’s own well-documented naturalization backlog changes the calculation. Section 10, paragraph 4 of the StAG fixes the moment that matters: 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, identical in every German city.
What’s genuinely Frankfurt’s own problem is how wide the gap between those two moments has grown. As this site’s guide to Frankfurt’s naturalization process documents in detail, Standesamt Frankfurt’s own reported appointment wait ran to roughly 12 months as of late 2025, up from around 8 months just a year earlier, and hessenschau’s October 2025 reporting, based on Standesamt Frankfurt’s own figures, put realistic total completion for someone filing at that point around 2029. Put those two facts together and the practical risk is obvious: a child who is 14 and a half when a family files, comfortably under the lighter standard on paper, can still turn 16 before Standesamt Frankfurt ever reaches a decision, at which point the independent language-and-test standard generally applies regardless of what was true on the day the family submitted.
There’s no published Standesamt Frankfurt guidance offering a specific fix for this timing gap, so the sensible response is precaution rather than 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. And if your child’s 16th birthday is approaching while your family’s file is still sitting with Standesamt Frankfurt, don’t assume your original filing date preserved the lighter standard, raise the timing directly with the office through its own contact channels 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, a separate route entirely that this site covers on its own Frankfurt citizenship-by-birth guide.
- 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.
- Contact Standesamt Frankfurt directly, at einbuergerung@stadt-frankfurt.de or (069) 212-36291, not FIO, to confirm current requirements for including your child.
- If custody is shared, ask Standesamt Frankfurt specifically what consent documentation it expects before you submit, since this isn't detailed on the office's general public page.
- If your child is under 16, budget the extra 51 EUR alongside your own 255 EUR, and expect age-appropriate German rather than a B1 certificate for their part of the file.
- If your child is within about two years of turning 16, start B1-level German and Einbürgerungstest preparation as a hedge, given how long Standesamt Frankfurt's own processing can run.
- If your child turns 16 while your family's application is still pending, contact Standesamt Frankfurt directly rather than assuming your original filing date locked in the lighter standard.
Compliance Note
This page explains how Standesamt Frankfurt currently handles a minor child’s co-naturalization alongside a parent, based on the city’s own published wording and this site’s own research as of mid-2026. It is not legal advice. Discretionary decisions, custody arrangements, and how the office 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 Standesamt Frankfurt or a lawyer specializing in Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht (nationality law).
FAQ & Common Pitfalls
Does our application go through FIO at any point, since FIO handles our own residence permits?
No, and this is the single most important structural fact to get right before you start. As this site's companion guide to Frankfurt naturalization already documents, Standesamt Frankfurt, the civil registry office at Berliner Straße 33-35, handles every naturalization matter in the city, a parent's own application and a child's co-naturalization alike. FIO, the Ausländerbehörde, has nothing to do with this process. Contacting FIO about a naturalization question is a common, avoidable mix-up given how central FIO is to every other residence matter in Frankfurt.
Is the 51 euro child fee instead of our own fee, or on top of it?
On top of it. A parent applying pays 255 euros, and each child under 16 included on that same file adds 51 euros, per Standesamt Frankfurt's own published fee schedule. A child who has already turned 16 files their own separate application instead, at the standard 255 euro rate, since the reduced tier is defined specifically for children under 16.
Our child will turn 16 while Standesamt Frankfurt is still processing our file. Does their age at filing protect them?
No, and this is genuinely worth taking seriously given how long Frankfurt's own Standesamt has reported this taking. 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. Frankfurt's own Standesamt has reported an appointment wait of roughly 12 months as of late 2025, up from around 8 months a year earlier, and one regional public-broadcaster report put realistic total completion for someone filing then around 2029. A child who is comfortably under 16 when you file can still cross that line before a decision arrives, at which point the independent adult language and test standard generally applies regardless of the filing date. If your child's 16th birthday is approaching while your file is still open, raise it directly with Standesamt Frankfurt rather than assuming your filing date locked anything in.
Does a shared-custody situation need the other parent to sign off on our child being included?
Standesamt Frankfurt's own general naturalization page confirms the fee and language rules for a child's inclusion but does not spell out a specific consent document for shared custody situations the way some other German cities publish their own template for. If custody of your child is shared, raise this directly with Standesamt Frankfurt before submitting rather than assuming either that consent is or isn't required, since this is exactly the kind of detail worth confirming case by case instead of guessing from a general page.