Naturalizing Your Child With You in Cologne: What the Kalk Office Needs, Fee, and the Age 16 Line

Cologne First: One Request, Named Family Members

Stadt Köln does not ask parents to find a child’s form first. Its service page for Einbürgerung says that you apply through the Einbürgerung contact form with the subject “Terminvereinbarung”, and that you state your full personal details with date of birth and the number and names of the family members who apply with you. That request is treated as the application. Afterwards you receive an invitation to a personal clarification appointment. Visits only happen with an appointment and an invitation from the Ausländeramt.

The office is the Einbürgerungsbehörde at Bezirksrathaus Kalk, Kalker Hauptstraße 247-273, 51103 Köln. According to the address page, visitors enter through the information desk in Gebäude A, Dillenburger Straße 56, and the phone line (0221 / 221-29835) is staffed Monday to Friday from 8 to 12. Cases are handled in the order they arrive. The service page quotes a wait of about 12 months, and says the office contacts you about 5 months before an appointment is free. At the clarification appointment the office checks your documents for completeness, children’s documents included.

Check Before You Apply: Is Your Child Already German?

Section 4 StAG can make naturalization unnecessary. Section 4 gives a child German citizenship at birth if a parent is German. It also gives it to a child born in Germany to foreign parents if one parent has lived lawfully in Germany for five years and holds an unlimited right of residence (or the Swiss free-movement permit described in the law). If that applies, the acquisition is entered in the birth register. If your child was born abroad, or your residence status at the birth did not meet the test, co-naturalization is the practical path.

The Rule That Lets a Child Ride Along

Section 10 StAG is the core. Paragraph 1 sets the standard route for a foreigner with five years of lawful habitual residence. Paragraph 2 then says that the spouse or registered partner and the minor children can be naturalized “nach Maßgabe des Absatzes 1” (according to paragraph 1) even if they have not lived lawfully in Germany for five years. Two consequences follow:

• The parent has to qualify. Identity and nationality must be clarified, the parent needs a suitable residence title, and the family must be able to support itself without SGB II or SGB XII benefits, with the exceptions listed in the law (for example, someone working full time for at least 20 of the last 24 months).
• The child does not need its own five years. That is the whole point of the provision.

Stadt Köln’s page lists the same requirements for applicants: five years of lawful residence, no Bürgergeld (called Grundsicherungsgeld in the law since 1 July 2026) or Sozialhilfe (with exceptions), no relevant criminal record, a commitment to the free democratic order, and clarified identity and nationality.

What Changes at Age 16

The law and the city both draw the line at 16. Section 34 StAG says that a person can act in naturalization proceedings from the age of 16. Below that, the legal representative acts. Stadt Köln says this directly on its page: from 16, a person files an own application, and a CV with contact details is added.

For a 16-year-old, the page asks for a school-leaving certificate of at least Hauptschulabschluss level or equivalent, or a current school certificate. For younger children it asks for the school reports of the last four years (second half-year), a current school certificate, the consent of a parent with a copy of that parent’s passport, and the custody judgment where one exists. The page labels the younger list “bis 15 Jahre” (up to age 15) and the older one “ab 16 Jahre”, which fits the age 16 line, but the wording is short, so if your child is close to 16, ask the office which list applies.

Documents for the Whole Family

Stadt Köln’s list for the adult applicant also applies to the family file: a valid national passport and, where relevant, other identity documents, the birth certificate, marriage or partnership certificates, and for divorced parents a divorce judgment with a final-and-binding stamp. Foreign documents need a certified translation by a sworn translator based in Germany, joined to a copy and sealed. A valid residence permit is required, and a Fiktionsbescheinigung does not count. Add the evidence matching your situation, for example payslips, rental proof and a pension record for employees, or documents for the self-employed.

Two things that are specific to families:

• Custody. The city asks for the custody judgment where one exists, and for the written consent of a parent. If custody is shared, ask the office whether both parents have to sign. The page does not spell it out, so do not guess.
• Names. If you want to declare a child’s name as part of the process, read our page on the name declaration before the appointment.

What It Costs

Section 38 StAG sets the fee for a naturalization at 255 euro and reduces it to 51 euro for a minor child who is naturalized together with someone else (in practice a parent) and has no own income within the meaning of the income tax law. Stadt Köln lists it as 255 euro per adult, 51 euro for minor children without income and 255 euro for a minor who applies alone. The city states that the full fee is due when you apply. If you withdraw, 25 percent is refunded, and if the application is refused, nothing is. It prefers card payments, but cash is accepted. A family of two adults and two children without income would therefore plan for 2 × 255 + 2 × 51 = 612 euro (an illustrative calculation only, if both adults naturalize).

Dual Citizenship

According to Stadt Köln’s FAQ, German law now generally allows multiple nationalities, but your country of origin may not. Ask its embassy or consulate whether your child would lose that citizenship. See also our page on dual citizenship and your original nationality.

While You Wait

The wait is long, and the family has duties until the end. Stadt Köln says you must keep passports and residence permits valid until the naturalization certificate is handed over, and the application does not change that. Report all changes to your original information directly, such as a new address, a new surname after marriage, or a change or loss of job, through the contact form with the subject “Nachfrage/Anfrage zu einem laufenden Einbürgerungsverfahren” and your file number. For travel meanwhile, you use the current passport. What happens at the end of the process is covered on our page about the naturalization ceremony.

After the Certificate: Your Child’s First German Papers

Once the certificate is handed over, the next errands are at a Bürgeramt, not at Kalk. Stadt Köln’s page on ID documents for minors says that minors must apply in person, from birth, and it lays out who has to be there:

The page does not list fees, validity periods or the document types, so confirm those when you book. If your family’s custody situation is unclear on paper, sort it out before the Bürgeramt visit, because the same papers you assembled for the naturalization (custody judgment, parents’ IDs) are the ones the Bürgeramt will ask for.

Common Mistakes

• Waiting for the child’s form. In Cologne, the family request through the contact form is the start. Do not wait for a separate child application to appear.
• Leaving children out of the first request. Name every family member who applies with you in the first request, since the city’s page asks for their number and names.
• Letting passports or residence permits lapse. The city says they must stay valid until the certificate.
• Overlooking the birthday. A child who reaches 16 during the process moves into the “own application, CV, proof of language and civic knowledge” category, and the office should hear about it early.
• Assuming the reduced fee is automatic. It applies to minor children without own income who are naturalized together with a parent. A minor who applies alone pays the full 255 euro.

Step by Step

1. Check whether your child is already German under Section 4 StAG.
2. Check your own requirements: five years of residence, no benefits, language, test, residence title. A child cannot carry a parent who does not qualify.
3. Send the contact-form request with the subject Terminvereinbarung, naming each family member and their date of birth.
4. Gather documents in parallel: passports, birth certificates, school documents for the children, custody judgment if relevant, certified translations.
5. Attend the clarification appointment and clarify who must sign for a child under 16 and which school documents apply.
6. Pay the fee when you apply and keep the receipt.
7. Keep documents valid and report changes while the case is pending.
8. Plan for the 16th and 18th birthdays if they fall in the waiting period.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general rules on naturalizing a child together with a parent under the Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz and the process that Stadt Köln describes publicly, current as of October 2026, but it is not legal advice. Naturalization law has changed in recent years and individual cases differ. Confirm your situation with the Einbürgerungsbehörde of Stadt Köln or a lawyer specializing in citizenship law before you apply.