Miteinbürgerung in Hamburg: One Family Application, a Separate Form Under 16, and What a Custody Order Adds
Co-naturalizing a minor child alongside a parent in Hamburg runs on the same federal law as everywhere in Germany: § 10 StAG lets a child ride along on a parent's own naturalization without needing independent years of residence, and § 34 StAG draws a hard capacity line at age 16, below it a child cannot act in the proceeding at all and a parent handles everything, at or above it the child is treated like an adult applicant and signs their own declarations. What's genuinely Hamburg-specific sits in the paperwork, not the law itself. The Amt für Migration's Einbürgerungsabteilung actually publishes two separate application forms, Eb-Antrag Kind for a child under 16 and Eb-Antrag Volljährig once they've crossed that line, and its own guidance states plainly that a family filing together needs only one application, not one per person. That single filing still has to include documentation the adult-only process doesn't ask for: a Sorgerechtsbeschluss or Vormundsbestallung proving custody, a signed Einverständniserklärung from the other custodial parent when custody is shared, and proof of the parents' own current income and employment submitted specifically for the child's part of the file. The fee holds at 51 EUR per child riding along versus 255 EUR if a child applies alone. On timing, Hamburg's naturalization backlog, 31,539 open proceedings as of August 2025 per a Bürgerschaft inquiry, isn't broken out by age at all, so there's no official figure for how long a child's co-naturalization specifically adds beyond however long the parent's own case runs.
The Part That Isn’t Different: § 10 StAG
Hamburg’s Amt für Migration runs child co-naturalization on the same federal statute as every other city in Germany. § 10 StAG lets a minor child be naturalized alongside a parent without accumulating any independent years of residence of their own, the child’s eligibility rides entirely on the parent qualifying for naturalization in their own right. The substantive bar a child has to clear also scales by age exactly the same way here as anywhere else: under 16 at the time of naturalization, age-appropriate German language development is enough, no Einbürgerungstest, no loyalty declaration. At 16 and older, a child is generally expected to meet the same independent standard an adult applicant does. None of that changes by postcode, and this site’s Munich guide to Miteinbürgerung covers that substantive breakdown in more depth if you want it spelled out further.
What’s actually worth reading a Hamburg-specific page for is what the Amt für Migration’s own Einbürgerungsabteilung, already covered in detail in this site’s guide to Hamburg’s naturalization process, does with that same age line procedurally. It splits it into two different application forms, requires documentation an adult-only file never sees, and its own backlog reporting has a real gap where a child-specific number would be.
Two Forms, Split at the Same Age Line
§ 34 StAG sets the underlying rule Hamburg’s paperwork is built around: “Fähig zur Vornahme von Verfahrenshandlungen nach diesem Gesetz ist, wer das 16. Lebensjahr vollendet hat” (capable of taking procedural action under this law is whoever has completed their 16th year of life). Below that age, a child has no capacity to act in a nationality proceeding at all, a parent or guardian handles the entire filing on their behalf. At or above it, the child is legally capable of acting for themselves and signs their own declarations.
Hamburg’s Amt für Migration mirrors that line directly in its own paperwork. Its naturalization forms page publishes two separate downloadable applications: Eb-Antrag Kind, last revised 11 September 2024, for naturalizing a child who hasn’t yet turned 16, and a separate Eb-Antrag Volljährig used once someone, whether an adult or a child who has crossed the § 34 StAG line, can act in the proceeding independently.
| Eb-Antrag Kind | Eb-Antrag Volljährig | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | A minor child under 16 at the time of naturalization | An adult, or a minor who has turned 16 |
| Who signs it | A parent or legal guardian, on the child's behalf | The applicant, acting for themselves |
| Legal basis for the split | § 34 StAG, no capacity to act below 16 | § 34 StAG, capacity to act at 16 and older |
| Language and test standard | Age-appropriate German development only | Generally the same independent standard as an adult |
This is worth sitting with for a moment: the form split and the substantive requirement split use the same age, 16, but they aren’t the same rule. One is about whether your child can legally act in their own proceeding. The other is about what they have to demonstrate to pass it. Hamburg’s paperwork happens to draw both lines in the same place because federal law already does.
File Once, Not Once Per Child
One genuinely practical detail Hamburg’s own guidance states plainly: if you’re applying as a family unit, you only need to submit one application, not a separate filing for each child. A parent naturalizing alongside two children under 16 isn’t expected to fill out three independent applications, the Eb-Antrag Kind documentation for each child rides inside the same overall family filing as the parent’s own case.
That efficiency comes with a catch worth planning around. This site’s guide to Hamburg’s naturalization process already flags that the online application at antragsservice-einbuergerung.de cannot be saved partway through, abandoning a session means starting completely over. That quirk gets meaningfully higher-stakes once a family filing means gathering documents for more than one person before you ever open the form: your own paperwork, plus your child’s birth certificate, plus, where relevant, custody documentation covered in the next section. Block out real time and have everything ready before you start, the “family unit” convenience of filing once only pays off if that one session actually finishes.
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels
What a Custody Order Adds to the File
This is the piece an adult-only naturalization application never has to deal with, and it’s worth flagging early if it applies to your family. Per Hamburg’s own guidance, a minor’s co-naturalization file needs:
- Nachweis des Sorgerechts, a Sorgerechtsbeschluss (custody court order) or Vormundsbestallung (guardianship appointment), wherever custody isn’t straightforwardly held by both naturalizing parents together.
- A signed Einverständniserklärung (consent declaration) from the other custodial parent, whenever custody is shared, including in divorced or never-married situations where the other parent isn’t part of the naturalization application at all.
- Separate proof of the parents’ current employment and income, submitted specifically for the child’s part of the file, distinct from whatever income documentation the parent’s own naturalization application already requires.
None of this is unique to naturalization procedure generally, German family law asks for the same kind of custody documentation in plenty of other administrative contexts. What’s worth planning around is timing: a parent can be entirely ready for their own naturalization and still have their child’s co-naturalization stall on a missing signature from someone who isn’t cooperating, can’t easily be reached, or is abroad. If that describes your situation, start this specific piece of paperwork first, not last, and consider a free consultation with an Einbürgerungslotsen volunteer if the custody side of your family’s situation is anything but simple.
What the Fee Actually Is
| Applicant | Fee |
|---|---|
| Adult applicant | €255.00 |
| Minor child, naturalized together with a parent | €51.00 |
| Minor child, applying without a parent | €255.00 |
The 51 EUR figure only applies when a child has no independent income under German income tax law and is genuinely being naturalized alongside a parent, not filing on their own. Fee reductions can apply for households receiving certain public assistance, worth raising directly with the Einbürgerungsabteilung rather than assuming it doesn’t apply to you.
The Backlog Has No Line for Children
Hamburg’s naturalization backlog is a matter of public record, and the most recent figures come from a written parliamentary inquiry, Drucksache 23/1162, submitted 18 August 2025 by a member of the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft. The response confirms 31,539 open naturalization proceedings as of 20 August 2025, with 10,541 new applications filed between 1 January and 18 August of that year.
What that same document also confirms, directly and repeatedly, is that Hamburg doesn’t break any of this down further than the office’s core operational figures. Several of the inquiry’s more granular questions, the kind that would let a family estimate how much longer a co-naturalizing child specifically adds to a case, went unanswered with the same explanation: the data isn’t statistically recorded, and producing it would require manually reviewing several thousand individual case files. That’s an honest limitation worth passing along rather than papering over: there is no official Hamburg figure for how long a child’s portion of a co-naturalization file adds to the process. The only grounded expectation is the office’s own general processing-time guidance, already covered in this site’s main Hamburg naturalization guide, applied to your family’s case as a whole rather than to your child’s application as a separate line item.
What You’ll Need
- A Sorgerechtsbeschluss or Vormundsbestallung, if custody isn’t straightforwardly held by both naturalizing parents.
- A signed Einverständniserklärung from the other custodial parent, if custody is shared.
- Your child’s birth certificate.
- Proof of the parents’ current employment and income, submitted specifically for the child’s part of the file.
- The correct Amt für Migration form: Eb-Antrag Kind if your child is under 16, Eb-Antrag Volljährig if they’ve turned 16.
- Everything already required for your own naturalization application, since your child’s eligibility depends entirely on yours.
- 51 EUR per co-naturalizing child, payable at submission (255 EUR if a child applies without a parent).
Step by Step
- Confirm your own naturalization eligibility first, your child's co-naturalization depends entirely on you qualifying, not on any residence history of their own.
- Check whether your child is under 16 or 16 and older, this decides which form applies, Eb-Antrag Kind or Eb-Antrag Volljährig, and whether your child signs anything themselves under § 34 StAG.
- Gather custody documentation early, a Sorgerechtsbeschluss or Vormundsbestallung where relevant, and if custody is shared, the other parent's signed Einverständniserklärung, this is the step most likely to stall an otherwise-ready application.
- Pull together proof of your own current employment and income specifically for your child's part of the file, this is asked for separately from your own naturalization paperwork.
- File as a single family application rather than one per child, per Hamburg's own guidance, but only once every document for every family member is ready, since the online session cannot be saved and resumed.
- Pay 51 EUR per co-naturalizing child at submission, 255 EUR if a child is applying without a parent.
- Don't expect a separate timeline for your child's portion, Hamburg's own backlog reporting isn't broken out by age, plan around your own case's processing time instead.
- If custody is contested, shared awkwardly, or the other parent is hard to reach, raise it with the Amt für Migration or a free Einbürgerungslotsen volunteer early, not after your own naturalization is close to finalizing.
Compliance Note
This page explains the general framework for co-naturalizing a minor child in Hamburg under § 10 and § 34 StAG, and the Amt für Migration’s own procedural documentation as of mid-2026, but it is not legal advice. Discretionary decisions, custody-related edge cases, and individual document requirements vary by family circumstance. For anything beyond a straightforward case, confirm your specific situation directly with the Einbürgerungsabteilung, a free Einbürgerungslotsen volunteer, or a lawyer specializing in Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht before relying on this page.
FAQ & Common Pitfalls
Hamburg has a separate form for children, does that mean the actual rules are different here than in Munich or Berlin?
No. The substantive standard is federal and identical everywhere: a child under 16 at the time of naturalization only needs age-appropriate German language development, no formal Einbürgerungstest and no loyalty declaration, while a child who has turned 16 is generally expected to meet the same independent standard an adult applicant does. Hamburg's separate Eb-Antrag Kind and Eb-Antrag Volljährig forms don't change any of that. They exist because § 34 StAG already draws a hard administrative line at 16, a child below that age has no capacity to act in the proceeding at all, so a parent fills out and signs everything, while a child at or above it acts for themselves. Hamburg's paperwork simply mirrors a distinction federal law already makes, it isn't a Hamburg-specific legal standard.
We're divorced, or we were never married. Does the other parent have to sign off on our child's co-naturalization?
If you share legal custody (gemeinsames Sorgerecht), yes. Hamburg's own guidance for the naturalization application lists a signed Einverständniserklärung (consent declaration) from the other custodial parent as required documentation when custody is shared, alongside a Sorgerechtsbeschluss or Vormundsbestallung if a court has ruled on custody or guardianship. In practice this is the step most likely to stall an otherwise-ready application, an applying parent can be fully eligible and still be waiting on a signature from someone who isn't cooperating or isn't easily reachable. Raise this with the Einbürgerungsabteilung directly, or with a free Einbürgerungslotsen volunteer, as early as possible rather than after your own naturalization is close to finalizing.
If we file online through antragsservice-einbuergerung.de, does 'one application per family' mean my child's documents go into my own session?
Hamburg's own guidance is clear on the principle, a family filing together needs only one application, not a separate one per child, but publicly available sources don't spell out exactly how that nests inside the shared national antragsservice-einbuergerung.de portal versus the separate Eb-Antrag Kind form on hamburg.de's own forms page. Rather than guess at the technical mechanics, confirm directly with the Amt für Migration or a free Einbürgerungslotsen volunteer before you start, particularly since the portal's own FAQ states you cannot save a session partway through and resume later, a detail that matters more, not less, once you're assembling documents for more than one family member in one sitting.
Does Hamburg publish numbers on how many children are co-naturalized each year, or how backlogged that specifically is?
No, and Hamburg's own Bürgerschaft record says so directly. A written parliamentary inquiry from August 2025 (Drucksache 23/1162) asked the Senate a series of detailed questions about naturalization processing, and the response states repeatedly that the requested data isn't statistically recorded and that answering fully would require manually reviewing several thousand individual case files. The one solid figure that inquiry did produce is the total: 31,539 open naturalization proceedings as of 20 August 2025, and 10,541 new applications filed between 1 January and 18 August 2025. Neither number is broken out by age or by application type, so there's no official basis for a specific 'how long does a child's co-naturalization add' figure, only the general processing-time context already covered in this site's guide to Hamburg's naturalization process.
Is there anyone in Hamburg who can help for free if our custody situation is complicated?
Yes, the same Einbürgerungslotsen program covered in this site's main Hamburg naturalization guide. These are trained volunteers, run jointly with Türkische Gemeinde Hamburg, who offer free consultation in nine languages including Turkish, and their help isn't limited to language, general guidance on assembling a complete application, including situations involving custody documentation, is within scope. Booking goes through tghamburg.de rather than the Amt für Migration directly, and it's worth doing before you submit anything if your family's custody situation involves a court order, a non-cooperating co-parent, or documents that originated outside Germany.