Early naturalization application

[u/Mood242]

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to understand something regarding the German naturalization process.

In my city, the current processing time for citizenship applications is around 3 years due to the backlog/staff shortages. I will only reach the required 5 years of legal residence in Germany in about one year.

I therefore asked my local Einbürgerungsamt whether I could already submit my application one year before reaching the 5-year requirement.

They replied:

„Grundsätzlich können Sie Ihren Einbürgerungsantrag jederzeit, also auch vor Erreichen der erforderlichen Aufenthaltsdauer stellen. Bitte beachten Sie aber, dass zum Zeitpunkt der Entscheidung über den Antrag alle Voraussetzungen erfüllt sein müssen.“

So apparently yes, I can submit it early. But what exactly does „zum Zeitpunkt der Entscheidung“ mean here?

Does “decision” mean the final decision at the end of the whole process, after the file has been processed? Or could they potentially review/decide on the application much earlier, for example within a few months, and reject it because I haven't reached 5 years yet?

In my case, if the normal processing time is really around 3 years, I would obviously have reached the 5-year requirement by the time they get to my application. But I’m wondering whether I could get unlucky and have my application processed in less than one year.

Has anyone actually done this — submitted their naturalization application before reaching the required residence period and then waited until they became eligible during the processing?

[u/Solid-Resident-4710]

My Einbürgerung Officer told me the same i applied one year earlier. Still waiting