Naturalization appointments canceled following citizenship fraud involving fabricated family ties to victims of Nazi persecution.
Berlin, Oct. 7, 2026 — German citizenship applicants in the United States had previously scheduled appointments to receive their naturalization certificates canceled late last week and earlier this week, according to Genitos, which represents applicants in German citizenship proceedings. The affected cases concern German citizenship under restitution provisions for victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants. Genitos has seen appointments canceled even for clients whose relatives had already been naturalized based on applications the firm submitted together. The firm understands the cancellations to reflect a general precaution.
Genitos supports clients in preparing their applications and assembling the historical records and evidence of descent required to meet the strict review criteria of Germany’s Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt, BVA).
While it is not yet foreseeable when German diplomatic missions will resume naturalization appointments, Genitos expects the BVA to scrutinize pending restitution citizenship applications more closely across the board and anticipates that stricter review standards will apply to all future applications.
“Falsely claiming descent from victims of Nazi persecution is a despicable abuse of their histories and of the restitution process,” said Wolfram Zeihe, a German attorney and co-founder of Genitos. “We understand these precautions as an effort to prevent future fraud. Ultimately, they protect the rights of legitimate applicants.”
In September, it became known that numerous individuals had fraudulently obtained German citizenship by falsely claiming family ties to Jewish victims of Nazi persecution from Germany. The Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office and Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office are investigating 32 suspects.
The victims were real; the claimed family relationships were fabricated. The scheme involved forged birth certificates and passports, with notarized copies of the documents ultimately submitted in the citizenship proceedings. Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior told the German news magazine DER SPIEGEL that the BVA would begin proceedings to withdraw fraudulently obtained citizenship once sufficient information was available.
Genitos is an interdisciplinary team of lawyers and historians and a leading adviser and representative of North American clients in German citizenship matters. Its focus is on citizenship by descent and restitution claims arising from Nazi persecution.
Silvia Slaviček
Media Relations / Client Advisor
Genitos
Email: silvia@genitos.org
