Born in Germany to American Military Parents: CRBA, DEERS, and SOFA

A child born in Germany to American military parents is a U.S. citizen from birth, provided the American parent meets the physical presence requirement in federal law. That same child almost certainly will not be a German citizen, because military families stationed under NATO orders sit outside Germany’s residency rules. Citizenship is automatic, but proving it is not: you have a five-day window to register the birth locally, 120 days to enroll the baby in DEERS, and a consulate appointment to schedule for the document that formally records the child as an American.

How Your Child Acquires U.S. Citizenship

Federal law grants citizenship at birth to a child born abroad when the U.S. citizen parent or parents satisfy a physical presence requirement. Which requirement applies depends on whether both parents are citizens and whether they are married.

Both Parents Are U.S. Citizens

When married parents are both U.S. citizens, the standard is minimal. At least one parent must have lived in the United States at some point before the child’s birth. There is no minimum duration; any prior residence qualifies.¹

One U.S. Citizen Parent Married to a Foreign National

When only one married parent is a U.S. citizen, that parent must have five years of physical presence in the United States before the child’s birth, with at least two of those years after age fourteen.²

Military service changes this calculation significantly. Time spent in honorable service in the Armed Forces abroad counts as physical presence in the United States for this rule. A service member who enlisted at eighteen and has been stationed overseas the entire time can still meet the five-year threshold on military service alone.¹ Time spent abroad as the dependent child of a service member counts too, so a parent who grew up as a military kid overseas can apply those years.²

Unmarried Parents

For a child born on or after June 12, 2017, an unmarried U.S. citizen mother or father must meet the same five-year physical presence standard described above.³

When the U.S. citizen parent is the father, three additional requirements apply. A blood relationship must be established by clear and convincing evidence. The father must provide a written agreement to financially support the child until age eighteen. And paternity must be legally established before the child turns eighteen through legitimation, a sworn written acknowledgment, or a court order.³

Why Your Child Will Not Be a German Citizen

German nationality law rests on descent. A child generally becomes a German citizen only when at least one parent is already a German citizen, so two American parents cannot pass on German citizenship regardless of where the birth happens.

Germany does have a limited birthright rule for children born on German soil, but it targets families with long-term roots in the country. At least one non-German parent must have legally resided in Germany for at least five years and hold a permanent right of residence at the time of the birth.⁴ Military families do not meet either condition. Service members are present under NATO orders, not under German immigration law, and the Status of Forces Agreement keeps them outside the residency system entirely. A child born to two U.S. military parents on a base in Grafenwöhr or at a German hospital in Stuttgart is not a German citizen.

Register the Birth With the Standesamt

Before you can apply for anything on the U.S. side, you need a German birth certificate. Parents should register the birth at the local civil registry, the Standesamt, within five calendar days of delivery.⁵ This applies whether the baby is born at a military medical facility or a German hospital.

The Standesamt issues the Geburtsurkunde, the official German birth certificate. It does not confer German citizenship; it simply records that a birth occurred on German soil. You will need the original for the Consular Report of Birth Abroad application, so request at least two certified copies. An international version is available if you want the certificate in multiple languages.

Get the CRBA and Passport at the Consulate

The Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), Form FS-240, is the official document proving your child acquired U.S. citizenship at birth overseas.⁶ It works as the equivalent of a domestic birth certificate for citizenship purposes and stays valid for life. It is not a travel document, though; the child will need a passport for that.

The application starts online through the eCRBA portal on MyTravelGov, where you upload documents and complete the form before scheduling an in-person appointment at a U.S. embassy or consulate.⁷ Military families in Germany typically use the consulates in Frankfurt or Munich, or the embassy in Berlin. Passport and SOFA offices at larger garrisons like Stuttgart and Rheinland-Pfalz can help you assemble the packet.

Bring the following to the appointment:

The original Geburtsurkunde from the Standesamt.
Proof of the U.S. citizen parent’s physical presence: school transcripts, military service records, employment records, or similar documentation.
A U.S. passport or naturalization certificate for each citizen parent.
The marriage certificate, if the parents are married.
Form DS-5507, required when one parent is not a U.S. citizen, when the citizen parent cannot attend, or when the child is born out of wedlock and the father is the citizen parent.⁷

Both the child and the parent or parents must attend. If a custodial parent cannot be there, that parent must provide a notarized DS-3053 Statement of Consent for the passport application.

Apply for the child’s first U.S. passport with Form DS-11 at the same appointment. The passport book fee for a child under sixteen is $100.⁸ The $35 acceptance fee that applies at domestic facilities generally does not apply at an overseas consulate, but confirm the total with your specific post. The CRBA application carries its own $100 fee, so expect roughly $200 total for both documents.

Enroll the Baby in DEERS Within 120 Days

This is the deadline that most often causes problems. You have 120 days from the child’s birth to register the newborn in DEERS, the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System. If you miss that window, TRICARE will deny all claims for the child starting on day 121.⁹ Without DEERS registration, the child is also ineligible for care at military hospitals and clinics.

Once registered in DEERS with an overseas address, the child is automatically enrolled in TRICARE Select Overseas. If you want TRICARE Prime Overseas instead, you have 90 days from the automatic enrollment date to switch, and the child must be command-sponsored.¹⁰ When everything is completed on time, coverage is retroactive to the child’s date of birth.

The CRBA appointment is the usual bottleneck. Consulate wait times in Germany vary, and during busy periods the delay can stretch to weeks. Start the eCRBA application as soon as you have the German birth certificate so you are not racing the 120-day clock.

Social Security Number and the Child Tax Credit

Your child needs a Social Security number before you can claim federal tax benefits or open certain financial accounts. The SSN application cannot go in with the CRBA. You must wait until you have the original CRBA and passport in hand, then complete Form SS-5 and submit it through your installation’s legal support office or by mail to the Social Security Administration. The card will arrive from Baltimore to your military postal address.

The SSN matters immediately at tax time. Military parents filing a joint return can claim the Child Tax Credit of up to $2,200 per qualifying child, with an income phase-out starting at $400,000 for joint filers. The child must have a valid Social Security number issued before the filing deadline, including extensions, to qualify. Parents with lower tax liability may also qualify for the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit, worth up to $1,700 per child if earned income exceeds $2,500.¹¹

SOFA Status for Your Child

U.S. military families live in Germany under the NATO Status of Forces Agreement rather than as ordinary residents, and your newborn inherits that same status as a dependent. The child’s legal presence in Germany is documented with either a SOFA stamp in a no-fee special issuance passport or a SOFA card.¹²

The SOFA stamp is placed on page seven, eight, or nine of the no-fee passport and expires with it. If the child does not yet have a no-fee passport, a SOFA card can be issued instead, tied to the earliest of the sponsor’s end-of-tour date, the child’s ID card expiration, or the passport expiration. You obtain the required AE Form 600-77A through your servicing personnel office. SOFA status keeps your family outside German civil jurisdiction for most purposes, and it is the same status that prevents the child from qualifying for German citizenship under the residency-based rule.

When One Parent Is a German Citizen

If one parent is a German citizen, the child acquires German citizenship through that parent by descent, regardless of the military connection. The United States has never required its citizens to choose between American and foreign citizenship, so the dual status is recognized on both sides.

A major reform to German nationality law took effect on June 27, 2024, and Germany now allows multiple citizenships across the board. German citizens can acquire another nationality without losing German status, and foreigners naturalizing as German citizens no longer have to renounce their prior citizenship.¹³ For families where a service member married a German national, neither parent nor child needs to worry about losing one citizenship to keep the other.

The Deadlines That Matter

The practical sequence, with the dates that actually carry consequences:

Within 5 days of birth: register at the local Standesamt and obtain the Geburtsurkunde.⁵
As soon as possible after that: file the eCRBA application online and schedule the consulate appointment. File Form DS-11 for the passport at the same appointment. Budget roughly $200 for the two fees.
Within 120 days of birth: register the child in DEERS. Claims are denied starting day 121 if you miss it.⁹
After the CRBA and passport arrive: apply for the SSN with Form SS-5. You need the number before filing taxes to claim the Child Tax Credit.
After the CRBA, passport, or SOFA card is in hand: obtain the SOFA stamp or SOFA card through your garrison’s passport and SOFA office.

1
Department of State. 8 FAM 301.7 Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1401 – Nationals and Citizens of United States at Birth
3
USCIS. Volume 12, Part H, Chapter 3 – U.S. Citizens at Birth (INA 301 and 309)
4
Auswärtiges Amt. Nationality
5
Headquarters United States Army Europe and Africa. AEA Regulation 608-3 Birth Registration Procedures
6
Department of State. How to Replace or Amend a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
7
Department of State. Birth of US Citizens and Non-Citizen Nationals Abroad
8
U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
9
TRICARE. Getting TRICARE for Your Child
10
TRICARE Newsroom. How to Enroll Your Newborn in TRICARE
11
Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
12
USAG Rheinland-Pfalz. Passport and SOFA Services
13
Federal Ministry of the Interior. New Law on Nationality Takes Effect