Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share my ongoing naturalisation timeline for Hamburg since I know how stressful the waiting game can be. I applied at the end of last year, and things are moving significantly faster than the 14-month average you hear about online.

For context, I submitted a 100% complete digital application on day one, which definitely helped bypass the initial bottleneck.

Here is my exact timeline so far:

• 15 Dec 2025: Submitted online application via the Hamburg Serviceportal with all initial documents.
• 22 Dec 2025: Received the file number one week after submission and requested missing document, the Loyalitätserklärung, Birth Certificate, Document was uploaded in meantime
• Mid-Feb 2026 (2 months in): Received the official fee invoice (Gebührenanforderung) for €255. This means caseworker opened my file and cleared the initial screening!
• 01 May 2026: Paid the fee.
• 10 May 2026: Received portal notification confirming the payment was successfully matched to my file number.
• Last Week (Late June 2026): Proactively uploaded my latest payslips up to the current month via the portal. but doing this prevents the caseworker from pausing the file to ask for updates.

Has anyone else with a December 2025/January 2026 application date in Hamburg received their final Einbürgerungsurkunde invitation yet? Let’s compare notes!