What is required to obtain German citizenship ?

Question

What is required to obtain German citizenship ?

I am a us citizen with no criminal record, and a college degree in a science and engineering field.

Answer 1

Basically, you cannot.  German citizenship is by descent, not residency.

Answer 2

German citizenship is indeed difficult to acquire and it takes a lot of time.

Basically your best option is to get married to a German citizen and wait for a long time :(

Answer 3

Those are good qualifications but most importantly, you will need a

huge wienershnitzel with lots of sourkraut!

Answer 4

You will have to live there for 8 years plus fulfill other requirements before you can get German citizenship, one of them is speaking German.  Also, you would have to renounce your US citizenship since Germany does not allow dual unless you were born with both.

Answer 5

Be born to a German citizen.  Germany is very difficult to obtain citizenship.  There are people who have lived there for years as "guest workers" and they and their children will never be eligible for German citizenship.