Belong Europe logoBelong Europe
belonggermany.app

How to use Belong Germany

Five tabs. One honest number. Here is what each one does and how to get things done in it.

Each screen below is drawn from the app, with numbered markers that match the steps beside it. Pick your phone and the screens and instructions follow. The app is the same on iPhone and Android, apart from home screen widgets, which are on iPhone only.

The app works in English, Türkçe and العربية
Start

Answer a few questions once.

Say where your citizenship comes from, when you started living in Germany, whether you hold permanent residence, whether you are married to a German citizen and what you have already done. Every tab reads from those answers. You can change any of them later on the You tab.

1

Everything stays on your phone. There is no account and nothing about you is uploaded.

2

The date under the Germany chip is when the rules the app uses were last checked against the authority.

3

A free week to start, then a yearly subscription through the App StoreGoogle Play. The price shows before you confirm.

I want to

Find the task, follow the taps.

The most common jobs in Belong Germany, with the exact taps. Pick one to jump to the screen it happens on.

See how far I am
Dashboard›The ring
Log a trip abroad
Dashboard›Standing›Add or plan a trip
Check a trip before I book it
Standing›Add or plan a trip›Future dates
See what passing the Einbürgerungstest would change
Dashboard›What if
Attach a certificate or payslip
Path›A requirement›Add a document
Practise for the Einbürgerungstest
Practice›Today's five
Count down to my Einbürgerungstest date
Practice›Add your sitting date
Keep track of my residence permit
Dashboard›Your residence permit
Change when I became resident
You›Your situation
Mark German B1 or the test as passed
You›What you can complete
Tell the app I have applied
You›Your situation›Applied for citizenship
Add my partner
You›Household›Add a person
Switch between English, Türkçe and العربية
You›App language
Turn on reminders and news alerts
You›Notifications
Put it on my home screen
You›Home screen
iPhone only for now
Cancel my subscription
Settings›Your name›Subscriptions
Play Store›Profile›Payments and subscriptions
Dashboard
Dashboard

How far am I, really?

Open the app and you land here. The Dashboard splits your road into the part you control and the part your Einbürgerungsbehörde controls.

MetIn progress or at riskBlockedWaiting
  1. 1
    The ring. One segment per requirement on your route. It closes as you meet them and the number in the middle is how many are met. The line under it never promises a date, and the sentence below it says only what the ring shows.
  2. 2
    What you control and what you do not. Tap the small i on either card to see every requirement under its status.
  3. 3
    Standing. Trips abroad, offences and continuity. More on that just below.
  4. 4
    Next · what's coming. The dates ahead of you, soonest first. Each says whether it is yours or the authority's. Nothing is invented to fill the space.
  5. 5
    The five tabs. Dashboard, Path, Practice, Passport and You. The coral one is where you are.
  6. +
    Further down: What if, your routes (standard naturalisation after five years and three years for the spouse of a German citizen) and Outlook, what is moving in the law.
  7. +
    Your residence permit. Add the day your residence permit ends and the Dashboard counts down to it. The law sets no opening date, so apply early. A reminder to book comes 12 weeks before the end.
  8. +
    Applied? Once every requirement is met, tell the app the day you filed. The card then follows the days since filing. No processing time is written in law or published, so the app shows no expected date.
Standing, opened from the Dashboard
Standing and What if

Two doors on the Dashboard.

Standing is where trips and your record live. A single stay abroad of up to six months does not break continuous residence. Belong Germany measures your longest single stay against that six month line.

  1. 1
    Longest stay abroad. Your longest single trip against 180 days. Green means your continuous residence holds.
  2. 2
    Your trips. Tap one to change its dates or delete it. A trip taken with your partner is logged once and counts for both of you.
  3. 3
    Add or plan a trip. Past dates log a trip. Future dates plan one and show what it would do before you book. A planned trip counts for nothing until it has happened.
  4. 4
    Clean criminal record. A plain read on your record, with a link to the official rules.
  5. +
    What if sits further down the Dashboard. Flip German B1, the Einbürgerungstest, a settled status or self support, add months abroad and watch the finish line move. It runs on a copy of your situation, so nothing you try is saved.
    Dashboard›What if
Path, the citizenship stage
Path

Every requirement, explained and sourced.

Residence, a settled status, German at B1, the Einbürgerungstest, self support and a clean record, in the order the authority weighs them. Each one links to the official text.

  1. 1
    Two stages. Stage one is the settlement permit, which naturalisation asks for: seven checks, from five years with a residence permit to enough living space. The tab opens there until you hold permanent residence. Stage two is citizenship.
  2. 2
    The bar. The ring's colour code, one line per requirement. The evidence line counts how many have a document.
  3. 3
    A requirement. The rule in plain words and the official source one tap away. Minor penalties up to 90 day-fines are generally disregarded on the record.
  4. 4
    Add a document. A certificate, a residence card, a payslip. Give it an expiry date and it joins What's coming a month ahead. Documents stay on this iPhonephone, out of your backup, never uploaded. Keep your own copy.
Practice
Practice and News

Ready for the Einbürgerungstest?

449 practice questions in the five federal chapters, in German like the real test. The questions are written by Belong Germany from the official material. Practice, not the exam.

  1. 1
    Five segments. Practice, Chapters, Progress, News and Guides. Tap one to switch.
  2. 2
    Show or hide English. An English line under each question while you learn. Turn it off before a mock.
  3. 3
    Your numbers. Questions met, accuracy, your run of days and your best mock.
  4. 4
    Add your sitting date. There is no national calendar. Book at a test centre, add your date here and the tab counts down to it.
  5. +
    Today's five takes about a minute. Mock is 30 questions in 55 minutes at the real pace. It gives a score but no pass or fail, because 3 of the real 33 are about your own Bundesland, which the app does not ask. Rematch replays only what you missed.
  6. +
    Chapters drill one federal chapter at a time. Your Bundesland's chapter is listed but has no questions, and the app says so. Progress is your numbers. News is immigration and citizenship stories from The Local. Guides are the 5 guides from the website, readable with no connection.
Passport
Passport

The passport at the end.

The German passport and what applying involves once citizenship is granted, dated and linked to the issuing authority.

  1. 1
    The pill is the earliest you could apply for citizenship, from the same figures as your Dashboard. An earliest, never a promise.
  2. 2
    The holder shows the name and photo you set on the You tab. Tap to change them.
  3. 3
    The facts. Validity, where to apply, the fee and dual citizenship, checked with the issuing authority. Scroll on for what makes the German passport particular. Fees change, so check before you book.
You
You

Your answers, your settings.

Every number in the app comes from here. Change an answer and every tab updates at once.

  1. 1
    Name and photo. Tap to edit. They show on the Passport tab and stay on the iPhonephone.
  2. 2
    Household. Add a partner or another adult with their own count, route and trips. Switch between you from the same card.
  3. 3
    Your situation. The month you became resident, your status, marriage and your citizenship background. Applied for citizenship is where you tell the app the day you filed.
  4. 4
    What you can complete. Mark the language exam, the knowledge test, self support and a clean record and the ring moves.
  5. 5
    Notifications. Today's five at your hour, the dates that matter and news alerts. Each alert opens what it names.
  6. +
    App language. English, Türkçe or العربية, for the whole app, in one tap. The first launch follows your phone's language.
  7. +
    Further down: the link tiles (terms, privacy, this guide, the website, Belong Europe and contact), Tell a friend, your subscription and the legal disclaimer. Home screen shows the widgets and how to add them.Official sources folds out every official page the app links to, on gesetze-im-internet.de, bamf.de, bmi.bund.de and bva.bund.de.
Widgets and reminders

Belong Germany on your home screen.

Long press the home screen, tap the plus and search for Belong Germany. The widgets work on the home screen and the Lock Screen. Each one reads the same numbers as the app and tapping it opens what it shows. You › Home screen walks you through it.

Where you stand
4 y 0 m of 5

Earliest: 1 September 2027

Where you stand
Your residence time so far and the earliest date, or the word frozen.
Longest stay
15 / 180 days

Under the six month line

Longest stay abroad
Your longest single stay against the continuity line.
Today's five
Done

12 days in a row

Today's five
Done or not yet, and your run of days.
News
The newest story for Germany

The Local

News by The Local
The newest immigration and citizenship story.

The daily reminder quotes one of the questions waiting for you. Tap it and the round is already open. Once today's five are done, that day's reminder is withdrawn. The numbers in these examples are made up.

Home screen widgets are on iPhone only for now. On Android, turn on reminders, date alerts and news alerts on the You tab.

Tap an alert and it opens what it names. A date alert opens the Dashboard on that date. The daily reminder quotes one of the questions waiting for you and opens today's five.
Honest instruments

Belong Germany never invents a finish date.

Every rule carries the date it was checked and a link to the authority that owns it. This is a tracker, not legal advice. Your subscription renews yearly until you cancel it in your Apple Account settingsGoogle Play, under Payments and subscriptions. Questions? Write to hello@belongeurope.com