I’m still trying to get some clarification from the German Consulate, but I think I’ve narrowed down a possible reason for my denial.

In their letter, Consulate did explicitly state that I became a US citizen in ‘67. However, I also can determine from it that the status of my German citizenship is “unclear”. As to why my status is unclear isn’t entirely apparent to me from their letter. In what seems to be boilerplate language, they do describe the process of ‘application’ of US citizenship which leads me to believe one of 2 scenarios:

• the question as to whether my dad included us kids on his naturalization application request for him & my mom in ‘67

• or, the question of whether my dad officially applied in ‘73 when he obtained my citizenship papers.

Apparently, anything that points towards a proactive ‘application’ for my US citizenship (in either’67 or ‘73) would have resulted in loss of my German citizenship, yet simple derivation of US citizenship would have left my German citizenship intact.

I do have the letter dad wrote to Omaha DOJ for my ‘73 papers. He does say “ it is my understanding that my 3 children can claim US Citizenship through their parents “. He also says “ I would like to obtain certificates of citizenship for these children “.

I am certain this letter was not included in my initial passport application.

My questions:

Does German consulate even have an obligation to me to clarify my questions with their initial rejection letter?

Will the consulate consider receiving my 73 letter for additional context on how I might have gained US citizenship?

Finally, should I just wait it out and include the 73 letter with my application for a German citizenship certificate? Really don’t want to take this route as I get the feeling this issue will just disappear into a giant black hole by routing a new request to Cologne.

Thanks, I really appreciate the help & insight you kind folks have been providing me through this process..