Once everything is complete, the bundle is sent by regular mail to the consulate. After a few weeks, we received an email confirmation, when the application was sent internally from the consulate in San Francisco to the authorities in Germany by diplomatic mail. From the time the application was sent until it was approved, a year and three months had passed for us. In the meantime, we received emails from the application processor in Osnabrück/Germany, and had to obtain some additional documents, have them certified, and send them in. Finally, we received confirmation by email and then by letter that a decision had been made on our application. To pick up the certificate, we then needed an appointment at the consulate, which we got two months later. The fun is not cheap either, as a fee of 255 euros is charged for each BBG certificate, and even if the application is rejected, 191 euros are due, according to paragraph 38 of the German Nationality Act called StAG. Incidentally, the approved retention is only valid for two years, if the U.S. naturalization takes longer, the BBG must be extended, again for a fee.