Hi @Stranger
We cannot provide legal advice here as we are not lawyers. We can only provide information about the laws.
The only effect I can think that a separation or divorce will have is regarding your financial situation. After the application for divorce is made, there is a mandatory separation period of a year called ‘Trennungsjahr’. Both in this time and after the divorce, you or your wife may be obliged to provide financial support called ‘Unterhalt’ to the other. During the separation year this is called ‘Trennungsunterhalt’ and after the divorce ‘nachehelicher Unterhalt’. Whether this has to be paid, how much and for how long depends on your respective incomes and employment history during the marriage. Your divorce lawyer will be able to advise you more clearly on this.
The Einbürgerung authority will therefore **** at what potential ‘Unterhalt’ financial commitments you have when assessing you are financially secure enough to receive German citizenship.
Your status after the separation (it is the separation that matters in immigration law, not specifically the divorce) will continue to be Niederlassungserlaubnis § 28 Abs 2. It does not change. As I understand § 31 Abs. 3, this is a special type of Niederlassungserlaubnis that is issued to a person who is married to a foreigner who themselves have a Niederlassungserlaubnis at the time of separation.
Best,
Éanna