Apply for a passport

The German passport allows you to enter over 160 countries worldwide as a tourist without a visa. You need a passport if you want to travel to countries outside the European Union (EU). If you have German citizenship, you can apply for a German passport.

If you are planning a trip outside the EU with your child, the child will need its own passport. If you wish to travel within the EU, an identity card is sufficient.

If a children's passport issued for your child is still valid and your child is to use this identity document for the trip, check whether your destination country recognizes the children's passport as an entry document. You can find out whether your destination country recognizes the child's passport on the website of the Federal Foreign Office in the travel and security information.

The passport

• is recognized both within the EU and outside the EU,
• has a chip, i.e. is biometric and
• can be applied for by people of any age from birth.

The children's passport

• is generally recognized within the EU and sometimes outside the EU if it has not been renewed or updated,
• is no longer accepted by some countries in the EU and in some cases worldwide if it has been updated or renewed and contains a corresponding renewal sticker,
• does not have a chip, which means that it is unsuitable for automatic border controls or certain advance travel registrations such as ESTA (USA).

Children's passports expire and are no longer reissued, renewed or updated. From 2024, you can apply for a regular passport, a temporary passport or an ID card for your child. An identity card is sufficient for travel within the EU.

Children's passports that have already been issued can continue to be used until they become invalid, for example if the photograph is no longer suitable for clearly identifying the child or the expiration date has been reached.

Applying for a passport:

You must always be present in person when applying for a passport so that your identity can be verified. If you wish to apply for a passport for your child or a person in your care, the child or person in your care must also be present in person. You have the option of applying for your passport using the express order procedure. In these cases, the finished passport is usually ready for collection from the authority after 3 working days (excluding weekends and public holidays in the state of Berlin).

If you need the travel document at very short notice and cannot wait for delivery of the passport using the express order procedure, you will usually receive a provisional passport immediately.

Responsibilities:

You can apply for a passport at the citizens' office in your place of residence. If you have more than one place of residence, the citizens' office at your main place of residence is responsible.

It is also possible to apply at another passport authority if you can present an important reason and the authority recognizes this important reason. You will pay a surcharge for the increased administrative work involved.

If you live abroad, the German representation abroad is responsible for passport applications. If your passport is lost or stolen abroad, apply for a new passport at the German representation abroad.