Starting from January 1, 2024, parents or the legal

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guardians will be required to apply for a biometric passport for their children under the age of 12. The passport for applicants under the age of 24 is valid for six years.
Both parents or all legal guardians and the child must be present at the responsible German mission for the passport application after booking an appointment beforehand. A passport can also be applied for at some of the honorary consuls’ offices.

Please note that when applying at an honorary consul’s office, payment methods and processing fees may be different from those at the embassy or consulate general. It is not possible to submit an application by post.

The passports are printed at the Federal Printing Office in Berlin. Please allow a processing time of around 6 to 8 weeks. If it is necessary to submit a name declaration (see information below), processing times may be significantly longer.

You can keep your previous passport while the application is being processed, in case you need to travel and if the previous passport is still valid.

Important information for FIRST TIME passport applications: In some cases, a name declaration needs to be made before the passport application. More information can be found here

Required Documents

The following documents are required in the original for the application:

• completed application form
  Child’s Passport Application Form PDF / 141 KB
• two identical biometric recent passport photos (Please do not cut the photos yourself!)
  Sample Photos for Passports PDF / 550 KB
• birth certificate of the child stating the exact place of birth (it is not sufficient if only the county is mentioned on the US birth certificate, a “proof of birth letter” issued by the hospital with the name of the town must then also be provided). Please note that the birth certificate must state the parents' names (“long version”)
• previous passport/child's passport (data page with photo)
• Non-US-Citizens: residence permit in the US (US Resident Alien Card, US residence visa) and passport - information for holders of a greencard without expiration date
• US-Citizens: Proof of Acquisition of US-Citizenship (e. g. Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or US Certificate of Citizenship, otherwise US Certificate of Naturalization of the German parent, and - if applicable - this parent´s retention permit), and US-passport
• passports of both parents (data page with photo)
• parents' marriage certificate
• proof of the parents' current name usage (i.e. one of the following: German birth certificate, German marriage certificate or if married outside of Germany, certificate of current name usage issued by the registrar’s office in Germany)
• if child was born out of wedlock, proof of acknowledgement of paternity
• Statement of Consent of the absent parent, signature certified by a Notary Public (Exception: Children over 16 years of age who apply for a German ID card only)
  Statement of Consent PDF / 146 KB
• if applicable, certificate about the validity of a name declaration (“Bescheinigung über die Namensführung”) Information on Name Declaration
• if applicable, German Naturalization Certificate
• if applicable, US Naturalization Certificate with “Beibehaltungsgenehmigung”
• US driver's license or an utility bill of the parents as proof of residence
• if applicable, deregistration of last place of residence in Germany (“Abmeldebescheinigung”), if it is entered in the last passport
• Passport fee
• In addition, some German missions in the United States require that a stamped envelope for mailing your documents already be submitted at the time of application. The missions abroad that have this requirement will inform you of this in your appointment booking confirmation.

Even if your child received the last passport at a different German mission in the US, we ask you to submit the aforementioned documentation once more (except for the deregistration certificate). In particular, please also bring birth certificates, name declarations and marriage certificates. We would like to point out that your child's passport application cannot be processed unless the aforementioned documentation is complete.

If you do not bring all of the required forms and supporting documentation for your child's passport application, you will be required to reschedule your appointment.

This information refers to the majority of the cases occurring here. Due to the complexity of the German passport and German ID law and the diversity of possible scenarios, differences may occur in each application, and additional documentation could be required as needed.

Fees

A current list of fees can be found here: fees

Birth Name Declaration for Children

In some cases a name declaration is required for children, in order to determine or change the birth name of the child before applying for a passport. A name declaration could also be required even though the selected name is already stated on the non-German birth certificate. An appointment may be required for the name declaration. More detailed information can be found on the following website:

Naming Law

Scheduling an appointment

It is necessary that you schedule an appointment at the appropriate German Mission in the US, in order to apply for a passport or ID Card. consider the information about the right appointment procedure at the German mission that is responsible for your home state: Consulate Finder