Apply for a passport due to change of name on marriage/divorce or establishment/cancellation of a civil partnership

If your surname has changed (e.g. due to marriage or divorce), your previous passport with the previous name has an incorrect entry and has therefore become invalid. If you still require a passport, you must apply for a new document immediately.

Attention! You are obliged to present the invalid passport to the passport authority immediately; it will then usually be confiscated.

Fiancés can apply for their new passport or identity card after registering the marriage with a certificate from the registry office so that it is ready on the day of the marriage. After the marriage, the passport can be collected on presentation of the marriage certificate.

The passport is issued by the passport office of the municipal or city administration where you live. For important reasons, you can also apply for the document in another municipality. This passport authority will then first be authorised by the authority actually responsible for you to issue the passport. If this authorisation is granted, the passport can be issued, but this doubles the fees.

You can also apply for passports and temporary passports at German diplomatic missions abroad. The additional costs in this case are EUR 21.00 for a passport and EUR 13.00 for a temporary passport.

• § 11 Passport Act (PaßG)
• § Section 15 Passport Act (PassG)
• § Section 25 Passport Act (PassG) (administrative offences)
• § 5 Passport Ordinance (PassV) (photograph)
• § Section 15 Passport Ordinance (PassV)
• § Section 17 Passport Ordinance (PassV)

• old passport or other proof that you are a German citizen
• on marriage: marriage certificate
• In case of divorce: certified copy of the divorce decree
• a current photo in the prescribed size and composition

Note: It is recommended that you bring a civil status certificate (e.g. marriage or birth certificate) with you when applying. In this way, any problems that may arise, particularly with regard to the spelling and order in which first names and surnames are entered in the passport, can be clarified immediately. This may also be the case, for example, if there have been changes to your details since the last issue or when applying for the first time after moving to the city or municipality. If in doubt, you should check the website of the city or municipality or call them to find out which documents you need to bring with you before applying.

From 1 May 2025, only digitally created biometric photographs will be accepted in the application process.
The photograph can be taken by external service providers (e.g. photographers) who make it available to the passport or ID card authority in a cloud for retrieval.
Alternatively, digital photographs can usually also be taken at the passport or ID card authority.
If necessary, find out before your appointment whether the photo can be taken at the authority.
Printed passport photos that you have brought with you can only be processed in exceptional cases.

You must not have any reasons for refusal, such as

• Failure to fulfil a statutory maintenance obligation
• Endangering the internal or external security of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Assumption that you wish to avoid prosecution, execution of a sentence or a statutory maintenance obligation by leaving the country

A passport can also be revoked for the same reasons.

• A passport is only issued on application, which you must submit in person.
• In addition to the photograph, fingerprints are also stored on the electronic chip in the passport. For this reason, fingerprints in the form of a flat impression of your left and right index finger will be taken when you apply for a passport.

Note: If an index finger is missing, the quality of the fingerprint is insufficient or the fingertip is injured, the flat print of either the thumb, middle finger or ring finger will be taken instead. Fingerprints are only not taken if they cannot be taken for medical reasons of a more than temporary nature.

• You can be represented at the collection point. The representative must present a power of attorney from you and provide proof of identity (usually an identity card or passport).
• You may keep an old passport that has become invalid, for example as a souvenir. To do this, the passport authority must indicate the invalidity of the passport by stamping or punching a hole in it.

• Photo sample board Bundesdruckerei
• Passport Amt24-Information
• Registration of marriage Amt24-Information

Express passport and temporary passport

If the regular processing time of two to six weeks is too long for your travel plans and you need your passport sooner, your passport office can also issue your passport using the express procedure, provided it has the necessary technical equipment. Passports produced using the express procedure take three to four working days to process. If the application is received by the Bundesdruckerei by 12 noon, the express passports will be delivered to the relevant authority within two working days (excluding public holidays and weekends).

Only if the passport cannot be issued to you in time before you intend to use it for the first time, even in the express procedure, will you be issued with a temporary passport. You will receive this immediately when you apply so that you do not have to wait for it.

Free State of Saxony, Saxon State Chancellery

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• New passport issue due to change of name on divorce or dissolution of civil partnership in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

  Display of performance in the source portal

Passport office of the municipal or city administration

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the competent authorities are the passport authorities in the independent towns, large towns belonging to districts, public authorities and independent municipalities.