Apply for a passport abroad

If you are a German citizen living abroad, you can apply for your passport at the German diplomatic mission responsible for you. As a rule, the German diplomatic mission or consular post in whose district you are permanently resident is responsible for issuing passports abroad.

However, a few diplomatic missions abroad do not act as passport authorities. Please check the website of the diplomatic mission responsible for your place of residence.

To save you travelling long distances, some honorary consular officials also offer to accept passport applications and forward them to the relevant diplomatic mission abroad for an additional fee.

If there are important reasons, you can also go to another diplomatic mission abroad that is not locally responsible. You must always apply for a passport in person.

• § Section 19 (1) sentence 2 Passport Act (PassG)
• Ordinance on the Implementation of the Passport Act (Passport Ordinance - PassV)
• § Section 21 (2) number 21.2.8 General Administrative Regulation on the Implementation of the Passport Act (Passport Administration Regulation - PassVwV)

• Fully completed application form
• Valid or previous identity document, if available, for example:
  • German passport
  • German identity card
  • German child identity card
  • German child passport
  • foreign passport
  • foreign identity card
• current biometric photograph:
  • Fitting format (45 x 35 mm)
  • Portrait format
  • Frontal view without border
  • usually without headgear
  • without covering the eyes
• Birth certificate or marriage certificate
• Proof of your habitual residence abroad, for example:
  • foreign residence permit
  • Registration certificate from your host country
  • Rental agreement
  • Telephone, electricity or gas bills.
• Further documents may be required. Please enquire in advance at the diplomatic mission abroad. Please also contact the diplomatic mission or consular post if you are unable to prove your identity by presenting an identity document.

• You are a German citizen or German national.
• You can identify yourself.

You must apply for your passport in person:

• Make an appointment with the diplomatic mission abroad.
• Complete the application form as far in advance as possible. You only sign the application form at the appointment on site.
• Bring all the necessary documents with you to the agreed appointment.
• You must always appear in person to submit your application, identify yourself and give your fingerprints.
• The submission of fingerprints for storage in the biometric passport is mandatory by law from the age of six:
  • For this, a flat impression is usually taken of the left and right index finger.
• • Children under the age of 6 do not have to give a fingerprint.
• When the passport is ready, it will be sent to you if you agreed this when you applied for it, or you will be notified by telephone or e-mail that your passport is ready for collection.

• Information on the German passport on the website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Home Affairs (BMI)
• General information on passports and identity cards on the website of the Federal Foreign Office
• List of German missions abroad on the website of the Federal Foreign Office (AA)

If you lose your passport while travelling, you must report immediately to the nearest German diplomatic mission abroad. They can issue you with a travel document to replace your passport for entry into Germany. This travel document for return is issued for the duration of the intended journey, but for a maximum of one month. It only authorises you to return to Germany, but not to travel on to other countries. In individual cases, a temporary passport can also be issued if it is not possible to return to Germany with the travel document for return because its maximum period of validity is not sufficient or it is not recognised as a travel document by a country travelling through. The same applies if you are planning to travel on to other countries and can credibly demonstrate that you need a passport immediately and cannot wait for it to be issued using the express procedure.

Action before the administrative court