Apply for an identity card for German citizens with permanent residence abroad

If you live abroad, you can apply for your identity card in person at a German diplomatic mission or, in some countries, at an honorary consular official.

As a German citizen or German national with permanent residence abroad, you are not subject to the general registration requirement and therefore not subject to the ID card requirement within Germany.

However, you can apply for an identity card at the German diplomatic mission responsible for you abroad. As a rule, the German diplomatic mission abroad in whose district you are permanently resident is responsible for issuing ID cards abroad.

You can also have the additional electronic functions of the ID card activated there, change the six-digit PIN you have chosen yourself or have the foreign address entered on your ID card and in the chip.

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

To save you long journeys, some honorary consular officials also offer to accept ID card applications and forward them to the responsible diplomatic mission abroad for an additional fee. They only offer to accept applications, but not other additional services such as activating or changing your PIN or changing your address.

If there are important reasons, you can also visit another diplomatic mission abroad that is not locally competent or an identity card authority in Germany. You must apply for an identity card in person.

When applying, you must submit

• biometric passport photo. The photo must be up-to-date and meet the requirements for ID documents. When applying in Germany, the passport photo must be digital, taken on site at the authority or by a registered domestic photo service provider (photographer).
• Certificate of deregistration from the last German place of residence, if a German place of residence is still entered in the current identity document:
  • Persons who have moved away from Germany
  • persons without a place of residence
  • world travelers
• if your address abroad is to be entered in your identity card: Proof of your habitual residence abroad, for example:
  • Foreigner's identity card
  • Registration certificate from your host country
  • rental agreement
  • Telephone, electricity or gas bills
• Your previous identity card or passport or children's passport
• If you have lost the old document: police report of loss

If you are applying for an ID card for the first time

• Birth or parentage certificate
• if you are or were married or partnered:
  • Marriage or partnership certificate with a note on the name
  • or extract from the family register with a note on the name if married abroad
  • If applicable, name certificate according to German law
• if applicable, certificate of acquisition of German citizenship (naturalization certificate)
• if applicable, certificate of acquisition of a foreign nationality
• if applicable, doctoral certificate (in German or English, with name and date of birth) if the doctoral degree cannot be derived from a previous passport or identity card and the entry in the new identity card is desired

additionally for children under the age of 16:

• if born in Germany after 01.01.2000, if at least one parent did not have German citizenship at that time: extract from the birth register
• for children of married parents: Marriage certificate of the parents
• for children of divorced parents and sole custody of one parent: Proof of sole custody by custody order or divorce decree
  • If applicable, recognition of a foreign divorce decree for the German legal system
• for children whose parents were not married at the time of birth: Recognition of paternity and custody agreement according to the law of the child's country of residence

Please bring all documents with you in the original and as copies. In individual cases, it may be necessary to submit further certificates and documents.

• You are a German citizen or German national.

• You can prove your identity.

If your application for an identity card is rejected:

• File a complaint with the Berlin Administrative Court

You must apply for your identity card in person:

• Make an appointment at the diplomatic mission or consular post or with the honorary consular officer.
• 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 appointment.
• You must appear in person to submit your application, identify yourself and give your fingerprints.
• When submitting an application, you are required by law to provide fingerprints for storage in the chip of your ID card from the age of six:
  • a flat print is taken, usually of the left and right index finger.
• • Children under the age of 6 do not have to give a fingerprint.
• They receive a five-digit one-time PIN and the ten-digit number to remove the PIN blockade (PUK) in a sealed envelope.
• When the ID card has been produced, it will be sent to you together with the blocking password, provided you agreed this when you applied, or you will be notified by telephone or e-mail that your ID card and blocking password have been collected.

A fee reduction or exemption is possible under certain conditions.

Für Personen ab 24 Jahren bei Antragstellung bei der örtlich zuständigen Auslandsvertretung. Die Gebühr setzt sich zusammen aus einer Grundgebühr von 37,00 EUR und dem Auslandszuschlag von 41,00 EUR.: Fee 78,00 EUR (The amount is to be paid in advance) (Information on cost composition can be found here)

Für Personen unter 24 Jahren bei Antragstellung bei der örtlich zuständigen Auslandsvertretung. Die Gebühr setzt sich zusammen aus einer Grundgebühr von 22,80 EUR und dem Auslandszuschlag von 41,00 EUR.: Fee 63,80 EUR (The amount is to be paid in advance) (Information on cost composition can be found here)

Für Personen ab 24 Jahren bei Antragstellung bei einer örtlich nicht zuständigen Auslandsvertretung. Die Gebühr setzt sich zusammen aus einer Grundgebühr von 37,00 EUR dem Auslandszuschlag von 41,00 EUR und dem Unzuständigkeitszuschlag von 13 EUR.: Fee 91,00 EUR (The amount is to be paid in advance) (Information on cost composition can be found here)

Für Personen unter 24 Jahren bei Antragstellung bei einer örtlich nicht zuständigen Auslandsvertretung. Die Gebühr setzt sich zusammen aus einer Grundgebühr von 22,80 EUR, dem Auslandszuschlag von 41,00 EUR und dem Unzuständigkeitszuschlag von 13 EUR.: Fee 76,80 EUR (The amount is to be paid in advance) (Information on cost composition can be found here)

Für Personen ab 24 Jahren bei Antragstellung bei einem beliebigen deutschen Bürgeramt durch Deutsche mit Wohnsitz im Ausland. Die Gebühr setzt sich zusammen aus einer Grundgebühr von 37,00 EUR und dem Unzuständigkeitszuschlag in Höhe von 30,00 EUR.: Fee 67,00 EUR (The amount is to be paid in advance) (Information on cost composition can be found here)

Für Personen unter 24 Jahren bei Antragstellung bei einem beliebigen Bürgeramt durch Deutsche mit Wohnsitz im Ausland. Die Gebühr setzt sich zusammen aus einer Grundgebühr von 22,80 EUR und dem Unzuständigkeitszuschlag von 30,00 EUR.: Fee 52,80 EUR (The amount is to be paid in advance) (Information on cost composition can be found here)

Gebühr für Passfoto, wenn die Behörde das Lichtbildsystem PointID der Bundesdruckerei GmbH verwendet. Verwendet die Behörde Lichtbildsysteme anderer Hersteller, darf das Entgelt abweichen.: Fee 6,00 EUR (The amount is to be paid in advance) (Information on cost composition can be found here)

• Please enquire beforehand at the diplomatic mission or consular post in whose district you are staying whether it can issue ID cards, as not all diplomatic missions and consular posts are responsible for legal and consular matters and therefore ID card matters.
• As a rule, you can only use the online function of the ID card if a foreign address is recorded.
• If your ID card is stolen or lost, you must report this to the local police. You can have the online ID card blocked yourself by calling the blocking hotline; you will need to know the blocking password for this.