Apply for a passport

Duration of validity

A passport is issued for 6 years up to the age of 24 and for 10 years from the age of 24. An extension is not possible.

Issued before the age of 18

Passports for underage children can only be applied for with a declaration of consent (including a copy of the identity card or passport for signature comparison) from the custodial parent. Furthermore, proof of custody is mandatory in the case of sole custody or unmarried parents (judgment of the family court, negative certificate or custody certificate from the youth welfare office).

If the child has not yet reached the age of 18, the presence of the child and a parent with custody is mandatory when applying.

Loss, theft

The loss or theft of a valid passport must be reported in writing or in person. If it has already been reported to the police, please bring the duplicate with you.

Application

Applications can only be made at the passport office of the main residence. A personal appearance is required for the application. When applying for persons under the age of 18, the presence of the child and a custodial parent is mandatory.

Duration of production - Bundesdruckerei

The Bundesdruckerei usually takes approx. 4 - 6 weeks to produce a passport (no guarantee). No delivery date is guaranteed for standard orders.

In urgent cases and if you require a guaranteed delivery date, you can apply for a passport using the EXPRESS ordering procedure (additional costs). You will then receive the document within 3 working days (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays). You must submit the application by 11:00 a.m. in order to meet this deadline. Please note this requirement when booking your appointment.

Examples of delivery times in the EXPRESS ordering procedure

If you need it even faster, you can apply for a temporary passport on presentation of appropriate proof of urgency (see links).

Issue / collection

If you are in possession of an old passport that has not yet been validated, this must be presented for validation when you collect your new passport. Passports are always issued to the person making the application. Passports are only issued to the legal representative, legal guardian or authorized representative in the case of persons under the age of 18 or persons who are incapable of acting. The passport can also be issued to a person authorized by the applicant; this person must identify themselves by presenting a valid identity card (of an EU or Schengen area country) or a valid passport (other countries). Please use the form under Downloads for an authorization.

• Proof of identity: Passport, identity card, child ID card, child passport - if available and not yet invalidated by an authority
• Name: When you apply for an identity document, we will check whether your name (first name, surname and other parts of your name as well as the order of the first names) has been entered correctly. Please bring the following original documents with you, depending on your marital status or if you have changed your name:
  • Single: Birth certificate
  • Married or widowed: Marriage certificate
  • In a registered civil partnership: civil partnership certificate
  • Divorced: Marriage certificate (if you have changed your name after divorce, please also bring this official document)
  • Civil partnership dissolved: Civil partnership certificate and court judgment with final judgment note
  • Naturalized: Naturalization certificate and declaration of name (if no declaration of name has been made, the relevant documents must be submitted in addition to the naturalization certificate, depending on your marital status, see points above)
  • If your name has been changed for other reasons, please bring the relevant document or court decision with you (e.g. certificate of a name change or decision under the Transsexuals Act).
  • Note: If you have lost your last certificate from the Jena registry office, you can simply apply for a new certificate online. Certificates and judgments in languages other than German must be submitted with a certified translation.
• Photograph:
  • Application up to and including 30.04.2025: Please bring a new (not older than 3 months!), printed, biometric photograph. The photo must be 3.5 x 4.5 cm in size.
  • Application from 01.05.2025: A digital passport photo must be taken and sent if necessary. Digital passport photos can initially only be taken by photographers and at a later date also directly at the Citizens' Service. There is currently no possibility to take digital passport photos at the Citizens' Service. In future, the digital passport photo must not be older than 3 months. Self-made photos, photos from photo booths or passport photos from photo apps will no longer be permitted from 01.05.2025. Unfortunately, at the moment you can only search independently for photo service providers for digital passport photos on the private website alfo Passbild - Fotograf für Passbilder in der Nähe(link is external).
• Declaration of consent and proof of custody when applying for persons under 18 years of age

• Passport Act