Guidance

Germany: Knowledge Base profile

Updated 12 September 2025

Version 9.0

About: Germany

This document contains useful information about Germany which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email HM Passport Office’s Guidance team.

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Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 9.0
• published for Home Office staff on 15 July 2025

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated to:

• explain what a Multilingual Standard Form is and that HM Passport Office cannot accept them
• tell examiners:
  • if one of a child’s parents has a non-German nationality, they may be able to choose the child’s name according to the law in the parent’s county
  • the scenarios where a German citizen can lose their citizenship
  • a German citizen or a person whose habitual residence is in Germany can change their gender at a German register office
• tell examiners if an unmarried father’s name is shown on a birth certificate, the father will have parental responsibility. The parents must have completed a custody declaration for father’s name to be on the birth certificate.

Germany: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Germany.

Names in Germany consist of:

• 1 or more forenames (Vornamen)
• a surname (Nachname) (fathers or mothers surname)

The person’s name is normally shown as forenames first and then their surname. Sometimes the order is reversed depending on where the customer lives, for example, in Bavaria. This means their name may show as ‘der’ surname, forename surname’.

German naming convention states that:

• if the parents are married and have a joint surname, the child is given this name as their birth name
• if the parents are married but do not have the same surname, they must make a name declaration to record their choice of surname for the child
• if the parents are not married and have joint custody and have different surnames, the child can be given the birth name of one of the parents.
• if the parents are not married and one parent has sole custody of the child at birth, the child derives its birth name from this parent

Current German law states that a child can only have the surname of their mother or their father, however, if one of the parents has a non-German nationality, they may be able to choose the child’s name according to that law.

A person’s name shown on a foreign birth certificate may not be acceptable under German law, when issuing a German identity document (for example, a Germany passport) without a name declaration. This includes cases where the name:

• is considered offensive
• does not identify the gender of the child
• has the name of a geographical site (for example, the name of a city)
• is a brand name

Change of name

Name changes are allowed in Germany. There are restrictions in place. The name of a German citizen, which includes dual nationals, can be changed by name declaration or under public law if there is an important reason for doing so, it is not guaranteed the name change will be allowed. Only a registrar in Germany can decide if a name can be changed.

Name changes can be applied for using a name declaration at a German Embassy. The embassy will then send the application to a registrar in Germany. This can only be for children in special cases, and for a change of name after marriage or divorce.

Name changes under public law can be applied for at the competent authority in the area where the person lives or lived, when last resident in Germany.

Changing a forename is only possible according to public law in Germany.

Changing a surname can also be done under public law if it cannot be changed using a name declaration (used for change of name for a child’s surname or following marriage or divorce) under the German Civil Code.

The German authorities will send a formal refusal letter if the customer’s name in the Germany passport cannot be changed.

If a child has changed their name due to adoption, the Germany authorities may accept this. In some cases, the customer may need to apply to the court in Germany.

Marriage in Germany does not confirm a customer’s change of name. This is done at the time of the marriage in Germany or following a name declaration.

German identity documents will show a customer’s married name and their birth name.

A customer cannot change the surname from the married name they declared unless the marriage is dissolved by divorce, or their married partner has died. They can then, either:

• revert to their birth name
• revert to their previous married name (if this was the name used immediately before the current marriage)
• join their previous name to their current married name using a hyphen to make a new name

If a customer has changed their gender in Germany their name can be changed under certain circumstances if a court agrees to it. If the court agrees the name change the Germany authorities will record the new name in public records.

If a customer has changed their name and gender outside of Germany, this may be accepted if the name and gender change was decided by a court in the country where the gender change took place.

Name alignment

Germany passports issued since 1 March 2017 include the customer’s name at birth in field b of the personal details page. HM Passport Office will not ask for the passport to be aligned if:

• the application for a British passport shows the same name in the surname and forename fields of the German passport; and
• the same surname is shown in the machine readable zone; and
• the customer’s birth name is recorded in the German passport
• the customer’s surname on the application is not the mother or father’s surname
• the child’s surname in the German passport shows as part of a double barrelled surname on the application for the British passport

Germany: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about German nationality.

The German Nationality Act was updated on 27 September 2024. The Act states that a customer will not lose German citizenship when they become a citizen of another country

If the customer applied for and received a foreign citizenship (apart from an European Union member state or Switzerland) before 27 September 2024, they would have lost their German citizenship.

They can also lose their citizenship if:

• a woman married a foreign citizen before 31 March 1953
• they were adopted by a foreign citizen and are no longer legally related to their German birth parents
• they volunteered with the armed forces of a foreign country

Germany: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility.

Legitimacy

Germany recognises a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births.

A child will be considered:

• legitimate if:
  • the parents are married to each other at the time of the child’s birth; or
  • the father makes a Declaration of Paternity to acknowledge paternity of the child, if at the time of the birth he was not married to the mother; or
  • a court confirms he is the father
• illegitimate if the parents are not married and the father has not made a declaration of paternity

If the parents are not married, the father’s name will only be added to the birth certificate if he completes a Declaration of Paternity.

Parental responsibility

Parents hold joint parental responsibility if the:

• parents were married at the time of the child’s birth
• parents marry after the child’s birth
• parents complete a custody declaration to confirm they want to care for the child jointly
• Family Court grants them parental responsibility
• Parents are unmarried but the father is named on the birth certificate

The mother will have sole parental responsibility if the parents are not married or do not complete a custody declaration.

If the parents are married and both hold parental responsibility, they do not lose their parental responsibility if they separate or divorce.

If a child is not looked after by their parents (for example, because they are both deceased), they are assigned a legal guardian by the Family Court.

Germany: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Germany.

Adoption is legal in Germany.

Germany: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Germany.

Surrogacy is not legal in Germany.

Germany: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Germany.

Transgender citizens are recognised in Germany.

The Gender Registration (Self-Determination) Act states that a Germany citizen or a person whose habitual residence is in Germany can change their gender at a German register office.

If a customer has changed their gender outside of Germany, a Germany mission abroad can officially authenticate the declaration and forward it to appropriate register office.

A new Germany passport, showing the customer’s new gender, can only be issued if the Germany Embassy or family court accept it. The new name must follow Germany naming law.

Germany: civil partnership and marriage

This section tells HM Passport Office staff about civil partnership and marriage in Germany

Same sex civil partnerships and marriages are legal in Germany.

Opposite sex civil partnerships are not recognised in Germany.

Civil marriages in a register office only are considered legal.

Germany: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents issued by the German authorities.

There is no central register in Germany that issues documents other than passports and identity cards.

The German authorities do not laminate documents (for example, birth, death or marriage certificates).

HM Passport Office cannot accept Multilingual Standard Forms (MSFs) issued by EU member states. An MSF is a translation aid to help another EU member state to understand a public document in a different language.

Birth certificates

Birth certificates are issued to everyone in Germany, apart from Children who are born in a military base. There is no central register. Birth certificates for adopted children will only name the adoptive parents as the child’s parents.

Germany allows children with male and female characteristics to be registered. The parents can leave the sex blank on the birth certificate.

A child’s birth must be registered within 7 days.

There are different types of birth certificates issued in Germany, these are:

• A4 international certificate written in German, French and English
• A5 size birth certificates (to fit inside the family book) issued in triplicate with the title Abstamungsurkunde or Geburtsurkunde (meaning birth certificate) followed by:
  • Fur Kirchlichen or Religiosen Zwecke for use in church
  • Fur Krankenkasse for sick insurance matters
  • Fur Amtlichen Zwecke for registration purposes
• addition to the reverse of the parents’ marriage certificate

If there is an error on a customer’s birth certificate, a new certificate is issued with the correct information on.

The hospital will issue a notice of birth when a child is born, and they keep their records. What the hospital includes on the notice of birth varies from hospital to hospital.

If the parents are not married, the father’s name will only be added to the birth certificate if he completes a Declaration of Paternity.

Marriage certificates

Marriages are registered immediately.

Couples may choose to get married somewhere else (for example, in a church) but this is considered a blessing ceremony.

Marriage registers are held in each town hall and when customers are married, the registrar will issue them with a marriage certificate. Couples may also choose to get a family book.

Death certificates

Death certificates in Germany are issued to everyone.

Identity documents

German nationals must have an identity card. Customers can apply for passports and identity cards at the local town hall which will be produced in Berlin and issued by the town hall.

If a person is married and has changed their name, the identity card will show both their:

• birth name
• married name

German passports issued since 1 March 2017 include the customer’s name at birth in field b of the personal details page.