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Travel documents when traveling abroad

The obligation to carry a valid passport or identity card when crossing borderscontinues to apply to travel within the European Union as well as to third countries. Anyone not carrying a valid travel document is committing an administrative offense. The fine is a minimum of EUR 5.00 and a maximum of EUR 1000. For third-country nationals and persons entitled to freedom of movement, the fine is EUR 3000 (see Section 98 V in conjunction with III No. 3 AufenthG and Section 10 III in conjunction with IV FreizügG/EU).

Within the European Union, citizens who are nationals of a member state of the European Union can also travel freely with their valid identity cardand use it as a travel document. Regarding the necessary documents (passport and visa) for travel by third-country nationals within the European Union, please consult the pages of the European Commission ( Your Europe Portal).

When traveling outside the European Union, a passportis usually required. Please note that some destination countries have certain requirements regarding the minimum validity of passports. There are different regulations here. In some countries the passport must be valid for at least 3 months, in others for 6 months.

Travel documents for multiple nationalities

For visa-free travel within the European Union, EU citizens and citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland who hold several nationalitiesmust carry a passport or identity card issued by the Member State of the European Union of which they are a national and present it at checks. A passport from a non-EU country is not sufficient. The same applies when entering or leaving third countries. When traveling between the European Union on the one hand and a non-EU country on the other, travelers may therefore have to take two passports or ID cards with them: On the one hand a passport of the EU state and on the other hand a passport of the destination state.

Travel documents for minors

To facilitate travel, minors traveling alone who are entering or leaving Germany - although not required by law - should carry a declaration of consentsigned by their legal guardians in addition to their own valid travel document (passport or ID card). If possible, this should be issued in the languages of the home country and the country of destination.

The declaration of consent should contain the following information

• that the minor may travel alone
• the contact details of the custodial parent(s)
• the travel route
• any contact details of accompanying adults

To make it easier to issue a replacement passport abroad if passports or identity documents are lost, care should be taken before the start of the trip to ensure that photocopiesof the identity documents used for the trip (and subsequently lost) are carried by the minor traveling alone.

In the case of minors traveling alone or accompanied by only one parent, it is advisable to have a power of attorneyissued by the unaccompanying legal guardian with the contact details of the legal guardian. In this way, delays at border controls, for example lengthy searches, can be avoided and exceptional situations can be dealt with. This enables the control officers to contact the unaccompanying legal guardian in case of doubt.

The implementation of border controls on minors is based on Regulation (EU) No. 2016/399(Schengen Borders Code). In accordance with Article 20(1)(f) in conjunction with Annex VII, special attentionis paid to minors. This is intended to prevent them from being unlawfully removed from the custody of persons with parental authority or from leaving the territory against the will of the person with parental authority. In addition, in certain exceptional situations, for example in the event of illness during the trip, it may also be advisable as a precautionary measure to carry a power of attorney from the child's legal guardian who is not traveling with him or her. This can be used, for example, to prove to a doctor that he or she has the authority to initiate the necessary medical treatment for the child traveling with him or her.

Validity of travel documents for minors

If you want to apply for a document that is valid for several years for your child, you can apply for an identity cardor a passport. With an identity card, your child can travel across borders within the EU without any problems. Children's ID cards are valid for a maximum of 6 years. If you are planning an international trip outside the EU, you should apply for a passportfor your child. Passports for children are valid for a maximum of 6 years.

Please note: The facial appearance, especially of infants and very young children, can change so much within six years that identification with the original ID document is sometimes no longer possible even well before the printed expiry date is reached and the ID document is therefore invalid prematurely. In this case, please apply for a new identity card or passport for your child in good time before you travel.

If you need an identity document for your child for a trip, until recently there was an identity card, passport or children's passport- however, the latter was abolishedon 01.01.2024. This means that they can no longer be reissued, extended or updated. Children's passports that have already been issued can continue to be used until they expire.

Children's passports are valid for a maximum of 12 months. This limited period of validity applies to all standard identity documents without a chip issued by EU Member States to their citizens. Documents with less protection may not be valid for longer than twelve months. In contrast, normal passports are issued with a longer period of validity and have numerous security features as well as an integrated chip.

The acceptance of children's passports, especially those with extended validity, varies depending on the country worldwide and in some cases also within the EU. The recognition of German children's passports by other countries cannot be influenced by Germany. Some countries require that the ID document has a certain remaining validity upon entry, usually three to six months. This also considerably restricts the usability of children's passports. An identity card is sufficient for travel within the EU. For destinations outside the EU, a passport is usually required.

Lost passport or identity card

If passports or identity documents are lost in other EU countries, the citizens concerned should contact their embassies and consulates general with police proofof the loss of the document and apply for a travel document to replace their passport. As authorities in Germany cannot be contacted at weekends and on public holidays to make the necessary enquiries, you must expect that it will not be possible to issue a passport until the next working day.

EU citizens who lose their passports in a third country (non-Schengen states) in which there is no diplomatic or consular representation of their home country can contact consulates or embassies of other EU states to obtain an emergency travel document.

Carrying photocopiesof the identity documents used for the trip (and subsequently lost) will make it easier to obtain a replacement passport abroad and to apply for a new one from your passport or identity card authority in Germany.

Please note: Identity documents that have been reported lost or stolen should no longer be used as travel documents once they have been found. Even if the document reported as "lost" has since been reported as "recovered" to a passport authority, this does not automatically lead to an immediate deletion of the lost entry in the Interpol database and a corresponding transfer of this deletion to the national databases of countries worldwide. It therefore happens time and again that the border police confiscate recovered identity documents without replacement due to the remaining wanted entry.

Expired passport or identity card

In the case of an expired passport or identity card, the Federal Police can issue a travel document as a passport replacement for German nationals so that they can travel for a limited period of time. This only applies if a (temporary) travel document can no longer be expected to be issued by a passport authority in time. In order to be able to return to Germany at the end of the trip, German citizens must apply for a travel document as a passport replacement for their return at the embassy or consulate responsible for them in good time before their return. Please refer to the information under "Lost passport or identity card".

For EU citizens, the Federal Police can issue an emergency travel documentif the passport has expired. EU citizens who have lost their travel document in Germany due to loss or theft should primarily obtain replacement identity documentsvia the embassy of their home country. Only if this would cause undue hardship in individual cases may the Federal Police or local immigration authorities issue emergency travel documents on application and on presentation of the police report of loss.

The issuing of replacement documents to children and persons under the age of 18 is generally dependent on the consent of their legal representatives. Identity and nationality must be proven by presenting official documents. These are, for example, an expired passport or a replacement passport.

Germany has agreed with some member states of the Council of Europe that German travel documents should generally be recognized as proof of identity up to one year after expiry. Further information on this can be found on the website of the Council of Europe on the European Agreement on the Regulation of the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe(ETS No. 025).

However, this European agreement does not include a travel guarantee or mandatory recognition of expired documents, for example by transport companies. In order to avoid any difficulties when traveling with expired documents, it is recommended that you only travel with valid documents.