From 2024 there should be no new children’s passports – that’s what the Bundestag decided. They are to be replaced by electronic passports with a longer period of validity and more options for use.
The Bundestag has decided to abolish the children’s passport. From the turn of the year, the document can no longer be requested, as Parliament decided with the votes of the SPD, Greens and FDP. Instead, there should be an electronic passport with a longer period of validity and the possibility of use for worldwide travel.
The background is that the special passports for children under the age of twelve can only be used to a limited extent compared to the ordinary passport. In addition, the validity is limited to one year due to European legal requirements. Unlike standard electronic passports, children’s passports do not contain a memory chip on which fingerprints, among other things, are stored. Some countries therefore require an additional visa for the child for entry.
“In order to achieve a uniform solution for passport documents for all German nationals, regardless of age, the child passport document should be abolished,” says the justification for the law that has now been passed. It is also pointed out that “when the child’s passport is renewed for a maximum of five times, the sum of the fees for a single issue and five times for renewal is higher than for the issuance of a normal six-year passport”.
Federal Council still has to agree
The reform of the Passport and Identity Card Act should also make it easier for the authorities to prevent German sex offenders and extremists from leaving the country – specifically if there is a risk that they will commit crimes abroad. If certain facts justify this assumption, such people will either not receive a passport, their passport may be withdrawn, or they may be prohibited from leaving the country.
It is also envisaged that the possibility of sending passports, identity cards and electronic residence permits by post should the applicant so wish should be created by means of the corresponding authorization to issue ordinances. This means that citizens would only have to go to the office once for a new passport.
The law requires the approval of the Bundesrat. In an initial statement, the Chamber of States had called, among other things, for the abolition of children’s passports to be postponed to November 2025. The federal government rejected this.