Status: 11/22/2022 10:52 a.m
If you need a new identity card or passport, you may soon be able to save yourself a trip to the Citizens’ Registration Office. As the Ministry of the Interior announced, the documents are to be sent home by direct mail in the future.
In the future, applicants for a new identity card or passport will be given the option of having the completed document sent directly to their home by post. The Federal Ministry of the Interior is planning to offer citizens the option of direct mail, said a spokeswoman for the dpa news agency.
She did not name a point in time when this could be possible. It is a complex project that requires many internal changes within Bundesdruckerei and also has a significant impact on the usual practice in the passport and ID authorities as well as immigration authorities. The ministry spokeswoman explained that the necessary technical and legal changes would be worked out.
Particularly high demand in spring
The Association of Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia has been demanding for some time that the Bundesdruckerei send identity documents directly to citizens. That would relieve the burden on citizens and administration alike, explained the municipal association of the most populous federal state.
Until now, applicants for a new ID document have usually had to go to their municipal office twice – once to apply for it and a second time to pick it up.
After two Corona years with restrictions, the demand for passports in spring was very high. In many places it was difficult to get an appointment at the office for a new identity document in a timely manner.