Apply for a temporary identity card

You must apply for the temporary ID card in person.

• Apply for the temporary ID card at the citizens' office at your main place of residence.
• If you do not apply for your temporary ID card at your main place of residence, you need an important reason. Please contact your chosen Citizens' Registration Office to find out whether they will accept your reason.
• The Citizens' Registration Office will usually issue you with a temporary ID card immediately.

Note: The temporary ID card is an exception. If you want to apply for it twice in a row, the competent authority may refuse.

You can apply for a temporary ID card under the following conditions:

• You have German citizenship
• You are registered in Germany
• You do not have a valid identity card
• You urgently need a valid identity document.

• Biometric digital passport photo: taken on site at the authority or by a registered domestic photo service provider (photographer)
• old identity document, regardless of whether it is valid or has already expired:
  • old identity card or passport
  • old child passport
• if no old identity card or passport is available:
  • Birth certificate
• for children under the age of 16:
  • custodial parent:
    • Valid identification document (identity card or passport) from each parent
    • if only one custodial parent is present: declaration of consent from the custodial parent who is not present and a copy of their ID card
  • with only one custodial parent:
    • Valid identification document (identity card or passport)
    • Proof of custody

• Section 9 of the Act on Identity Cards and Electronic Identification (Identity Card Act—PAuswG)
• ID card and eID card fee ordinance

The following information is available:

• The temporary ID card is an exception, only valid for a maximum of 3 months and is not intended to replace a regular ID card in the long term or through successive, repeated applications. ID cards must have high security standards, including a storage and processing medium for the photo and fingerprints. The temporary ID card does not have this.
• You can apply for the provisional and the new, regular ID card in Germany at the same time, but you are not obliged to do so.
• You cannot apply for a temporary identity card at German diplomatic missions abroad.
• If your ID card is stolen or lost, you must report this to the police or an ID card authority, such as the town hall or citizens' office.

• Notification of the loss/retrieval of an identity card, passport, child ID card, temporary identity card or temporary passport