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Apply for a standard certificate of good conduct (Führungszeugnis)

Bürgeramt · registration authority

MixedFederal Office of Justice

The standard certificate of good conduct (Führungszeugnis) is the official extract from the Federal Central Criminal Register (Bundeszentralregister) kept by the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz), and it shows which criminal convictions are recorded against your name. Employers, landlords, the Gewerbeamt (trade office) and associations regularly require it; under § 30 of the Act on the Central Criminal Register and the Educative Measures Register (Bundeszentralregistergesetz, BZRG), any person aged 14 or over can apply for it for themselves. You submit the application either in person at the Bürgeramt (citizens’ office) of the municipality where you are registered or online, using the online ID function, directly to the Federal Office of Justice. The fee is a uniform €13.00 nationwide, and the certificate is then sent to you by post as a paper document.

Last updated24 August 2026
Legal basis§ 30, § 32, § 34 BZRG
VerificationChecked by AmtsDeutschland.de
Written and reviewed byAndrés Sánchez Botta
Independent information website: we are not the Bürgeramt, not an authority and not a paid advice service – we do not submit applications on your behalf. All information comes from official sources and is explained here in plain language; binding information always comes from the competent body. All information is provided without guarantee. We are neither lawyers nor tax consultants: we document official procedures and check the information against the official source – this is information, not legal or tax advice.
Costs€13.00Uniform nationwide
Processing time2–3 weeksUsually faster online
MethodOnline or in personeID portal or Bürgeramt
Required documents

What you need to bring

Which documents you need depends on how you apply. At the Bürgeramt, a valid identity document is sufficient; for the online application, you also need the activated online ID function. For certificate type (Belegart) O and for the extended Führungszeugnis, further proof is required.

Valid identity card, passport or residence title

At the Bürgeramt, you identify yourself with a valid official photo ID; foreigners use their passport or electronic residence title. The document must not have expired on the day of the application, because the registration authority (Meldebehörde) confirms your identity for the application to the Federal Office of Justice. If your identity document has expired, first apply for a new one or have it renewed at the same appointment.

Online ID function (eID) with six-digit PIN

For the online application via the portal of the Federal Office of Justice, you need the activated eID of your identity card (Personalausweis), your electronic residence title or your eID card for EU citizens. For this, you need the six-digit PIN you chose yourself, not the five-digit transport PIN from the PIN letter. If you do not know the PIN or it is blocked, the Bürgeramt will reset it free of charge; you should plan an appointment for this before you start online.

AusweisApp and NFC device or card reader

The eID is read using the AusweisApp, which is free of charge, either with an NFC-enabled smartphone or with a card reader connected to your computer. Without this technical equipment, the online application cannot be completed, even if the eID is activated. Keep the identity document still on the device during the transfer, as an interruption resets the application.

Current registered address

The application is made via the municipality in which you are registered with your principal or secondary residence, and a certificate of Belegart N is sent to exactly this address. If you identify yourself with a passport that does not show an address, the Bürgeramt also requires a registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung). After a move, first complete your Ummeldung (change of address); otherwise, the certificate will be delivered to your old address.

Address and purpose of the receiving authority (Belegart O)

If the certificate is to go directly to an authority, you need its full address and the file reference or the purpose, for example restaurant licence (Gaststättenerlaubnis) or security services trade (Bewachungsgewerbe). This information is given in the letter from the authority that requires the certificate from you. Without correct recipient information, the certificate cannot be matched, and the processing of your actual application is delayed.

Request in writing from the institution (extended certificate only)

An extended Führungszeugnis under § 30a BZRG is only issued if you present a request in writing from the employer, association or institution. It must state that the legal requirements for an extended certificate are met, i.e. an activity involving contact with children and young people. The institution issues the letter to you; without this document, you only receive a standard Führungszeugnis.

Confirmation from the association for voluntary work

If you need the certificate exclusively for unpaid voluntary work with a non-profit organisation, an authority or in a service under § 32 Abs. 4 Nr. 2 Buchst. d of the Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG), you do not pay the fee under preliminary note (Vorbemerkung) 1.1.3 of the cost schedule (Kostenverzeichnis, KV) to the Judicial Administration Costs Act (Justizverwaltungskostengesetz, JVKostG) – in these cases, it is expressly not charged. For this, you present a confirmation in writing from the association or institution showing the nature of the activity and that it is unpaid. The confirmation must be available on submission of the application; a refund afterwards is generally ruled out.

Means of payment for the €13.00 fee

At the Bürgeramt, you pay immediately on submission of the application, by EC card or in cash depending on the local authority; not every competent body accepts cash or credit cards. Online, the fee is collected at the end of the application by credit card only; the former giropay option was discontinued with effect from 31 December 2024, and direct debit and bank transfer are not provided for. If you do not have a credit card, you must therefore submit the application at the registration authority. The application is only forwarded to the Federal Office of Justice once payment has been made.

Proof of authority to represent when submitting an application for others

For children under 14, the legal representatives submit the application and prove parental custody, for example with a birth certificate (Geburtsurkunde) or a court decision on parental custody. For persons under legal custodianship, the custodian’s certificate (Betreuerausweis) is sufficient, provided that the custodian’s scope of duties covers the matter. Submission of the application by authorised representatives, by contrast, is ruled out – the Federal Office of Justice expressly does not permit it. If you cannot attend in person, apply in writing: under § 30 Abs. 1 Satz 3 BZRG, the signature on the application must then be officially or publicly certified.

Step by step

How to proceed

  1. 1

    Determine the type of certificate and the Belegart

    First clarify with the body that requires the certificate whether a standard Führungszeugnis under § 30 BZRG is sufficient or whether an extended Führungszeugnis under § 30a BZRG is required. Then decide on the Belegart: Belegart N goes to you personally and is the norm for job applications and tenancies; Belegart O goes directly to an authority, for example to the Gewerbeamt for a Gaststättenerlaubnis. For Belegart O, have the full address of the receiving authority and the purpose ready. This decision cannot be changed later; choosing the wrong Belegart means a new application and another €13.00.

  2. 2

    Choose how to apply: online or at the Bürgeramt

    Online, you submit the application on the portal of the Federal Office of Justice at fuehrungszeugnis.bund.de, around the clock and without an appointment; the form takes about ten minutes. Alternatively, go to the Bürgeramt of the municipality where you are registered and have the application taken there, which in many cities requires an appointment booked in advance. Both routes lead to the same result, because the certificate is always issued by the Federal Office of Justice in Bonn. If you do not have a place of residence in Germany, apply directly to the Federal Office of Justice with an officially certified signature.

  3. 3

    Prove your identity

    For the online application, you identify yourself with the online ID function of your identity card, your electronic residence title or your eID card, read via the AusweisApp with an NFC smartphone or card reader. Have your six-digit PIN ready; after three failed attempts, the eID is blocked and must be unblocked at the Bürgeramt. At the Bürgeramt, presenting your valid identity card or passport is sufficient, plus a Meldebescheinigung if your passport does not show an address. You also state your birth name, place of birth and date of birth so that the register check is unambiguous.

  4. 4

    Pay the €13.00 fee

    The fee is uniform nationwide and is due immediately on submission of the application. Online, you pay at the end of the form by credit card only (giropay was discontinued with effect from 31 December 2024; direct debit and bank transfer are not offered); at the Bürgeramt, you pay by EC card or in cash, depending on the local authority. Only once payment has been made is the application deemed submitted and forwarded to the Federal Office of Justice. For purely voluntary work, you can apply for the fee exemption at this point and enclose the institution’s confirmation.

  5. 5

    Processing by the Federal Office of Justice

    The Federal Office of Justice checks your data against the Federal Central Criminal Register and issues the certificate. For an application via the Bürgeramt, the postal forwarding adds to the time, which is why you should allow two to three weeks in total; applications submitted online arrive directly and are usually a few days faster. It takes longer if there are entries, if your place of birth is abroad or if, for nationals of other EU states, the country of origin is also queried. Collection, download or express issuing are not provided for.

  6. 6

    Receive the Führungszeugnis by post and check it

    A certificate of Belegart N is delivered as a paper document by standard letter to your registered address; make sure your doorbell and letterbox are correctly labelled. Immediately on receipt, check your name, date of birth, place of birth and date of issue as well as the note on the content. If no conviction is recorded, the certificate expressly states that there is no entry. If you consider an entry to be incorrect, you can request information from the register and its correction from the Federal Office of Justice.

Fee information

Costs and payment

Fees

Amount€13.00 per issued copy
Applies toStandard and extended Führungszeugnis, Belegart N and O
Legal basis for the feeFee schedule to the Judicial Administration Costs Act (JVKostG)
Regional differencesNone – the amount is the same in all federal states and local authorities
Time of paymentImmediately on submission of the application
Place of paymentOnline on the portal of the Federal Office of Justice or at the Bürgeramt
Means of paymentOnline: credit card only. On site: EC card or cash, depending on the local authority
IncludedIssuing and postal dispatch within Germany
Fee exemptionThe fee is not charged for unpaid voluntary work (Vorbem. 1.1.3 KV JVKostG) – present the institution’s confirmation
Additional costsApostille or legalisation for use abroad, for a separate fee

The €13.00 fee is charged per issued copy. If you need the Führungszeugnis for two employers at the same time, two separate applications and therefore €26.00 are required – many bodies do not accept a copy you have made yourself, because they want to see the original with the seal. Likewise, a certificate of Belegart O that goes directly to an authority does not replace a second copy for your own records.

You pay for the processing, not for the result: the fee is not refunded even if the certificate contains entries, if you no longer need it after receiving it or if the receiving body rejects it because too much time has passed. Therefore only apply for the certificate once it is clear which type of certificate and which Belegart are required. For volunteers, it is worth applying for the fee exemption, which must be applied for together with the institution’s confirmation on submission of the application; a decision on the exemption is made in each individual case.

Good to know

Important notes

Do not apply too early. The Führungszeugnis has no statutory period of validity, but employers and authorities almost always require a document that is no more than three months old on the day it is presented. Allow two to three weeks for delivery and only submit the application once the date of presentation is in sight.

Inspect Belegart O yourself in advance. Under § 30 Abs. 5 BZRG, you can request that a Führungszeugnis intended for an authority first be sent to an Amtsgericht (local court) of your choice. You are notified and have two weeks to inspect the content there before the certificate is forwarded to the authority. This is the only way to know the content before the authority does.

Regulatory fines and points are not included. The Führungszeugnis contains exclusively criminal convictions from the Federal Central Criminal Register. Regulatory offences (Ordnungswidrigkeit), points in the Register of Driver Fitness (Fahreignungsregister, FAER) in Flensburg, discontinued or ongoing criminal investigations, debts and SCHUFA entries do not appear. Neither a driving ban for speeding nor a court order-for-payment procedure (Mahnverfahren) therefore shows up.

Minor convictions often remain invisible. Under § 32 Abs. 2 BZRG, criminal fines (Geldstrafe) of no more than 90 daily rates and terms of imprisonment of no more than three months are not included in the Führungszeugnis, as long as no other sentence is entered in the register. In this case, the certificate bears the note that there is no entry. A second conviction removes this protection, and both entries then become visible.

Entries disappear after fixed periods. § 34 BZRG determines when a conviction is no longer included in the Führungszeugnis: three years for minor convictions, five years in all other cases and ten years for certain serious sexual offences with imprisonment of more than one year. The period is extended by the length of any term of imprisonment imposed. An application for early deletion is not provided for; the periods run automatically.

§ 30a BZRG applies to work with children. Anyone who supervises, cares for, educates or trains children and young people in a professional, part-time or voluntary capacity must present an extended Führungszeugnis. It also contains certain convictions that would not appear in the standard certificate because the sentence is low. The requirement for issuing it is the institution’s request in writing; in child and youth welfare, the certificate usually has to be presented again every five years.

EU citizens receive a European certificate of good conduct (Europäisches Führungszeugnis). For nationals of other EU member states, § 30b BZRG provides that information is also obtained from the criminal register of the country of origin. The fee remains €13.00, but processing takes noticeably longer because of the query abroad. Allow plenty of time for this if an employment contract or a trade registration (Gewerbeanmeldung) depends on it.

The German certificate only covers Germany. It includes convictions entered in the German Federal Central Criminal Register. If you have lived abroad for a longer period, employers or authorities will often also ask you for a criminal record certificate from the country concerned. To use the German certificate abroad, you usually need an apostille or legalisation, which the Federal Office of Justice issues for a separate fee.

There is no digital version. Even an application made entirely online ends with a paper document that is sent by post to your registered address; there is no download, no PDF and no collection at the Bürgeramt. Make sure there is a correct name label on your letterbox, especially in flat shares and subletting arrangements. If the letter is returned as undeliverable, a new application subject to a fee is necessary.

Avoid these mistakes

Common mistakes

Applying for a standard certificate instead of an extended Führungszeugnis. If you only present a standard certificate for work with children and young people, the institution must not deploy you. The result is a second application with another €13.00 and two to three weeks of additional waiting, during which the job, the start of the contract or the assignment is on hold.

Forgetting the institution’s request in writing. Without this letter, which names the legal basis under § 30a BZRG, the Federal Office of Justice does not issue an extended Führungszeugnis. The application is then automatically treated as one for a standard certificate, the fee is used up and the whole process starts again from the beginning.

Choosing the wrong Belegart. Some authorities do not accept a certificate of Belegart N because they must receive the original directly from the Federal Office of Justice; conversely, you never see a certificate of Belegart O yourself unless you have applied for inspection at the Amtsgericht. Both cases mean a new application, another €13.00 and a procedure that remains unprocessed until then.

Starting the online application without an activated eID. If you only have the five-digit transport PIN from the PIN letter or have never activated the online ID function, you cannot complete the application. After three incorrect PIN entries, the eID is blocked and must be unblocked at the Bürgeramt, which requires an appointment – this can quickly delay your application by several days.

Applying too early and overlooking the three-month practice. Many employers, courts and supervisory authorities (Aufsichtsbehörde) reject a certificate whose date of issue is more than three months ago. If you obtain it weeks before you actually need it, you end up paying twice, because the first copy is already considered out of date when it is presented.

Not registering your change of address after a move. A certificate of Belegart N goes to the address entered in the population register (Melderegister). If there is no name label on the letterbox or the address is out of date, the letter is returned as undeliverable; a replacement is only issued for a new fee, and in the worst case sensitive data ends up with third parties.

Applying for the fee exemption for voluntary work only afterwards. The confirmation from the association or institution must already be available on submission of the application. If you pay first and submit it later, you will as a rule not get the €13.00 refunded and will bear the costs of unpaid voluntary work yourself.

Thinking of it as a “polizeiliches Führungszeugnis” (police certificate) or a “Leumundszeugnis” (character reference). The police do not issue a Führungszeugnis and do not keep the register; the only competent bodies are the registration authority, where you apply, and the Federal Office of Justice as the issuing authority. If you contact the wrong body, you lose time and will have to submit the application at the Bürgeramt or online afterwards anyway.

Frequently asked questions

Questions and answers

What is the difference between Belegart N and Belegart O?

Belegart N is the Führungszeugnis for private purposes: it is delivered to you personally by post at your registered address, and you decide yourself to whom you present it. Belegart O is the certificate for submission to an authority: it goes directly to the body named in the application, for example the Gewerbeamt or the care home supervisory authority (Heimaufsicht). Under § 30 Abs. 5 BZRG, you can request that a certificate of Belegart O first be sent to an Amtsgericht of your choice so that you can inspect it there before it is forwarded.

Can I apply for the Führungszeugnis entirely online?

Yes, the application can be made entirely online via the portal of the Federal Office of Justice at fuehrungszeugnis.bund.de. The requirements are the activated online ID function (eID) of your identity card, your electronic residence title or your eID card for EU citizens, and an NFC-enabled smartphone or a card reader with the AusweisApp. The finished certificate itself, however, is only available on paper by post; there is no download.

How long is a Führungszeugnis valid?

The Act on the Central Criminal Register and the Educative Measures Register does not provide for a period of validity: a Führungszeugnis reflects the state of the register on the day of issue, and in legal terms this statement never loses its validity. In practice, however, employers, landlords and authorities usually only accept certificates that are no more than three months old; child and youth welfare institutions usually require the extended Führungszeugnis to be presented again every five years.

What is included in the standard Führungszeugnis and what is not?

Final criminal convictions entered in the Federal Central Criminal Register are included. Under § 32 Abs. 2 BZRG, the items not included are, among others, criminal fines of up to 90 daily rates and terms of imprisonment of up to three months, provided that no other sentence is recorded in the register. Regulatory offences such as regulatory fines, points in the Fahreignungsregister, ongoing criminal investigations, discontinued proceedings and debts do not appear as a matter of principle.

How long does it take for the Führungszeugnis to arrive?

For an application via the Bürgeramt, you should expect about two to three weeks until delivery, because the application is first forwarded to the Federal Office of Justice. Applications submitted online go directly to the Federal Office of Justice without this detour and are therefore usually a few days faster. It takes longer if there are entries, if your place of birth is abroad or if the country of origin also has to be queried for EU citizens.

Do I need a standard or an extended Führungszeugnis?

The standard Führungszeugnis under § 30 BZRG is sufficient for most job applications, tenancies, trade registrations and association posts without contact with children. You are under an obligation to obtain an extended Führungszeugnis under § 30a BZRG if you supervise, care for, educate or train children and young people in a professional, voluntary or part-time capacity; for this, you need a request in writing from the institution that refers to the legal basis. Both types of certificate cost €13.00.

Can I apply for the Führungszeugnis from abroad?

If you do not have a place of residence in Germany, submit the application directly to the Federal Office of Justice in Bonn. The signature on the application must be officially certified, as a rule by a German mission abroad, a consulate or a notary. For use abroad, many bodies also require an apostille or legalisation, which the Federal Office of Justice issues for a separate fee.

Is there a fee exemption for the Führungszeugnis?

For voluntary work, the €13.00 fee is not charged under preliminary note 1.1.3 of the cost schedule to the Judicial Administration Costs Act (JVKostG) – this applies to voluntary legal custodianship under § 19 Abs. 1, § 21 of the Custodianship Organisation Act (Betreuungsorganisationsgesetz, BtOG) as well as to voluntary work for a non-profit organisation, an authority or in one of the services under § 32 Abs. 4 Nr. 2 Buchst. d EStG. This is a statutory entitlement, not a discretionary decision. On submission of the application, present a confirmation in writing from the association or institution showing that the certificate is needed exclusively for unpaid voluntary work. If this proof is provided, the fee exemption is required by law; the body only checks whether the requirements of preliminary note 1.1.3 KV JVKostG are met.

Related official procedures

Extended certificate of good conduct (erweitertes Führungszeugnis)
For work with children
€13
Identity card
eID for online use
€46
Registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung)
Proof of address for the application
€0–€16
Official certification
Have a signature certified
Depending on the local authority

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