Renew your passport (after expiry)

Bürgeramt · passport services

In personBMI

Last updated24 August 2026

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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.

At a glance

Costs

€70 (24 and over)

Processing

3–6 weeks

Important

No extension

A German passport cannot be extended after expiry. § 5 of the Passport Act (Passgesetz, PassG) states expressly that an extension of the passport’s period of validity is not permitted – this applies equally to the regular passport and to the temporary passport (vorläufiger Reisepass). If your passport has expired or will expire in the coming months, submit a complete new application to the passport authority for your principal residence; in large cities this is the Bürgeramt or Bürgerbüro (citizens’ office), in smaller municipalities the Einwohnermeldeamt (residents’ registration office).

The process is the same as for a first application: attending in person, a digital photograph, two fingerprints, a signature and the fee. The new passport is again valid for ten years, or six years for persons under 24. Any remaining validity of the old passport is not credited; the validity begins on the date of issue. In the standard procedure, allow three to six weeks – before the summer holidays, many local authorities report longer delivery times. If you need to travel sooner, use the express procedure (€32 surcharge, about three working days) or the vorläufiger Reisepass, which is issued immediately.

Required documents

For the new application, the old passport, a valid identity card (Personalausweis) and a digitally transmitted photograph are sufficient in most cases. If your name, marital status or nationality has changed since the passport was last issued, certificates are also required. If a document is missing, the authority cannot accept the application – the appointment is lost and you lose valuable weeks.

The old (expired) passport. Bring it even if it expired years ago: the passport authority uses it to check your stored data and invalidates the document so that it cannot be misused. If you wish, you will get the punched passport back – this is important if it still contains valid visas. If the passport has been lost or stolen, submit a report of loss (Verlustanzeige) instead; the authority will then require additional proof of identity, and the appointment will take longer.

Digital biometric photograph. Since 1 May 2025, only electronically transmitted passport photos have been processed; paper photos brought along, printouts or image files on a USB stick are no longer permitted. You have the photo taken either directly at the Bürgeramt at the capture terminal – this costs €6 per photograph – or at a certified photo studio or drugstore, which transmits the image to the authority in encrypted form. The retrieval code from the studio is only valid for a limited time, so do not have the photo taken until shortly before your appointment. The biometric requirements continue to apply: a frontal shot, a neutral facial expression, mouth closed, no head covering except for religious reasons.

Valid identity card or another official photo identity document. The authority uses it to establish your identity; the identity card and the passport are legally separate documents, and the expired passport does not affect the validity of your identity card. If neither an identity card nor an old passport is available, the passport authority requires further proof, such as the birth certificate (Geburtsurkunde) and, where applicable, confirmation of your identity by a person who can identify themselves.

Certificates if your personal details have changed. The marriage certificate (Eheurkunde) or civil partnership certificate (Lebenspartnerschaftsurkunde) for a change of name through marriage; the final divorce decree (Scheidungsurteil) or the declaration on the use of a name made at the Standesamt (registry office) after a divorce; the Geburtsurkunde for a change of birth name. You can obtain the certificates from the Standesamt of the place where the event was registered, usually within a few days. Without proof, the new passport will be issued with the name previously stored in the population register (Melderegister) – a later correction means a new application that is subject to a fee.

Proof of German nationality (special cases). You need a naturalisation certificate (Einbürgerungsurkunde), a certificate of nationality (Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis) or a late repatriate certificate (Spätaussiedlerbescheinigung) if you were naturalised, were born abroad or your nationality is not clearly evident from the population register. The certificate of nationality is issued by the nationality authority and can take several weeks to months – see to it early, otherwise your passport application will be delayed accordingly.

For minors: approval of both holders of parental custody and the Geburtsurkunde. If only one parent attends, bring the other holder of parental custody’s declaration of consent in writing together with a copy of their identity document. If you have sole parental custody, prove this with a court decision on parental custody of the family court (Familiengericht) or a certificate of non-submission (Negativbescheinigung) from the Jugendamt (youth welfare office). The child must attend in person; once children have reached the age of six, their fingerprints are also taken.

Current registered address in the population register. The competent authority is the passport authority for your principal residence. If you have recently moved and have not yet registered the change, first complete the Anmeldung (residence registration) or Ummeldung (change of address) – otherwise the passport will be recorded with an out-of-date address, or the authority will reject the application because it is not competent.

Step by step

Check the expiry date and plan ahead

Check on the data page of your old passport when it expires, and find out the requirements of your travel destination: numerous countries outside the EU require, on entry, a remaining validity of three or six months beyond the return date. Binding information is provided by the travel and safety advice of the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and by the representation of the destination country. In the standard procedure, expect three to six weeks for production and dispatch by the Bundesdruckerei (Germany’s federal printing company), and longer before the summer holidays. Within the EU and in Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, a valid identity card is still sufficient.

Have a digital photograph taken

Take care of the passport photo before your appointment. You can have it taken at the Bürgeramt on the capture system there – this costs €6 per photograph and takes only a few minutes – or at a certified photo studio, which transmits the photo to the authority in encrypted form. Paper photos have not been accepted since 1 May 2025. Ask at the studio how long the retrieval code is valid, and take it with you to your appointment.

Book an appointment at the competent passport authority

The competent authority is the Bürgeramt for your principal residence; in most local authorities, appointments are booked via the city’s online portal, and sometimes also by phone via the public authority number 115. The waiting time for an available appointment varies greatly from city to city and can be several weeks in metropolitan areas – it is added to the production time. Do not apply for the passport at another local authority: under § 27 Abs. 2 of the Passport Ordinance (Passverordnung, PassV), the fee doubles if a non-competent authority acts at your instigation.

Submit the application in person and give your fingerprints

The visit usually takes 10 to 20 minutes. You present the old passport and your identity card; the clerk checks the data in the population register, takes two fingerprints and has you sign the application – your signature is scanned and reproduced in the passport. During the appointment, decide whether you need the standard passport with 32 pages or the 48-page passport for frequent travellers, whether you want the express procedure, and whether the finished passport is to be collected or sent to you. Representation by third parties is not possible; children must attend themselves.

Pay the fee

The fee is due during the appointment, because the Bundesdruckerei only starts production after payment. It is €70 for persons aged 24 and over and €37.50 for those under 24; surcharges for express (€32), 48 pages (€22), a photograph taken at the authority (€6) and postal delivery (€15) are added. Which means of payment are accepted is decided by each local authority – many Bürgeramt offices only accept card payments, others only cash. Check this in advance on your appointment confirmation.

Collect your new passport or have it sent to you

The authority notifies you as soon as the passport has arrived; many local authorities also offer an online status check. To collect it, bring the collection card, your identity card and the old passport – the old passport is invalidated when the new one is handed over and returned to you if you wish. Since May 2025, you can alternatively have the passport sent to your registered address for €15, provided your local authority already offers this service. Check all entries immediately: spelling mistakes can only be corrected without red tape before the passport is first used.

Fees & costs

Passport fees are regulated uniformly nationwide in § 27 of the Passport Ordinance – so they are just as high in Hamburg as in Munich or Leipzig. Differences between local authorities arise only for additional services such as delivery to your home, which not every authority offers yet.

Service	Amount
Passport for persons aged 24 and over (valid for 10 years)	€70.00
Passport for persons under 24 (valid for 6 years)	€37.50
Express surcharge (approx. 3 working days)	+ €32.00
48 pages instead of 32 pages (passport for frequent travellers)	+ €22.00
Vorläufiger Reisepass (valid for max. 1 year)	€26.00
Digital photograph taken at the authority	€6.00
Delivery to your registered address (where offered)	€15.00
Application to a non-competent passport authority	Fee doubles

An express passport for adults therefore costs €102 in total, and a passport for frequent travellers in the express procedure €124. If, for convenience, you submit the application to a local authority that is not competent, you pay double under § 27 Abs. 2 PassV – for adults, that is €140 instead of €70. The fee is an administrative fee for the official act: it is not refunded even if you do not collect the finished passport or cancel your trip.

§ 28 PassV allows the fee to be reduced or waived entirely if the person liable to pay it is in financial need. The decision is taken by the passport authority in the individual case; present a current official notice (Bescheid) on Bürgergeld (citizen’s benefit), social assistance (Sozialhilfe) or basic income support (Grundsicherung), and raise the reduction explicitly before your application is taken. If the passport is applied for at a German mission abroad, additional surcharges for issue abroad apply; ask the competent embassy or the consulate general for the amount.

Important notes

Extending is ruled out by law. § 5 PassG does not allow an extension of the period of validity – neither for the regular passport nor for the vorläufiger Reisepass. The “updating” of a document, as was previously possible with the children’s passport (Kinderreisepass), no longer exists either. Every expired passport means a new application with the full fee.

You may apply for a new passport early at any time. Do not wait until the expiry date: the old passport remains valid until the new one is handed over and is only invalidated on collection. This way you avoid a gap during which you cannot travel. There is no disadvantage, as remaining validity is not credited in any case.

Remaining validity matters more than the expiry date itself. Many countries outside the EU – such as Turkey, Thailand or Egypt – require the passport to be valid on entry for at least three or six months beyond the planned return flight. Airlines check this at check-in and refuse carriage if this minimum period of validity is not met. The decisive source is the Federal Foreign Office’s travel and safety advice for the country concerned.

The vorläufiger Reisepass is only an emergency solution. It costs €26, is issued immediately at the Bürgeramt and is valid for no more than one year. Because it does not contain an electronic chip, it does not meet the requirements of the US Visa Waiver Programme: it is not suitable for visa-free entry into the USA with ESTA, and you would need a visa instead. Other countries also accept it only to a limited extent – clarify this beforehand with the mission of the country concerned.

The children’s passport was abolished on 1 January 2024. New children’s passports are no longer issued, extended or updated. Children’s passports that are still valid may be used until the expiry date printed on them. After that, the child needs their own electronic passport (€37.50, valid for six years) or – for travel within the EU and to Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland – an identity card.

Do not throw away old passports with a valid visa. Explicitly ask to keep the invalidated passport if it still contains a current visa or residence permit. Many countries accept the visa in the invalidated passport in combination with the new document, but some require it to be transferred. Whether this is sufficient in the individual case is decided solely by the destination country.

Foreign nationals do not receive a German passport. The passport system under the Passport Act applies only to Germans within the meaning of Article 116 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz, GG). Foreign nationals contact the mission of their home country for their national passport; recognised refugees and stateless persons apply for a travel document (Reiseausweis) at the Ausländerbehörde (foreigners authority). If you have been naturalised, you need the naturalisation certificate for your first German passport.

Common mistakes

Noticing the expiry too late

If you only look at your passport when booking a trip, you often no longer have the three to six weeks of production time plus the wait for an appointment. The consequence: the express procedure for a €32 surcharge (€102 in total) or a vorläufiger Reisepass with limited recognition. If the trip has to be cancelled, you bear the costs yourself – an expired passport is not a recognised reason for cancelling a trip.

Bringing a paper photo to the appointment

Since 1 May 2025, passport photos may only be transmitted to the authority digitally. A print from a photo booth or a file on a USB stick that you bring along will be rejected, and the application cannot be accepted. The appointment is lost, and in very busy cities this costs you several weeks.

Application submitted to the wrong local authority

Only the passport authority for your principal residence is competent. If another authority accepts the application at your instigation, the fee doubles under § 27 Abs. 2 PassV – adults then pay €140 instead of €70. If you have not completed the Ummeldung, the authority can also reject the application entirely.

Using a vorläufiger Reisepass for the USA

The vorläufiger Reisepass has no chip and is therefore not approved under the Visa Waiver Programme. No ESTA authorisation is granted for it; the airline will refuse check-in, or you will be turned away on entry. You would need a visa with an appointment at the US consulate, which as a rule takes considerably longer than an express passport.

Ignoring the destination country’s remaining validity rule

A passport that is still valid for five months can already be worthless for a country with a six-month rule. Airlines are liable for passengers who are turned away and therefore carry out strict checks; carriage is refused without any entitlement to a compensation payment. Check the requirement again before every long-haul trip.

Not bringing the old passport or failing to collect the new one

Without the old document, the authority has to register the passport as lost; this means a Verlustanzeige, an additional identity check and a delay. If you do not collect the finished passport for too long, you also risk the authority destroying it after the retention period it has set – the fee paid is not refunded, and a new application costs the full rate again.

Frequently asked questions

Can I have my passport extended?

No. § 5 of the Passport Act (Passgesetz) expressly states that an extension of the passport’s period of validity is not permitted. This applies to both the regular passport and the vorläufiger Reisepass; after expiry, a complete new application in person is always required.

How much does a new passport cost in 2026?

The fee is uniform nationwide: €70 from the age of 24 and €37.50 for those under 24 (§ 27 PassV). If required, there is also a €32 express surcharge, €22 for the 48-page passport, €6 for the photograph taken at the authority and €15 for delivery to your home.

How long is the new passport valid?

The passport is valid for ten years; for persons who have not yet reached the age of 24 at the time of issue, six years (§ 5 PassG). The vorläufiger Reisepass is valid for no more than one year, and any remaining validity of the old passport is not credited.

Do I have to bring the expired passport?

Yes. The passport authority uses it to check your data and invalidates the old document so that it cannot be misused. If you wish, you will get the invalidated passport back, which is important if it still contains valid visas.

How quickly can I get a passport if I have to travel at short notice?

In the express procedure, the Bundesdruckerei usually delivers the passport within about three working days for a €32 surcharge, which means €102 in total for persons aged 24 and over. If it has to be even faster, the authority issues a vorläufiger Reisepass immediately for €26; it has no chip and is not recognised by all countries.

Can I renew my passport before expiry?

Yes, you can apply for a new passport at any time, even if the old one is still valid. Your existing passport can be used until the new document is handed over and is only invalidated on collection; the remaining validity is not credited, and the new validity begins on the date of issue.

Does my child need their own passport?

Yes. Since 1 January 2024, the children’s passport has not been issued, extended or updated. For travel outside the EU, children need their own electronic passport for €37.50, valid for six years; the application requires the approval of both holders of parental custody and the child’s attendance in person.