Who is responsible for processing my application or name declaration?

It is the registry office in your current place of residence in Germany or, if you are no longer registered in Germany, in your last place of residence in Germany that is responsible for processing your application and issuing German documents/certificates. If your marriage or the birth of your child is registered in Germany, the competent registry office is the one where it is registered. If none of the persons in question has ever been resident in Germany, your case will be handled by Standesamt I in Berlin.

To process the application or declaration, the competent registry office will need the relevant application form with authenticated signatures and authenticated copies of the documents required for the application.

You can submit your application in the following ways:

1. You can take your application form or declaration and any necessary supporting documents in the original directly to the registry office for your area if you happen to be visiting Germany. Please be sure to contact the registry office beforehand, though, to find out what documents you need to submit and whether you can book an appointment for this.

   OR

2. You get the signatures and copies authenticated at the Embassy in London or the Consulate General in Edinburgh or by one of our honorary consuls.
   In this case, the Embassy or the Consulate General sends your authenticated documents to the relevant registry office in Germany to be checked and decided on.

Process at the German missions abroad

General information

The German Embassy in London and the Consulate General in Edinburgh do not decide on civil status and name-related applications themselves. However, we are able to advise you, for example, on the different kinds of applications, on the consequences under German law of filing a name declaration and on other family law matters.

If you wish to submit a civil status and/or name-related application through us, please note that before you visit, it is essential that you send in your application for preliminary checking.

The documents must always be sent to the Embassy in London or the Consulate General in Edinburgh before booking an appointment.

Only once the preliminary checks have been completed will we send you a confirmation email inviting you to book an appointment. An appointment can only take place if the documents have been sent to us in advance for preliminary processing and you have received a personal confirmation by email inviting you to book an appointment.

This applies, as does the process information below, regardless of which office you wish to visit for your authentication appointment.

Preparing your application

The following documents are needed for the preliminary checks and application process:

1. A cover letter containing the following information:
   • Full residential address, telephone number, email address
   • Name to be declared (not required if there is to be no name declaration)
   • Which office you wish to attend in person (Embassy in London, Consulate General in Edinburgh, Honorary Consul’s office).
     Details of the honorary consuls can be found here.
   • If applicable: details of the applicants’ previous marriages (place and date of divorce and nationalities of the divorcees at the time of divorce)
   • If applicable: full address of your last residence in Germany (not required if you can provide a deregistration document)
   • If applicable: details of missing documents that are required for the application but are unobtainable
2. The relevant application form and the documents required in your case.

The application form must be filled out in full. Please do not sign the form yet though. For a name declaration, please only enter the desired name and leave the naming law options blank. However, in this case, please make sure you additionally give details in your cover letter of what name (forename and surname) is to be declared.

If you do not wish or need to file a name declaration, please leave that section of the form completely empty.

The forms are only available in German.

You can find the forms and lists of required documents on the pages for the different application categories:

Registering a birth

Registering a marriage

Name declarations (please select the type of declaration you require)

Applying and preliminary checks by the competent mission abroad

Send all the required documents (see above) by post to the German mission abroad covering your area. If you want your appointment to be with one of our honorary consuls, you still need to send your documents in advance by post to the German mission covering your area (the Embassy in London or the Consulate General in Edinburgh). We cannot accept applications by email.

Please be sure to only send us PLAIN COPIES of your documents.* The addresses are as follows:

*The copies are needed for the preliminary checks. They will be destroyed in due course in accordance with our data protection rules.

If you have not yet assembled all the necessary documents, please do not send us your application until all the documents are present (unless you are unable to obtain the document).

Once the documents have been received, the mission will check they are complete and prepare the requested application. Please note that this may take some time due to the high volume of applications. Please refrain from enquiring about the status of your application.

In particular, please do not send us your documents more than once as this only creates extra work and does not speed up processing.

Once the preliminaries are complete you will receive an email confirmation from us and can book an appointment with the German mission or honorary consul covering your area.

IMPORTANT: The Embassy or Consulate General will contact you about your application by email only. Therefore please check your email inbox and spam folder regularly.

Appointment at the German mission abroad covering your area (or at an honorary consul’s office)

If you have received the email confirmation inviting you to book an appointment, we would ask you to follow the guidelines below:

• Please read the appointment booking email carefully as it contains the most important information about your appointment, your application and what happens next. We recommend that you keep this email until you have received the document(s) or certificate(s) you applied for.
• You must bring the originals of the documents you already sent us plain copies of with you to the appointment. You will get all your originals back at the end of your appointment.
• To register a birth and make a name declaration or name declarations for minor children, both persons with parental responsibility and any children aged 14 and over must attend in person.
• In the case of a declaration of married name, both spouses must come to the appointment and sign the declaration. The same applies to registering a marriage when making a name declaration at the same time.
• If you wish your appointment to be with one of our honorary consuls, please also note that the email inviting you to book an appointment needs to be forwarded to the honorary consul for your area in order to book your appointment.

At your appointment, you will sign the application form/ declaration form. We will authenticate your signature(s) and the required copies on the application/ declaration form.

Important: When authenticating a copy of a document, the authenticating person checks that the document is an original or an authenticated copy. Therefore please make sure before your appointment that you are in possession of the original documents. It is not possible to authenticate plain copies, laminated documents, printouts of online documents etc.

Fees

At your appointment at the German mission or the office of the honorary consul for your area, you will in the first instance only have to pay the fee for the authentication of your signature(s) and of the copies:

* Details of payment methods can be found in the confirmation email or the information provided by the honorary consuls.

The registry office will also charge fees for the processing and for issuing a certificate or document (see below).

Processing of your application at the registry office

After your appointment the authenticated documents are forwarded to the relevant registry office in Germany. If your appointment was with one of our honorary consuls, you will first need to send the authenticated documents to the diplomatic mission for your area, which will forward them to the registry office. The confirmation email contains detailed instructions.

Once the registry office has received the documents, it will check the applications. It may contact you directly with questions or to request further documentation. Therefore please check your email inbox and spam folder regularly.

Once your application has been forwarded to the relevant registry office in Germany, the Embassy/ Consulate General has no further involvement in its processing. Please contact the relevant registry office and not the German mission for status enquiries or questions regarding the specifics of your application.