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Prerequisites

• You are over 16 years old and have had a child.
• You were present at a birth as a parent, maternity staff member or (as another person) or learned about a birth that has not yet been reported.
• If the child was born on a ship, it is a German seagoing ship.

Documents required

• Parents’ identity cards, passports or recognized passport replacement documents
• Birth certificate and proof of the mother's marital status, if applicable also the father's birth certificate
• if already done in the case of unmarried parents, the acknowledgment of paternity and the declaration of consent of the mother and, if applicable, an additional declaration of custody
• If a midwife was present at a home birth, the certificate of delivery

Please note

If you are planning a confidential birth, contact a counseling center, the hospital, or another facility that offers maternity care.

In addition to the paid birth certificate for your records, you will receive free certificates for the following purposes:

• Applying for parental allowance.
• Applying for maternity benefits from the health insurance company.
• Applying for child benefit if you have not consented to the transmission of your birth data to the child benefit office.

After the birth is registered, your child will automatically be entered in the residents’ register.
You will automatically receive your tax identification number from the Federal Central Tax Office.

You can obtain the form for the first name notification at the hospital, on the website ºÚÁÏÀÏ˾»ú (child benefit is child's play) or directly from the responsible registry office.
You are free to choose your child's first name as long as it does not conflict with the child's best interests.
Designations that are not real first names may not be used. Multiple first names may be combined into one with a hyphen.
However, it should not contain more than one hyphen.

If your child has married parents with a common married name, he or she will automatically receive this name as their birth name.

If there is no married name and you have joint custody, you can give the child the name of one of your parents. This is done by submitting a declaration to the registry office.

A name change after the birth certificate must be publicly certified.

The chosen birth name also applies to any other children you have together, provided you have joint custody of them.

You can determine that your child will receive the family name according to the law of a state:

The state of which one parent is a national.

Under German law, if one parent lives in Germany.

According to the law of the state of which the person giving the name is a national.

Some registry offices accept paternity acknowledgments in conjunction with birth registration. You'll need an appointment for this.

Alternatively, you can have the paternity acknowledgment carried out by the youth welfare office or a notary.

You can only have a declaration of custody made at the youth welfare office or a notary's office.

Deadlines

• Report the birth within one week of the day after birth.


• If the child was stillborn, report the birth no later than the third working day after birth.


• If the birth took place on a German sea-going vessel, report the birth immediately to the person in command of the vessel.


• If you are a parent with joint custody and do not have a married name, you must inform the responsible authority of your child's birth name within one month of the child's birth.


• If you do not provide the child's birth name within this period, the matter will be forwarded to the family court.

Procedure

• You can use one of the standardized forms "Child Benefit Made Easy" to register your birth.
• As a parent, you can alternatively use the online service "Child Benefit Made Easy."
• If the child was born in a maternity facility, please submit the required original documents there. The documents and birth notification will then be forwarded to the relevant authority.
• If the child was not born in a maternity facility but, for example, at home, please submit the required original documents to the responsible authority.
• You can request additional birth certificates in addition to the free birth certificates.
• Fees apply for additional birth certificates. Please transfer these fees to the office indicated on the form.
• The registry office will review your documents and, if necessary, request further documents and information from you.
• The responsible authority certifies the birth of the child.
• You will receive the free birth certificates and the original documents you have submitted.
• You may receive additional birth certificates if you have requested (and paid for) them.
• If you are unable to provide all the required documents to the responsible authority, they will include an explanatory note in the birth registration. Instead of a birth certificate, you will then receive a certified printout from the birth register as your civil status document. The printout from the birth register also serves as a birth certificate and proves the child's birth.

If the child was born on a German sea-going vessel during a voyage:

• You, as the parent with custody or – if you are prevented from doing so – another person who was present at the birth, must report the birth to the ship’s master or captain.
• The ship's captain takes a written record and forwards the birth notification to the Registry Office I in Berlin.
• Please attach the required documents or submit them to the Registry Office I in Berlin at the earliest opportunity.
• The Registry Office I in Berlin records the birth in its birth register.
• Ordered certificates can be sent to you.

Processing time

The processing time depends on the individual case.

Fees

• 18.00 EUR for the birth certificate


• 8.00 EUR for each additional certificate in the same processing step

The birth certificates you need to apply for parental allowance, child benefit and maternity assistance from the health insurance company are free of charge.




Information about costs and fees can be obtained from the Registry Office I in Berlin upon request.

Legal remedies

Instruction by the court

Legal basis

Civil Status Ordinance (PStV)







Civil Status Act (PStG)