Registering a birth in Germany

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Member since 30 May 2013

PriscillaViP06 September 2017 09:36:42

42358

Hello everyone,

Have you had to or are you going to register a birth in Germany? What was the experience like?

Who is required to register the birth, and where? Can it be either the mother or father?

What documents are usually required in Germany?

How long does the process to register a birth take? Are there any time limits in which the registration must be completed?

Did you register the birth with your home country and how did that process compare? Will your child be able to have dual nationality?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Priscilla

beppi Germany - Singapore Expert

Member since 08 August 2010

Germany & Singapore Expert

beppiGermany - Singapore Expert06 September 2017 15:04:11

15377

Family registries ("Standesamt") are among the most inflexible and difficult to deal with authorities in Germany. You will not achieve anything unless you follow their procedures to the last dot.
After the birth of your child, the hospital (do not even consider to give birth at home - the formalities would be overbearing!) will issue a birth notice. You have to visit the family registry with that and a number of other documents, among them birth certificates and residence permits of both parents - all in originals, they do not accept copies (and neither missing documents).
A German birth certificate does not mean German citizenship for the child. For that, it would be required that one of the parents was German at the time of birth. But unlike almost all others acquiring German citizenship, those who get it by birth together with another citizenship can remain double citizens for life.

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