Diplomatic passport or service passport; application

The Federal Foreign Office (AA) issues official passports. Official passports are diplomatic and service passports, as well as temporary diplomatic and service passports. An official passport serves as an identification document for border crossings.

Official passports are issued to persons who represent the interests of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on official business. Depending on your professional field, you can apply for a diplomatic passport or a service passport. A temporary official passport is only issued in individual cases if you need the official passport immediately and can justify this to the AA.

If the reason for issuing the passport no longer exists, the passport must be returned to the Foreign Office.

If you receive an official passport, you can still be issued a passport, a temporary passport or a children's passport.

You will receive a diplomatic passport as:

Constitutional body or as a member of the federal constitutional bodies. This includes:
- Federal President;
- President, and Vice-Presidents of the German Bundestag;
- Federal Chancellor;
- Members of the Federal Government;
- President and Vice-Presidents of the Bundesrat;
- President and Vice-Presidents of the Federal Constitutional Court;
- Members of the German Bundestag;
- Members or deputy members of the Bundesrat;
- judges of the Federal Administrative Court.
Member of constitutional bodies at the state level. This includes:
- Minister President of a federal state;
- President of a state parliament;
- Members of a state government.
Office bearer with a place of employment in Germany. This includes:
- Chief of the Office of the Federal President;
- ministers of state;
- parliamentary state secretaries;
- State secretaries to the federal government;
- Director of the German Bundestag;
- Director of the Bundesrat;
- Chief of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, and deputies;
- President of the Federal Court of Audit;
- President, and members of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank;
- Employees at the headquarters of the Federal Foreign Office from the position of deputy head of unit upward;
- other employees of the Federal Foreign Office for the duration of business trips, if the trip is impossible or difficult without a diplomatic passport.
Officers with a duty station abroad. This includes:
- Employees in a FRG mission abroad, including servicemen and women who are required to be registered on the diplomatic or consular list under AA regulations;
- German heads of delegation in the European External Action Service, as well as federal and state employees on leave who are assigned to this function;
- German members of the European Commission;
- German members of the European Parliament;
- German members of the Parliamentary Assembly, and deputies;
- German judges and advocates-general at the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights;
- German employees in international organizations of which the FRG is a member, insofar as they preside over such organizations or are classified in one of the two highest grades;
- Federal or Länder employees who have been granted leave of absence to serve in international organizations of which the FRG is a member, provided that they belong at least to grade A 16 or to a salary grade corresponding to that grade.
other person for journeys which you carry out in the interest of the FRG, if these are not possible or are made more difficult without a diplomatic passport.

You can obtain a service passport

as an official or mandate holder with a duty station in Germany. This includes:
- Members of state parliaments;
- Employees of federal and state ministries and other federal and state agencies for official travel for which they do not receive a diplomatic passport;
- Soldiers, to the extent that travel cannot be accomplished with military identification papers.
for official travel to countries whose entry or residence regulations so require or whose internal security situation makes the carrying of an official passport appear appropriate. This applies to:
- employees of intermediary organizations of foreign cultural and educational policy (Goethe-Institut, German Academic Exchange Service, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, German Research Foundation, Fulbright Commission) working in Germany on behalf of the public sector;
- Employees working in Germany of bilateral development cooperation organizations directly or indirectly owned by the Federal Government (e.g., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit; Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft; Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt; Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe; Engagement Global; Deutsches Evaluierungsinstitut der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit);
- Germany Trade & Invest employees working in Germany.
As a public official with a place of employment abroad. This includes:
- Honorary consuls of the FRG;
- Employees of federal and state ministries or federal and state authorities who have been transferred abroad, including servicemen and women who do not receive a diplomatic passport;
- Federal and state employees who have been granted leave of absence by their authorities to serve in an international organization. These employees receive a service passport for the duration of the leave of absence if they do not receive a diplomatic passport.
As a person working abroad on public assignment. This applies to:
- Teachers placed at German schools or at other schools sponsored by the FRG or a federal state and other educational institutions abroad outside the European Union (EU);
- seconded employees working outside the EU at branches of the intermediary organizations of foreign cultural and educational policy (Goethe Institute, German Academic Exchange Service, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, German Research Foundation, Fulbright Commission);
- Scientific specialists as well as university employees for a teaching assignment at a foreign university outside the EU, provided they have been sent by the German Academic Exchange Service;
- specialists in bilateral development cooperation, provided they have been seconded by organizations directly or indirectly owned by the Federal Government (for example, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit; Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft; Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt; Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe; Engagement Global; Deutsches Evaluierungsinstitut der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit). This includes development workers under the Development Workers Act and integrated experts placed by the Center for International Migration and Development. In addition, this category includes employees of Germany Trade & Invest who have been posted outside the EU;
- other professionals seconded under Section 2 of the Development Workers Act and for whom a service passport is required because of entry or residence regulations or because of the internal security situation of the target countries.
as another person for journeys which you carry out in the interest of the FRG, if these are not possible or made more difficult without a service passport.

In addition, family members can receive an official passport. This corresponds to the service position of the passport holder.

Eligible family members are:

Spouses
registered life partners
children of the passport holder who are under 27 years of age and not in gainful employment
Children of the family members

Family members receive an official passport if they:

participate in official duties on the occasion of travel abroad.
live in a domestic community at the place of service abroad.
are planning a trip or visit to countries with difficult entry or residence conditions. Official passports will not be issued for visits to duty stations for which the State Department has issued a travel warning.

In addition, children older than 27 who are not gainfully employed and other close relatives may be issued an official passport if they live in a domestic community with the passport holder at the place of employment abroad and the holding of an official passport does not conflict with the residence requirements of the host country.

Required Documents
- Application for the issuance of an official passport
- Copy of private passport or identity card
- Biometric passport photo
- If applying for the first time: Birth certificate
- If applicable:
  - Extract from the family register (for married, widowed, divorced persons)
  - Proof of change of name
  - Naturalization certificate
  - Dissertation certificate
  - Civil partnership certificate
  - Signature of all legal guardians
  - Acknowledgement of paternity
  - Proof of adoption
  - School or study certificate, copy of training contract (for passports for family visits)
  - Proof of receipt of child benefit (for children of full age)
  - Transfer or secondment decree, business trip permit
  - Employment contract (for temporary employees)
  - Declaration on the application for an official passport (for non-German nationals)

You can apply for a diplomatic passport or an official passport in writing to the Federal Foreign Office.

Official passports are only issued to persons who have to travel on official business. You belong to structures that have experience in applying for such passports. If your structure does not have the application form, they may contact the AA to obtain the application form.
Fill out the application form.
Your office must officially certify your information with a signature and official seal or stamp.
Send the application and all other documents to the AA or bring it with you to collect your biometric data
Your passport photo and fingerprints must be captured electronically by the AA's Passport and Visa Office. You must appear in person to do this. Alternatively, the data can be captured at the following locations:
- for persons residing abroad: authorized foreign missions of the Federal Republic of Germany;
- for persons residing in Germany: authorized federal authorities.
The official passport will either be sent to you or you can pick it up at the AA.