Registering your baby's birth in Germany as a foreign parent

The order of things

Step 1. The Standesamt: within one week

Every birth must be reported to the Standesamt of the place where your baby is born, within one week (Civil Status Act, PStG section 18). Where you live does not matter. If your baby is born in a hospital or birth centre, the facility sends the birth notification. After a home birth, you report the birth yourselves within one week and present the birth certificate issued by the midwife or doctor.

The Standesamt records your baby's first names and surname, the place, date, hour and minute of birth, sex and the parents' names; for non-German parents, their nationality is noted if it is proven (PStG section 21).

Documents you will usually need

Berlin's official service portal lists, as an example:

• passport or identity card of each parent;
• the mother's birth certificate, and the father's if relevant;
• your marriage certificate, if married;
• if the mother was previously married, proof that the marriage ended;
• the acknowledgment of paternity and the custody declaration, if unmarried parents have made them;
• a declaration of the baby's first names and surname, signed by both parents (often included in the hospital's notification).

Foreign documents must be originals, translated by a translator sworn in Germany, and for some countries carry an apostille or legalisation. Do not laminate or alter certificates. Berlin's portal advises non-German parents to ask the Standesamt about the documents and the child's surname in advance.

Certificates and fees

In Berlin, reporting the birth is free and you receive three free certificates for Elterngeld, Kindergeld and the health insurer. Further certificates cost 12 euros each (6 euros for each additional copy of the same type issued at the same time), as of October 2026; an international birth certificate is also available. Fees differ between federal states. Ask for an international certificate if your embassy accepts it.

Step 2. If you are not married

• The father is the man married to the mother at the birth, the man who acknowledged paternity, or the man whose paternity a court established (BGB section 1592).
• Acknowledgment of paternity (Vaterschaftsanerkennung) needs the mother's consent, must be publicly certified and can be made before the birth. The federal family portal explains that you can declare it together with the mother at the youth welfare office (Jugendamt).
• Joint custody: unmarried parents have joint custody if they make custody declarations (Sorgeerklärungen), marry, or a family court grants it; otherwise the mother has custody (BGB section 1626a). Custody declarations must also be publicly certified.

Making both before the birth lets the Standesamt enter both parents straight away and lets the father apply for Elterngeld without delay.

Step 3. Address registration: usually nothing to do

A newborn born in Germany does not need a separate Anmeldung if the baby lives in the parents' or mother's flat. The Standesamt tells the registration office, which links your baby to a tax identification number (Federal Registration Act, section 17). You need the tax ID for Kindergeld.

Step 4. Health insurance

• Statutory insurance: apply for free family insurance (Familienversicherung) with the birth certificate. Until your baby has its own card, the federal health portal says the baby is insured on the mother's card. Exception: if the parent who is not in the statutory system is married to the member, earns above the compulsory insurance threshold and earns more than the member, the baby needs its own insurance.
• Private insurance: register your baby with your insurer no later than two months after the birth, with effect from the birth. The insurer must then accept the baby without risk surcharges or waiting periods, for cover no broader than the parent's (Insurance Contract Act, section 198).

Step 5. Your embassy and the passport

Your baby's passport comes from your home country. Check your embassy's or consulate's website for: whether the birth must first be registered with your home country, which version of the German birth certificate it accepts, whether both parents must attend, the photo rules for babies, and any deadline for registering a birth abroad so that your child acquires your nationality by descent.

Step 6. Your baby's residence permit

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: your baby has the same free movement rights as you; no residence title is needed, only a passport or ID card from your country.

Other nationals (Residence Act, section 33):

If your baby is not granted a residence title ex officio, you must apply within six months of the birth (section 81). Each Ausländerbehörde sets its own document list and booking process: ask during pregnancy, and ask whether it needs your baby's passport first.

Step 7. Is my baby German?

A child becomes German at birth if a parent is German. A child of two foreign parents born in Germany becomes German at birth if one parent has had lawful habitual residence in Germany for five years and holds an unlimited right of residence (or, for Swiss citizens and their families, a residence permit under the EU-Swiss free movement agreement). The acquisition is entered in the birth register (Nationality Act, section 4). Ask the Standesamt to confirm it, and ask your embassy whether your baby can also keep your nationality.

• Documents for the Standesamt ready, translated and apostilled if needed
• Paternity and custody declarations made (if unmarried and wished)
• Birth registered within one week; certificates collected
• Baby insured (family insurance, or private within two months)
• Elterngeld and Kindergeld applications sent
• Embassy registration and passport booked
• Residence permit issued, or applied for within six months

Related guides

• Having a baby in Germany as an expat
• Elterngeld for foreigners
• Mutterschutz and maternity pay

Questions parents ask

Sources

1. Personenstandsgesetz, section 18 — Reporting a birth within one week checked October 13, 2026
2. Personenstandsgesetz, section 21 — Entry in the birth register checked October 13, 2026
3. Service-Portal Berlin — Geburt eines Kindes melden (documents, translations, fees) checked October 13, 2026
4. Bundesmeldegesetz, section 17 — Registration of newborns checked October 13, 2026
5. Aufenthaltsgesetz, section 33 — Birth of a child in Germany checked October 13, 2026
6. Aufenthaltsgesetz, section 81 — Six-month deadline for a child born in Germany checked October 13, 2026
7. Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, section 4 — Citizenship by birth checked October 13, 2026
8. BGB, section 1626a — Custody of unmarried parents checked October 13, 2026
9. Familienportal — Elterngeld for married and unmarried parents (paternity at the Jugendamt) checked October 13, 2026
10. Versicherungsvertragsgesetz, section 198 — Insuring newborns privately checked October 13, 2026

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