Germany Planning to Modernise Procedures for Passports, Identity Cards and Immigration Documents
The draft law for the modernisation of these documents was presented by the Federal Minister of Interior, Nancy Faeser, who said that the authorities want to make the country “more modern and more digital”, AtoZSerwisPlus.de reports.
“We want a digital state that is consistently conceived from the perspective of the citizen. That’s why we are making our country more modern, closer to the citizen and more digital. That means in concrete terms: faster, digital processes,” the statement of Faeser reads.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland, the digitisation of procedures will benefit both citizens and responsible authorities for issuing such documents, as the procedures will be reduced to a minimum and identity verification will be accelerated, making moving to the country less inconvenient.
The proposed draft law includes several suggestions. However, one of the most important planned changes is that if a holder of a passport, identity card or eID changes place of residence, the authorities will be able to access previous information without delay.
Moreover, citizens will no longer be required to pick up their ID cards, passports, eID cards and electronic residence permits from the Citizens’ Registration Office as they will be able to send these documents to their address.
“We are now creating such for passports, identity cards and other important documents. In this way, we are making life easier for citizens. We are reducing visits to authorities to a minimum, making re-registration after moving easier. We are also strengthening the work of the security and law enforcement authorities through faster identity verification,” Faeser added.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland further explains that another proposed change is to lower the minimum age from 16 to 13 for using online ID cards so that young people can use different platforms accessible to them.
In addition, Germany wants to allow applicants in the future to receive electronic residence permits and oblige authorities to make it possible to retrieve passports’ and ID cards’ photos at any time.
In order to prevent child abuse abroad, Germany also wants to introduce a new reason for refusing a passport in cases when it is believed that the applicant could commit sexual offences abroad.
As for the children’s passport, which currently is valid for a period of one year, the authorities want to abolish such a rule to achieve a uniform solution. Starting from January 1, 2024, parents will be able to apply for a normal electronic passport for their children.
