Applying for a German passport in the United States

The German biometric passport is printed at the federal printing works in Berlin and takes six to eight weeks to come back. Almost everything that goes wrong with an application goes wrong before that, at the appointment.

What it costs

A passport for an applicant aged 24 or over costs 106.00 €. Under 24 it is 73.50 €, and that passport is valid for six years rather than ten.

A 48-page passport adds plus 31.00 €. A temporary passport, valid one year, is 80.00 €.

Fees are set in euros and charged at the mission's exchange rate on the day, so the dollar amount moves. Return postage runs to up to 40 USD (Bermuda 60 USD, the Bahamas 65 USD).

Where you can apply, and the honorary consul surcharge

The embassy and the eight consulates general all take applications. So do some honorary consuls, and that is the difference between a two hour drive and a two day trip in much of the country.

Applying through an honorary consul adds 105.00 € to the fee, and that office may charge its own forwarding cost on top.

Honorary consuls take payment in cash, in US dollars only. No cards, and not in euros. This catches people out more than the surcharge does.

Which honorary consuls can do it varies. Detroit, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Portland in Oregon are the ones the ministry lists as able to.

The two things that delay it

A name declaration blocks the passport. If your name has changed and German records do not reflect it, the application waits until the declaration is done, and that adds months rather than weeks.

The other is incomplete papers. An incomplete application is not accepted at all, and the appointment is gone.

Bring everything in the original, even documents you handed in last time. The mission asks for the whole set again on every application.

Passport and ID card fees

Which case applies to you