A variant of the passport is on the hit list. From 1 January 2024, a more expensive alternative must then be applied for.
Dortmund – Germany should become "more modern, closer to its citizens and more digital", demands Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD). The passport and ID system has therefore been revised. But for this to happen, a type of ID card that is particularly popular with parents must disappear - the children's passport. From next year, they will only be able to apply for the alternative, which is three times as expensive.
Cheap passport on the brink of extinction: The alternative is three times as expensive
"For travel abroad, children need their own travel document from birth," says the website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI). In countries requiring a passport, i.e. almost all countries outside the EU, parents previously had the opportunity to apply for a children's passport for their children up to and including the age of 12.
The advantage of this is that at 13 euros, it costs only a third of the regular passport. Although it is only valid for one year, it can be extended for another year for 6 euros. This offers families a great cost advantage, especially for one-off long-distance trips (read more service news at RUHR24).
Children's passport will be abolished: alternative has a catch that can quickly become expensive for parents
Since children and especially infants change visually within a year, the short validity of the previous children's passport was rather an advantage. This is because the normal passport can become invalid prematurely despite a validity period of 6 years, as RUHR24 reports.
If the child's appearance changes so much within the 6 years that it can no longer be identified from the passport photo, the identity document is invalid. A new passport must then be applied for. This costs 24.37 euros for persons under 50 years of age.
Parents who want to travel regularly outside the EU with their children – for example to Turkey – will then pay significantly more than the 37.50 euros every 6 years. Because a primary school child at the age of 6 will probably not be identifiable by his infant passport photo. In the future, a new passport will have to be found, because the cheap children's version, which can be updated annually for only a few euros, will no longer be available from January 1, 2024.
Normal passport for children: these are the advantages of changing your passport
As practical as the children's passport may sound at first, there is still a problem. Because "there are more and more countries that do not recognize the children's passport for travel" and that, according to the BMI, is a clear advantage of the normal passport. This means that "no restrictions are to be expected when travelling abroad".
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But why is it that the children's passport is not recognized everywhere? The answer to this is literally obvious. This is because, unlike the children's passport, the normal passport is equipped with an electronic chip. This makes it possible to store biometric data, such as fingerprints, which have also been mandatory for identity cards since 2021.
From 1 January 2024, the children's passport will no longer be available. © Imagebroker / Imago
You are only allowed to enter South Africa with a child's passport that has not been renewed or updated. In the U.S., parents need an additional visa for their children with the cheap passport to enter the country. From next year, however, this passport chaos will finally come to an end.
Biometric passport for children: this will change from 2024
These are the differences between the two passports:
| Children's passport | Passport | |
| Costs for issuance | 13 Euro | 37.50 euros for persons under 24 years of age |
| Validity | One year | A maximum of six years (Attention! Especially in children, it can become invalid prematurely) |
| Extension | Yes (6 euros for another year) | No |
| Biometric | No | Yes |
| Travelling outside the EU | Yes, but with limitations | Yes, without restrictions |
The biometric passport is more expensive than the children's passport. Since this will be abolished from 2024, parents who want to travel outside the EU with their children have no choice but to apply for the normal passport.
