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The storage of two fingerprints on the identity card will be mandatory in the future
Photo: JENS MEYER / AP
New ID cards must contain two fingerprints from August next year.
With this Bundestag resolution, Germany is implementing European law.
Accordingly, new requirements will also apply to passport photos - but only from May 2025. They will then have to be created exclusively digitally and sent securely to the passport authority or taken on site.
You can no longer simply bring the printed photo from the machine or from the photographer with you.
This should make the ID more forgery-proof.
People who do not assign themselves to any gender can in future have an "X" entered in their passport instead of an "M" or "F".
This change should come into force earlier.
If the Federal Council agrees and the Federal President signs the law quickly, this could happen this year.
Anyone who has registered with the German authorities as diverse or without gender should still be able to retain the previous gender information in the passport.
This is to protect against possible discrimination when crossing the border.
Children's passports are only valid for one year instead of the previous six years - but with the option of being extended by one year at a time.
Biometric passports, however, are still valid for six years.
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bah / dpa