New ID documents
After the wedding: you should do that urgently now
Updated on March 28, 2025 – 9:12 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
First and foremost, it’s about love, in the second about formalities. Because what many freshly married do not consider: new ID documents are regularly required.
Received the covenant of the marriage? Then your ID documents could have lost the validity. And always when the marriage has also changed with the marriage. This is indicated by the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI).
Freshlyweds should therefore visit their responsible citizens’ office immediately after the wedding in order to apply for a new ID card with the changed surname. This is the only way to ensure consumers that they meet their obligation to have a valid ID document. If you are planning international trips in terms of perspective, it is best to order a new passport.
To apply to the authority, freshly married should bring your previous ID documents as well as a marriage certificate, a certified graduate extract or alternatively a certificate of the new name. A current biometric passport photo may also be required.
Danger: From May 1, 2025, only digital passport photos will be accepted, which were created in a certified studio or directly in the authority.
The costs for an ID card:
The cost of a passport:
Good to know: Anyone who wants to fly into the honeymoon immediately after the wedding can apply for their new ID documents according to BMI eight weeks before the marriage. The responsible citizens’ office only hands out the new passports if the necessary documents can be presented with the marriage. In this way, freshlyweds can ensure that they hold the new documents in their hands in good time at the start of the trip.
Important: Travelers should definitely make sure that they already specify their new name when booking flights and a possibly required travel preliminary registration. If this does not match that on the ID document, the airline can refuse to promote.
If the husband and wife keep their birth names, they do not have to change their ID documents after marriage or apply for them again. They continue to keep their validity. Reason: The marital status is not part of the pass data.
