Having a baby abroad can be daunting, and figuring out which paperwork you need to complete is a task within itself. Here are a few notes from my “journey” in Frankfurt Germany.
To get the baby’s American passport, etc. (with both parents being US Citizens)
- When you leave the hospital, one of two things will have happened– the hospital will have sent the papers re: your baby’s birth to a place called the Standesamt or they will hand the papers to you and you will have to take them there. If the hospital sent them in for you and there is more than one in your city, be sure to ask which one they sent them to!
- When you go to the Standesamt be sure to bring your passport, your husband, his passport, and the baby. You might have to wait, so make sure you go at a time when you have time to wait. I’d also suggest going early in the morning when the lines tend to be shorter.
- The Germans have rules about names for children, but if both Mother and Father are American, they will probably accept anything you pick. If you want a middle name rather than two first names, you will need to tell them that too.
- After you fill in and sign the papers, you pay the fee and bring the receipt back to the desk you were at. They mail you the birth certificates, and it takes about a week.
- The Standesamt will automatically give you four Geburtsbescheinigung. Only two (maybe three if you are registering with a church) are of any real importance to you, because you probably won’t qualify for Erziehungsgeld (this is for really poor people). The other two– one is for Kindergeld and one for your insurance (health).
- The “real” birth certificates are the Geburtsurkunde (It had an E1 in the right corner) and Abstammungsurkunde (E2 in the upper right corner). The one with the E2 is the one you need for the US Embassy/Consulate. We ordered a few extra just to be safe, but so far it has not seemed necessary.
- Once you have these papers in hand, you can make an appointment at the local Embassy or Consulate. Some allow you to send your papers in advance and then show up to take the oath for your child and sign the documents. Some have you do that at the Consulate.
- When they call to tell you the appointment time, make sure that you have plenty of time before your husband needs to be anywhere (or you for that matter). The Consulate person that calls will tell you what you need to bring, but make sure you tell them that you are both Americans otherwise there is a long list of stuff that you do not need to do that they will list off to you.
- You need to bring you and your passport, your husband and his passport, the papers from the Standesamt (E2), and the baby to the Consulate. You also need to US sized passport photos. Sometimes local photo shops can do them, but we took ours at the Consulate in one of those little booths. You put the baby in front of your face (I had my husband do it) — generally with a solid, light colored blanket over you. It does not matter if the baby looks at the camera or not.
- The Consulate has all of the papers and you fill them out right there (at least that is how Frankfurt does it). You can not bring your cell phone in to the consulate, so be sure to write down your phone numbers if you do not have them memorized. They also have the papers for the social security number.
- After all of the papers are done and looked over, you will have to stand in front of a person and swear that the information given was correct to the best of your knowledge. This person also needs to see the baby, so if you are nursing keep that in mind.
- The Consulate will mail you the passport, and it usually comes within two weeks. The Consular Report of Birth Abroad (your US Birth Certificate) will come with the passport. The social security number will take longer… it took our son’s three months to come!
- After your passport comes for the baby, be sure to tell the team, so that they can register the address of the baby and get him/her a visa. (You need photos for that too.)
Best of luck, and feel free to ask questions!
Maria can be contacted at mariawj@gmail.com