For traveling abroad, Germans get a child passport (Kinderreisepass) for their children
Not a passport, but a very important document
As Deutsche Welle notes, the Personalausweis is issued from birth, but most often at age 16. For travel to EU and Schengen countries, a German only needs to have this document, which is issued for 10 years. If the German citizen is under 24, it is issued for 6 years. The cost of producing this document is from 23 to 29 euros.
The new version of the document has three features. It contains a biometric photo and fingerprints (optional). It can be used for online document processing, transactions, registration with government agencies, and signing documents in digital format.
The new identity card also has an electronic identification function. From age 16, it can be activated for free. Electronic identification is designed to save time, quickly complete all bureaucratic procedures online, and pay for services.
How the German passport differs
The German passport has two qualities that are spoken of in superlatives: one of the most reliable passports in the world (difficult to forge) and it provides a lot of freedom for travel. For example, with a German passport, you can travel to more than 170 countries without a visa, including the USA.
The German passport has changed over the past 20 years. Since 2005, it has had a chip; since 2007, fingerprints of two fingers have been added to the biometric photo. Since 2017, the third-generation passport has been in effect with new data protection measures.
The passport is valid for ten years. The standard thickness is 32 pages. For those who travel a lot, it is possible to get a passport with 48 pages. For persons under 24, the cost of obtaining a passport is about 38 euros, and for persons over 24, it is 60 euros. For additional pages, you will have to pay another 22 euros.
A passport is issued at the Citizen Service Center at the place of registration, and it takes about two weeks. If you need a passport quickly, pay from 70 to 114 euros for express service (the price varies depending on age and number of pages).
What information about a citizen is contained in the German passport? Standard data: surname, first name, gender, date and place of birth, nationality, serial number. But also height, eye color, academic degree, and even a pseudonym. The name in the passport is taken from the birth certificate. Therefore, in German passports you can find both Anna (Anna, Anne) and Anuschka (Anuscka). The fact is that in German registry offices, names that differ by at least one letter are considered different.
Documents for children
A passport in Germany can be issued from birth. It costs 13 euros and is valid for six years. The document for a child under 12 is called a child passport (Kinderreisepass). However, during the first years of a child's life, it is strongly recommended to replace even a valid passport with a new one with a more recent photo. After all, it is difficult to recognize a three-year-old child in a baby who is a few weeks old. Therefore, many parents, to avoid questions and problems at passport control, replace the child's passport with a new one.
A child passport is issued without a built-in chip and stored fingerprints. Therefore, at age 12, it will have to be replaced anyway. A child can also be issued a regular passport. This will cost more, but is necessary if a trip, for example, to the USA is planned.
With a child passport, a visa will be required, as this document does not meet the passport control requirements of the USA and some other countries.