The introduction of the electronic residence permit (eAT) has an impact on the entire process at the responsible office. In any case, a waiting period of four to six weeks is to be expected between application and delivery of the eAT, as the cards are produced exclusively by the Bundesdruckerei in Berlin.

Due to the required storage of biometric data on the chip inside the card, two fingerprints will have to be taken of applicants (including children and young people aged 6 and over). For this reason, a personal visit is required in all cases when applying - even for existing authorizations. Longer processing and waiting times at the relevant office are to be expected.

The previous residence permits, which were affixed to the travel documents as a label, will remain valid even after the introduction of the eAT, at the latest until 31.08.2021. The eAT will therefore only be issued before the expiry of the valid residence permit if there is a legitimate interest in reissuing it.

You must make an appointment to collect your residence permit. Without an appointment, the residence permit or travel document cannot be issued to you for technical reasons.

You can make an appointment easily and conveniently online. The online appointment system is available around the clock, automatically shows you the earliest appointments and can be completed within a few minutes. All you need is your personal details and an e-mail address.

Once you have sent your appointment request, the desired appointment is reserved for you. However, your appointment is only bindingly booked as soon as the Immigration Office has confirmed your appointment booking by e-mail. If the desired appointment is not possible, you will receive a cancellation by e-mail and will be asked to book another appointment.

If you do not have an e-mail address, you can make an appointment by calling 0441 235-4444. Appointments can be made Monday to Friday from 7 am to 6 pm. Appointments booked by telephone are immediately binding.

It is recommended that you provide the relevant contact details (telephone number, e-mail address) to ensure that you can be contacted at short notice if appointments have to be canceled at short notice.

Your electronic residence permit or travel document can be collected by an authorized person. Please only use the power of attorney available below under Applications/Forms. Other informal powers of attorney cannot be accepted.

Children under the age of 16 do not have to attend the appointment. Children between the ages of 16 and 18 must attend the appointment in order to use the online ID function. Electronic residence permits and travel documents will only be issued to legal guardians until the child reaches the age of 18.

Please apply for the extension of a residence permit at least 2 months before your previous residence permit expires.
In the case of temporary residence permits, the validity date of the permit is used to determine the period of validity.

The appointment to issue the electronic residence permit (eAT) or travel document usually takes 15 minutes per person. Appointments in which both an electronic residence permit (eAT) and a travel document are issued also take 15 minutes per person.

The production time for the electronic residence permit at the Bundesdruckerei is around four weeks. You can make an appointment immediately after the decision on your residence permit has been made, but this cannot take place for another four weeks due to the production time, otherwise the residence permit will not yet have been delivered.

The production time for travel documents at the Bundesdruckerei is currently around four to six weeks. You can make an appointment immediately after the decision on your travel document has been made, but this cannot take place for another six weeks due to the production time, otherwise the travel document will not have been delivered.

There is no express procedure for ordering travel documents. The Immigration Office cannot influence the production time of travel documents.

You will receive a collection notice together with the notification that your residence permit or travel document has been issued. The notification letter will tell you the earliest possible date for collecting your residence permit or travel document.

If you are unable to keep your appointment, please cancel it in the interests of other customers.