New rules for ID cards: Only digital passport photos from May – exceptions at the beginning

As of May 1, the digital photo for ID cards will be introduced in Germany, but there should still be exceptions at the beginning. As a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior announced on request, the ministry informed the municipalities on Monday that paper photos can continue to be accepted in exceptional cases by July 31st. The background includes delays in the technical equipment in some citizens’ offices. “Image” first reported on the exemption.

From May, the passport authority should actually only accept digital photos that are either made directly in the authority or sent there by a photo studio on a defined, secure transmission path. In digital photos that are sent electronically, the passport authority then checks whether the transmitted image meets the requirements for biometric photos. The new requirements should prevent the risk of counterfeits and manipulations.

Digital photo specification was decided in 2020

The “Law to strengthen security in the pass, ID and foreign law documentary” passed the Bundestag and Federal Council in autumn 2020. Most guidelines from the reform came into force on December 12, 2020, the memory obligation specified by an EU directive for two fingerprints in the chip of the ID document on August 2, 2021.

For the regulation for electronic photo transmission, a longer period of time was set due to the organizational and technical steps necessary for the implementation. But this obviously was obviously not enough.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the exception is to apply until July 31 if a citizen has a photo of himself in April, but only has the appointment to apply for the ID in May. Even if the authority does not yet have the necessary technology to create your own photographs or to record digital images of photo service providers, a photo on paper could be accepted.

In exceptional cases without a fee

If someone presents a paper photo that meets the biometric requirements, and the municipality already has a device to take a digital photo on site, according to the Interior Ministry, the municipality is to be avoided in such exceptional cases to collect the photo fee of six euros.

According to the law, the municipalities are obliged to provide their citizens’ offices in such a way that they can accept digital photos in the future. However, there is no obligation to keep a device for creating identical photos on site. According to reports, some citizens’ offices in smaller municipalities also want to refrain from considering photo shops in the community.