New ID regulation: Documents delivered directly into the house!

Millions of citizens will soon find a personal document in the mailbox

From May 2, 2025, a significant innovation will come into force when applying for identity cards and passports in Germany. Deutsche Post will offer the opportunity to deliver these important ID documents directly to your home in the future. This represents a significant relief for the applicants, since they usually had to go to the authority twice: once for the application and once again to pick up the document.

This reform not only affects personnel cards, but also passports, electronic residence permits and oath cards. The delivery takes place via a procedure called Postident, in which a Deutsche Post deliverer personally delivers the document to the front door. It is necessary that the recipient identifies with a valid ID document to confirm the handover.

For this new service, there is a flat -rate fee of 15 euros, which must be paid when the application is paid. The offer is available from the age of 16 for personnel cards and electronic residence permits. Travel passes can be requested with this shipping option from the 18th birthday.

background of the innovation

The introduction of direct shipping is a reaction to the increased need for travel documents, especially after corona pandemic, when many people were confronted with past passes and long waiting times. The Federal Ministry of the Interior had already announced in November 2022 to introduce the possibility of home delivery to minimize the effort for the citizens.

The measure will not only benefit the applicants, but also to the administrative agencies. The city day of North Rhine-Westphalia had long pushed to enable direct delivery through the federal printing company to reduce the workload and to improve the service for the population. These changes are part of an ongoing process for modernizing and de -bureaucratizing the German administrative system.