Police clearance certificate

A Führungszeugnis is an official certificate of entries about you from the federal central criminal register. You apply for it yourself. It does not list every record the police hold.

In short

• Anyone who has turned 14 receives a certificate of the register entries on application. A legal representative may also apply, and if the person is legally incapable only the representative may apply. In Germany, use the official online route if you meet its identification requirements, or file in person at the Meldebehörde or in writing with an officially or publicly certified signature. You must prove your identity.
• Since 1 October 2026 a private certificate can also be issued as a digital PDF to your BundID mailbox. That version is online only. It needs an identity document with the online ID function, an NFC-capable smartphone, and a credit card. The fee is 13 euros for the digital certificate and for the paper one. The paper route remains.
• The ordinary certificate does not list every conviction. For example, section 32 leaves out a fine of no more than 90 day-rates or a prison or detention sentence of no more than three months when no other penalty is entered in the register. The section sets exceptions, including for the sexual offences it names, so do not promise an employer that your certificate will be blank.
• Work supervising, caring for, teaching, or training minors, or comparable contact with minors, can require the extended certificate under section 30a, and you must bring a written request from the person who asked you for it. An authority can require the version sent straight to it under section 30 (5).
• A fee waiver can still apply. Check the official application guidance for that and for processing information. A certificate from your country of origin does not replace the German Führungszeugnis. If you live outside Germany, you may apply directly to the register authority.

What you need to know

Section 30 says that anyone who has turned 14 receives, on application, a certificate of the register entries that concern them. If they have a legal representative, that representative may also apply. If the person is legally incapable, only the representative may apply.

For an in-person or written application in Germany, file at the Meldebehörde, using an officially or publicly certified signature for a written application. You must prove your identity, and a representative must prove the power to represent. You cannot send an ordinary agent to file it for you. The Meldebehörde collects the fee, keeps two fifths, and pays the rest to the federal treasury.

You can also apply through the official online portal of the Bundesamt für Justiz. Check the official application guidance for the online identification and technical requirements before starting. If you cannot use that route, the in-person or certified written application remains available. The fee is 13 euros. Use the guidance for a possible fee waiver and for processing information.

Since 1 October 2026 the Bundesamt für Justiz can also issue the private certificate as a digital PDF and send it to the mailbox of your BundID account. You can create the account during the application. This digital version can be requested only in the online portal. You need a German identity card with the online ID function and an activated PIN, an electronic residence title, or an eID card for EU citizens, an NFC-capable smartphone, and a credit card.

The paper certificate, through the portal or the registration office, remains available. The fee is 13 euros for either version. The digital certificate cannot be given an Apostille or further legalisation. If you need that for use abroad, ask for the paper certificate.

If you live outside Germany, you may apply directly to the register authority. The certificate may be sent only to the applicant. If you need it for an authority, section 30 (5) says it is sent straight to that authority. You can ask to see it first at a local court you name, if it contains entries. The registration office must tell you about that option when you apply there.

Section 30a is the extended certificate. It is issued if a statute provides for it by reference to that section, or if you need it to supervise, care for, teach, or train minors, or for comparable contact with minors. You must bring a written request from the person who is asking you for the extended certificate.

Section 32 lists what is left out of an ordinary certificate. The omissions include, among other cases, a fine of no more than 90 day-rates and a prison sentence or detention of no more than three months, if no other penalty is entered. Those omissions do not apply to the sexual offences the section names. An authority certificate includes more. Do not promise an employer that the paper will be blank.

What to do

1. Decide which certificate is required. A private employer often wants the certificate sent to you. A public employer or a licence office may require the authority version under section 30 (5). Work with minors may require the extended certificate under section 30a, and then you need the written request.
2. Choose the official BfJ online portal if you meet its identification requirements, or apply at your Meldebehörde in person or in writing with a certified signature. Prove your identity. For the digital PDF, use only that portal and the identification above. Ask to be told about the local-court inspection route if the certificate is going to an authority and may contain entries.
3. The fee is 13 euros. Before applying, check the official application guidance for a possible fee waiver and for processing information. Pay any applicable fee and keep the receipt; do not assume a guaranteed completion date.
4. If you live abroad, apply to the register authority and use the inspection route through a German mission if section 30 (6) applies and the certificate contains entries. A certificate from your country of origin is a different document and does not replace this one.

Avoid paying for an intermediary by mistake

Start from the official BfJ portal linked above or your registration office. Before paying on a different site, check who operates it and whether the price buys an actual official application or only instructions and forms. The certificate can carry an official fee; an optional private service charge is separate and does not itself issue the certificate. Do not send identity documents to an unverified provider. Keep the order and terms and obtain consumer advice promptly if you bought unwanted assistance.

Common mistakes

• Assuming a short fine always appears, or never appears. Section 32 omits some sentences only when its conditions are met, and it makes exceptions.
• Sending the ordinary certificate when the employer asked for an extended one. Section 30a is a different application and needs the written request.
• Treating a foreign police certificate as the German Führungszeugnis.