Germans abroad

Adult Germans permanently living abroad who are not disqualified from voting are entitled to vote in the election if,

1. after reaching the age of 14, they were either resident in the Federal Republic of Germany for an uninterrupted period of at least three months and this stay took place within the last 25 years

or

2. for other reasons, they have become familiar, personally and directly, with the political situation in the Federal Republic of Germany and are affected by it.

You must have personally become "familiar with the political situation" in the Federal Republic of Germany directly and through your own personal experience. Passively participating in communication, for instance by consuming German-language media abroad, does not suffice.

Your being "affected by the political situation" may result from the fact that you are currently subject to German jurisdiction, but it is not restricted to that.

Examples of Germans living abroad who are eligible to vote

This decision is taken by the competent municipality. An objection to this decision may be lodged with the municipal authority in writing or as a minuted statement. An appeal against the decision then taken by the municipal authority may be lodged with the constituency returning officer.

Use this application form if, after reaching the age of 14, you were resident in the Federal Republic of Germany for an uninterrupted period of at least three months and this stay took place within the last 25 years.

The application form must bear the applicant's personal and handwritten signature and must be sent by post (original form), or by fax, e-mail or other verifiable electronic means, to the competent municipal authority.

Use this application form if, for other reasons, you have become familiar, personally and directly, with the political situation in the Federal Republic of Germany and are affected by it.

The application must bear the applicant's personal handwritten signature, and the original must be submitted to the competent municipality. The application may not be submitted by e-mail or fax.

For Germans without a place of residence in the Federal Republic of Germany, the competent municipality is the one they were last registered with before moving abroad.

For German expatriates who have never lived in Germany, the competent municipality is the municipality they are most closely connected with according to their statement regarding their familiarity with the political situation and their being affected by it. The closest connection is generally with the place to which their "being affected by the political situation in the Federal Republic of Germany" relates. If, for instance, someone works as a cross-border worker in a place within Germany, that place then serves as the connection when it comes to exercising the right to vote in Germany. For locally employed staff of German missions abroad, the connection would generally be the Federal Foreign Office and thus the municipal office 'Bezirksamt Mitte' in Berlin (constituency no 74). In cases where such a place cannot be identified, the last home municipality of the person's direct ancestors in today's territory of the Federal Republic of Germany should be considered; if there is more than one home municipality, the municipality where they were last registered before leaving Germany.

In the case of applications that fall within the scope of Case 1 (Annex 2 to the Federal Electoral Regulations), the form can be sent by post (original form), or by fax, e-mail or other verifiable electronic means, to the competent municipal authority.

In the case of applications that fall within the scope of Case 2 (Annex 2a to the Federal Electoral Regulations), the original application form must be delivered to the competent municipal authority.

For the address of the competent municipal authority (with the exception of Hamburg and Berlin), please refer to the official List of Municipalities of the Federal Statistical Office or the homepage of your municipality. In Hamburg and Berlin, the competent authority is the municipal office (“Bezirksamt”) for your borough. Please refer to the website of your municipality for the relevant fax number or e-mail address.

In addition, some Länder offer an online search function. Simply enter the last address you were registered at to find the competent municipal authority:

• Schleswig-Holstein
• Niedersachsen
• Bremen
• Saarland
• Bayern

The competent municipality in Germany must receive the application on the 21st day before the election (= 2 February 2025) at the latest. This deadline cannot be extended. You can submit your application as of now.

Usually, the municipalities do not issue a confirmation of receipt. Your application to be added to the electoral register is simultaneously an application to be issued a polling card. You will automatically receive the postal ballot documents together with the polling card.

The election offices in Germany can always use the official courier service to send the postal voting packs containing the postal ballot documents to Germany's missions abroad, even though this service is often not any faster than the regular postal service in many neighbouring EU Member States.

The following missions abroad also offer the use of the official courier service for voters abroad to return their postal ballot return letters to the election offices in Germany, particularly as postal delivery in the host country may take longer or be less reliable:

Stand: 7. Februar 2025

The German missions abroad offer the use of the official courier service to send postal ballot documents from the electoral offices in Germany to foreign countries. To use this service, you must contact the competent German mission abroad beforehand and arrange for the documents to be sent this way. Please note that in many neighbouring EU countries especially the courier service is not any faster than the regular postal service.

If the official courier service is used, the procedure is as follows:

The election documents must be placed in a separate, sealed envelope which is clearly marked as containing such documents ("Wahlsache") and bears the name of the eligible voter. The electoral office inserts this envelope into another envelope, which it then sends, with sufficient postage for delivery within Germany, to the following address:

Federal Foreign Office

for Embassy/Consulate-General/Consulate (location)

Kurstraße 36

10117 Berlin

Please make sure to advise your electoral office of this.

The Federal Foreign Office will forward the letter by official courier service to the appropriate German mission abroad.

At the German mission abroad, you must collect the documents in person or have them collected by an authorised party. It is advisable to contact the relevant German mission in time to clarify how long the official courier service takes, and how letters are held and handed over to the designated or authorised recipient.

If the electoral documents are to be forwarded, you must bear the forwarding costs by providing the mission abroad with an appropriate stamped addressed envelope.

In countries where postal delivery can be slow or unreliable (see the overview above), the courier service can be used to send back postal ballot return letters to ensure that they are with the electoral offices in time (by 6 p.m. on election day). Postal ballot return letters which have been sent by courier service must be received by the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin by Thursday, 20 February 2025 at the latest to ensure they can be forwarded in time. Therefore, we recommend you contact the respective German mission abroad to clarify the date by which it must receive your postal ballot return letter in order to use the courier service. Postal ballot return letters do not need to be stamped.

To facilitate participation in the election process, Germans who are on vacation in one of the countries listed above at the time of the election are entitled to use the courier service.

The same conditions and instructions that apply to Germans living abroad, as indicated above, also apply to those vacationing in the countries listed. The latter can apply to the municipal authority of their main place of residence for the postal ballot documents.

The postal voting pack containing the postal ballot documents can be issued or posted only after the final admission of the nominations and once the ballot papers have been printed. The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community can shorten the time available for this process significantly if an early Bundestag election is called. It is therefore important to file the application with the competent municipality in good time before the election.

In-person voting at the German missions abroad would involve disproportionate effort not only for the missions, which, for example, would have to stock ballot papers for all 299 constituencies in sufficient numbers, but also for German expatriates who are entitled to vote. For most expatriates, it is much easier to cast their vote by postal ballot than at embassies or consulates as they may need to travel long distances to get to these German missions.

Furthermore, polling would need to end earlier than in Germany unless delays in establishing the provisional election result are accepted.

This is the only way to ensure that the authorities have your latest address to mail you your postal voting pack with the postal voting documents. For the documents to be sent automatically without a prior application being filed, the competent German authorities would need to have the current foreign addresses of those entitled to vote before each election.

German expatriates are not required to notify the German authorities about a change of residence, births of children, or deaths. Consequently, the population register data are not reliable. Some postal voting packs sent by mail may not reach the addressees if an obsolete address is used, or the documents may even fall into the wrong hands.

Germans living abroad may support one constituency nomination and one Land list with their supporting signature under the same conditions as persons who are entitled to vote and live in Germany.

As with all other supporters, they must be eligible to vote in the respective constituency or Land. Therefore, in order to vote in the Bundestag election at all, they must apply to the competent municipality to be added to the electoral register (Annex 2 of the Federal Electoral Regulations (BWO) for "former abode/former habitual residence in Germany" or Annex 2a of the Federal Electoral Regulations (BWO) for "familiarity with the political situation").

After checking, the competent municipal authority can then confirm the individual’s right to vote on the official form for supporting signatures required for the nomination of a candidate (Annexes 14 and 21 of the Federal Electoral Regulations). There are no separate forms for that purpose.

If you would like to be notified in time about important dates and deadlines for future elections, we would advise you to register to be added to the ELEFAND crisis preparedness list of the Federal Foreign Office. Everyone on the list is notified of key dates, deadlines and formal requirements before upcoming elections so you can be sure to never miss an election:

https://krisenvorsorgeliste.diplo.de/signin