Press release no. 01/25 of 6. Januar 2025
2025 Bundestag election: Application deadline for Germans living abroad is 2 February
WIESBADEN – The deadline for entering Germans who live abroad in the electoral register is 2 February 2025. You must be on the electoral register to be able to vote in the Bundestag election on 23 February 2025.
Adult German citizens permanently living abroad who no longer have a place of residence in Germany and wish to vote in the 2025 Bundestag election should apply as soon as possible to be added to the electoral register of the municipality of their last registered place of residence in Germany.
If German citizens have lived in the Federal Republic of Germany for an uninterrupted period of at least three months within the last 25 years, they must send the original application form, duly completed and hand-signed, by post, or by fax, e-mail or other verifiable electronic means, to the relevant municipal authority by 2 February 2025.
Germans who have never been registered in Germany, or who left Germany more than 25 years ago, must have become familiar, personally and directly, with the political situation in the Federal Republic of Germany and be affected by it. They are required to send the original application form, duly completed and hand-signed, by post to the relevant municipal authority.
German citizens living abroad who were entered, upon request, in the electoral register for the last Bundestag election in 2021 must again apply to be added to the register for the 2025 Bundestag election.
As an exception, some German missions abroad allow German voters to return their postal ballot letters to Germany using the official courier service to the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. Postage stamps do not need to be affixed to the return envelopes in this case. Please note that the official courier service can be used every one to two weeks and delivery may take several days. Please contact the respective mission abroad for further details. A list of the missions abroad concerned is also provided on the website of the Federal Returning Officer.
Germans who are abroad only temporarily (for instance, those on vacation) but continue to be registered in Germany will automatically be entered in the electoral register of their municipality and may vote in the 2025 Bundestag election by post. A form for the application is provided on the back of the voter’s notification. If the voter’s notification contains a QR code, this can also be used for the application. Such voters do not have to wait for their voter’s notification, however. Instead they may apply now to their municipal authority for a polling card, either in writing or in person. Applications by telephone are not accepted. Where applicable, the application may be filed using an online form provided on the website of the relevant municipal authority.
Anyone filing the application on behalf of another person must present written authorisation.
Further information and the application form are available from almost all of the Federal Republic's missions abroad and on the website of the Federal Returning Officer: https://bundeswahlleiterin.de/bundestagswahlen/2025/informationen-waehler/deutsche-im-ausland.html.
More information for voters can be found on the website of the Federal Returning Officer at https://bundeswahlleiterin.de/bundestagswahlen/2025/informationen-waehler.html.
Press office
tel: +49 611 75-3444
www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/contact