Getting birth certificate of my child takes so long

[veinar 15]

Hello. As the title says, my issue comes from the fact that we are waiting on die Geburtsurkunde for more than 8 weeks now (our daugher was born on July 13th of this year). She was born in Lichtenberg, Berlin, and after reading this article (https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/beitrag/2021/10/berlin-geburtsurkunde-bezirke-zeit-dauer-senat-anfrage.html), in hindsight, I realize that we would have probably been better off if we have chosen a hospital in another district (i.e. Friedrichshain, where we live). Anyways, I tried contacting them by phone (blew me off) and per email (Told me it takes about ca. 10 weeks, which aligns with the estimate in the article, 8-12 weeks). Is there any value in going there in person? I doubt it, but if someone had a positive experience with it, I would be motivated to give it a go. Otherwise, is there any other way to speed them up? We need this document for so many things, that we are freaking out because the time is passing and we are just sitting and waiting for it to show up in our mailbox. Any help is appreciated

 

[blauundweiss 5]

That's odd... isn't it done in person with the newborn to give actual proof of life? I am sorry but I cannot help, where we live we go almost the same week, in person and we get it from the public employee on spot. I hope it will not take longer for you. 

[veinar 15]

7 hours ago, blauundweiss said:

That's odd... isn't it done in person with the newborn to give actual proof of life? I am sorry but I cannot help, where we live we go almost the same week, in person and we get it from the public employee on spot. I hope it will not take longer for you. 

Is the place where you live in Germany ?

In Berlin, as far as I know, you normally receive it by post from the Stadesamt. We are considering to go in person, but it's not that close + with the baby we would need to know that there is some chance and not complete waste of time. So I would like to hear an experience from someone from Berlin who actually obtained the certificate that way before taking the trip there.

[Brockman 220]

My kid was born in Berlin Mitte in late 2017 and we had the same problem with the 8-12 week waiting time. This was a problem because we needed a passport by early February, and for that, we needed a birth certificate. We could not get through when we called anyone. I went to the Standesamt Berlin Mitte at 4.30am on 2nd Jan 2018 and got an unofficial number from the building guard, who then told me to come back at 8.30am when they opened so I could get an official number. He also said I was lucky because they were only giving out 10 numbers that day and I got number 9. I saw people visibly camped out in front in the icy freezing weather. Anyway, I went back at 8.30am, got the official number, waited, and they issued the birth certificate on the spot without any issues (other than, you know, needing to be there at 4.30am). If it's any consolation, I doubt it would be any faster at the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Standesamt. Best of luck!

[Santitas 581]

Sankt Josef Krankenhaus in Tempelhof was great in that we could apply for the birth certificate in the hospital and they sent it via post a few weeks later. The Standesamt up a little office in the hospital, so it wasn’t hospital staff. 

[BethAnnBitt 2,840]

Geez Louise!  In 1987 we walked out of Sankt Getrauden in Wilmersdorf 5 days post delivery, with the baby, the German birth certificate, and several international certificates in hand, and the Kindergeld application had been ✅, all in the office on site.  We headed to the US Embassy within a week and received the passport within 2, just in case we needed to get out of there on short notice. 😂 Fun times!

[veinar 15]

17 hours ago, Brockman said:

My kid was born in Berlin Mitte in late 2017 and we had the same problem with the 8-12 week waiting time. This was a problem because we needed a passport by early February, and for that, we needed a birth certificate. We could not get through when we called anyone. I went to the Standesamt Berlin Mitte at 4.30am on 2nd Jan 2018 and got an unofficial number from the building guard, who then told me to come back at 8.30am when they opened so I could get an official number. He also said I was lucky because they were only giving out 10 numbers that day and I got number 9. I saw people visibly camped out in front in the icy freezing weather. Anyway, I went back at 8.30am, got the official number, waited, and they issued the birth certificate on the spot without any issues (other than, you know, needing to be there at 4.30am). If it's any consolation, I doubt it would be any faster at the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Standesamt. Best of luck!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, this is exactly what I was looki g for!

 

I am wondering, how did you know that the guard will be there at 4.30 am, giving away the waiting numbers? Is this an official thing, written on their website, or someone did it before you and told you?

 

Second, did you have to bring your wife and child? I guess not, as they already had all the documents that you've sent weeks before.

 

PS Unfortunatelly, I know that it would be better with Standesamt Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg - we have 2 couples who got kids there in the past 2 years (when Corona situation was way worse then it is today), and both got them within the course of 2-4 weeks (they dont remember exactly when, but they remember it was "fairly fast"). This aligns with estimation from the article I posted.

[Brockman 220]

Hi Veinar, no, there was no info available anywhere, and no one to call, I just showed up there at 4.30am because I read online articles saying this is what people had to resort to. The website actually said to not show up in person, if I remember correctly. Regarding what Santitas said, we did indeed apply for the birth certificate via the little Standesamt outpost at the hospital right after the kid was born, but the issue was they said it would take 12 weeks for the official birth certificate to arrive via post, and the Bürgeramt needs the official birth certificate to issue a passport. I had a Vollmacht from my wife authorizing me to do everything I needed to do to obtain the birth certificate and it was accepted without issue. No, my child did not come. I did however bring copies of all of the documents (receipt from hospital Standesamt showing we applied for the birth certificate, my passport, wife passport, marriage certificate, Anmeldebescheinigungs, wife German identity card, etc.) which of course they did have copies of on file, but, being a shitty German bureaucratic amt, they asked to see them all again and did some 'cross checking' theatrics to prove their 'usefulness' to society.

[veinar 15]

4 hours ago, Brockman said:

Hi Veinar, no, there was no info available anywhere, and no one to call, I just showed up there at 4.30am because I read online articles saying this is what people had to resort to. The website actually said to not show up in person, if I remember correctly. Regarding what Santitas said, we did indeed apply for the birth certificate via the little Standesamt outpost at the hospital right after the kid was born, but the issue was they said it would take 12 weeks for the official birth certificate to arrive via post, and the Bürgeramt needs the official birth certificate to issue a passport. I had a Vollmacht from my wife authorizing me to do everything I needed to do to obtain the birth certificate and it was accepted without issue. No, my child did not come. I did however bring copies of all of the documents (receipt from hospital Standesamt showing we applied for the birth certificate, my passport, wife passport, marriage certificate, Anmeldebescheinigungs, wife German identity card, etc.) which of course they did have copies of on file, but, being a shitty German bureaucratic amt, they asked to see them all again and did some 'cross checking' theatrics to prove their 'usefulness' to society.

This is just so bizzarre and frustraiting. Thank you for your helpful insights.

 

Do you by chance know if there are some Vollmacht templates for these kind of things? I guess you then need to go to Lawyer or Notar with your wife to get it stamped.

 

Final thing - I am wondering what did you say to the guard and amt employers as the reason for your visit? You already applied for the certificate, so I am just wondering if "hey I need this urgently" is good enough for them to not tell you to "just wait, and it will come when it comes".

[Brockman 220]

We just wrote our own Vollmacht and my wife signed it. I brought her German ID card so the Amt could verify signature. Maybe you can find a template on the Amt website. The guard didn't say anything, he just handed me the number. I guess it was just kind of an open secret that they allowed people to show up personally and pick up their child birth certificate.

[veinar 15]

On 9/15/2022, 6:13:35, Brockman said:

We just wrote our own Vollmacht and my wife signed it. I brought her German ID card so the Amt could verify signature. Maybe you can find a template on the Amt website. The guard didn't say anything, he just handed me the number. I guess it was just kind of an open secret that they allowed people to show up personally and pick up their child birth certificate.

I cannot believe things like that work in Germany 2022. Thank you very much for all the information.

[veinar 15]

Just a little update on this. We wrote an email yesterday almost begging them for the certificate, since it's now more than 10 weeks since we didn't get it. The lady replied with an appointment for this coming Monday. However, she asked us to bring our original marriage certificate with translation and apostille (we have it), residency permits+passports (we have) AND both parents' original birth certificate, plus my wive's needs to be with apostille - I have mine, but my wife doesn't (she only has a copy with certified translation to German), so it would have to be shipped from her country of origin, and then we would need to do the apostille. In short, impossible before Monday.

I don't understand why are we asked for our original birth certificates - the marriage certificate contains information about our birthdates and countries of birth, it's translated to German and apostilled. Also, in hospital they told us that we don't need to submit even copies of birth certificates if we are married (and can prove it, of course). I was thinking to write this lady an email regarding this, but then I think it would be easier for her to reject us via email, then if we are there physically, with a baby.

It is really annoying that after 10 weeks of waiting they ask as to bring some extra documents on a short notice. If we knes this earlier, we would be able to prepare everything.

On top of that, she told us to bring interpreter if needed, and pointed out that "electronic help" is not permitted. Since I am around B1-B2 level of German, this now puts me in doubt whether we should go without the interprerer, although I would have normally done it.

Very stressful situation, and all that only to get something that is a basic human right.

 

[veinar 15]

The lady at the Standesamt was super nice, and we finally got our birth certificates this morning !

[Brockman 220]

What a happy ending! Glad it worked out for you.

[veinar 15]

1 hour ago, Brockman said:

What a happy ending! Glad it worked out for you.

Thank you! Your input actually made me  move something from the dead spot