The travel document as a substitute for a passport is issued by the border authorities. Border authorities are the Federal Police and other state and federal authorities charged with carrying out police control of cross-border traffic.

As a German citizen, you may be prohibited from leaving Germany if you are not carrying a valid passport or passport substitute when crossing the border. Such a situation is possible if, for example, your passport or identity card has expired and you only notice this shortly before departure.In these acute emergencies, a travel document as a passport substitute can be issued to you by the border authorities before departure.

With the travel document as a passport substitute, you can leave Germany as a German citizen and then re-enter the country. The travel document as a passport substitute is generally only valid for the duration of the respective trip, but for a maximum of three months. It becomes invalid upon re-entry, unless it was issued for several entries and exits. Therefore, it is not a full-fledged substitute for the passport.

You can enter another state with a travel document as a passport substitute only if the state recognizes your document as a travel document. The foreign state has no obligation to recognize your document. There is also a possibility that airlines will refuse to carry you with this travel document.

On the website of the Federal Police you will find a list of states that recognize the travel document as a passport substitute without restriction or in conjunction with a photo ID that has expired (for example, passport or identity card). Note, however, that foreign border authorities may change this practice at any time at short notice.
You have no legal right to be issued a travel document as a substitute for a passport. Whether this emergency document is issued to you is decided by the competent border authority.
An issuance may be denied, for example, if:

• you want to travel to a country that does not recognize the travel document as a substitute for a passport, or
• a temporary identity card or passport can be issued to you on request by the passport authority.

Note: In the following countries, it is not the Federal Police, but a state or federal authority that is responsible for carrying out police checks on cross-border traffic:

• in the Free State of Bavaria at the airports in Nuremberg and Memmingen as well as at the airfields that are approved as border crossing points, the Bavarian Border Police is responsible,
• in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg at the port, the Hamburg Water Police is responsible,
• in Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein at various ports and in Baden-Württemberg at Friedrichshafen Airport, the Customs Administration is responsible.

You can apply for the issuance of a travel document as a passport substitute in person at the border authority, such as the Federal Police at the airport. You can also send the application to the border authority online in advance to speed up the process. In any case, you must appear in person at the border authority before starting your trip.