Certified copy of German passport in English

[murphaph]

Hi all,
Does anyone know if it's possible to have a copy of a German passport certified by the issuing authority but with the details in English? I'm guessing no, but I am happy to be proved wrong.
Cheers!

[Franklan]

Hi all,
Does anyone know if it's possible to have a copy of a German passport certified by the issuing authority but with the details in English? I'm guessing no, but I am happy to be proved wrong.
Cheers!

Why don't you ask the party who wants that copy what they accept and what not? Who's asking for that?

[PandaMunich]

Hi all,
Does anyone know if it's possible to have a copy of a German passport certified by the issuing authority but with the details in English?

What do you mean?
Your German passport already has everything in 3 languages: in English, French and German.
So a certified copy of it - which you can get for 5€ at any Bürgerbüro - would of course have the same trilingual content:

2013-05-14-bis-pm-reisedokumente-4z3-bild.jpg (84.79 KiB) Viewed 1050 times

[murphaph]

Hi folks. So for example the "beglaubigte Kopie" stamp on my Einbürgerungsurkunde is monolingual, German only and would not be of any use in this case. Is the stamp from the Bürgerbüro on a copy of a German passport also like that? It has to be in English and say "certified copy" or words to that effect so the US IRS can understand it's a certified copy and not some random stamp in a language they don't understand I guess.

The party is the IRS and they say they will accept certified copies that are certified by the issuing authority.

[Franklan]

Hi folks. So for example the "beglaubigte Kopie" stamp on my Einbürgerungsurkunde is monolingual, German only and would not be of any use in this case. Is the stamp from the Bürgerbüro on a copy of a German passport also like that? It has to be in English and say "certified copy" or words to that effect so the US IRS can understand it's a certified copy and not some random stamp in a language they don't understand I guess.

The party is the IRS and they say they will accept certified copies that are certified by the issuing authority.

What you need is a "Beglaubigung mit fremdsprachlichem Beglaubigungsvermerk".

A Notar can do that, here is one: https://j-michaelis.de/de/beglaubigungen/, but this could be a little bit too far to drive.

Find a Notar near by and ask if he/she/it is willing to do a "Beglaubigung mit englischem Beglaubigungsvermerk". Now the question is still if the IRS trusts a German "Notar".

[murphaph]

No they don't accept copies certified by a notary for this purpose unfortunately. The only acceptable forms of ID are 1) original! passport, 2) certified (by the issiung authority only) copy of passport or copy of passport certified by a US diplomatic mission.

[PandaMunich]

No they don't accept copies certified by a notary for this purpose unfortunately. The only acceptable forms of ID are 1) original! passport, 2) certified (by the issiung authority only) copy of passport or copy of passport certified by a US diplomatic mission.

I see a visit to the US embassy in Berlin in your future.
You're in Brandenburg, aren't you?
So it's not too far.

[Franklan]

I see a visit to the US embassy in Berlin in your future.

I am very sorry to convey the bad message, but - eventually - this is it... Nearest embassy...

[bethannbitt]

I see a visit to the US embassy in Berlin in your future.

I am very sorry to convey the bad message, but - eventually - this is it... Nearest embassy...

Consulates work too. Our nearest diplomatic mission for this is Zurich for instance, rather than Bern or Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, … I realize Berlin is closer for him, but am just mentioning it for general information purposes. If we had to go to an embassy it would be a long trip.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel ... l%20notary.

[murphaph]

Hmmm...looks like the Berlin embassy does not like certifiying copies of passports for my purposes:

Wenn Sie diese Art Dienstleistung für eine individuelle Steuerzahler-Identifikationsnummer (ITIN) benötigen oder aus anderen Gründen die die US-Steuer betreffen, sollten Sie einen von mehreren autorizierten IRS Annahmebevollächtigen (sogenannte acceptance agents) in Deutschland kontaktieren. Sie sollten nur einen Termin zur Beglaubigung einer Kopie des ausländischen Reisepasses vereinbaren wenn dies nicht bei einen Annahmebevollächtigen möglich ist.

https://de.usembassy.gov/de/services-de/notarials-de/

I may have to do this on my next trip home to Dublin where they will do it for $50:

U.S. Embassies and Consulates are able to certify copies of foreign passports in relation to ITIN applications, but only for non-resident aliens applying for ITINs for the purpose of claiming tax treaty benefits (i.e. those applicants who are ticking “a” and “h” on the W-7 form)

https://ie.usembassy.gov/individual-tax ... mber-itin/